Here
The sounds of cars, tricycles, motorcycles, jeepneys, peddlers, garbage trucks, police cars, ambulances, and everything else on wheels, including in all probability some random guy on a unicycle, unceasingly blare through my window. I have no view except for the second-floor apartment right across from mine, with its mismatched curtains and glaring white light that the tenants never seem to turn off. I hear neighbors shout at each other about each other, and always, always , at 4:00 PM I hear a young man shouting "MaAAaa!" outside his gate, as though he always, always forgot the keys to his own house. In the mornings I smell the neighbors roasting fish for breakfast. Also in the mornings (and sometimes during the night) I hear someone faintly practicing classical piano across the street. It makes me take a break from listening to disembodied voices for a while, and smile, and try to identify which piece they're playing. There was a time when they were playing the nat