The morning the sun rose, almost twice.

Judd Sta. Maria got robbed by 2 men in one of the busiest streets in Manila. At the speed of crime, one of them, withdrew a gun from the holster and pointed the muzzle at him, making a clear statement it was either his life or his belongings, or both. It happened in the mid-afternoon during a day in which he was taking photos of the city.

The city of Manila, according to Judd who has been living in the city for almost what seems to have been his entire youth, shares a lot of similarities with Kuala Lumpur. The design of the buildings, the moody traffic — to a point where it can become depressive and even manic –, the price of a Big Mac and the average income of the working-class citizens, they all are about the same except for the price of a bottle of San Miguel and a pack of Dunhill. Judd Sta. Maria tells, the city of Manila never sleeps and only allows him to sleep, in average, 4 hours a day.

I become much like a friend to Judd Sta. Maria the night i brought him to feast on the middle-eatern food and tricked him to finish every bit of it, and partied in two different clubs until the sun rose, almost twice — one for Judd Sta. Maria, and one for me –, and made Kuala Lumpur the city of friendship.