the grating voices of neighbors unsuccessfully singing Celine Dion ballads the monotonous mechanical humming of the metal factory the squealing of housewives watching an afternoon soap opera the blaring siren of a firetruck racing with tragedy the clunks and clangs of a nearby construction site the roaring of the engine of an overloaded jeepney the chiming of laughter from kids playing in the streets the calls of the street vendor peddling sugary cotton candy the whining of the dog begging to run around outside *this is the music of life in the outskirts of the city