wake up call

going out on a saturday night isn’t such a big deal, although it is unusual for domesticated old me. but actually having the guts to (ask to) take the car out? MAJOR deal. but then i figured, i need the practice. and since i was given permission with a minimum of fuss (and only a few reminders) i think my aunt realizes it too.

ended up having a 2-hour dinner with one of my high school friends, and i dropped her off at home before going back to grove. but between her house and my destination are several stretches of lonely roads. short by other people’s standards, probably, but as a newbie driver i wasn’t thrilled. at one point, in my relief at reaching one end of a bumpy stretch and the beginning of a lonely straight one, i got distracted by a vehicle that turned off to a side road. then i realized i was getting off the road and onto the grassy sidewalk.

i know that so many things could have turned out wrong in that scenario. there could have been a passing car at the other side, or worse, one behind me that panicked when i made the drunken swerve back. there could have been a large ditch instead of the gentle grassy incline. the car could have skidded beyond control. i could have hit a tree (explaining that bump will definitely go over well). worse, i could have hit a person (although anyone who would take a stroll on a deserted road at 11pm needs his head checked).

thankfully, all i got was a heart that stopped beating for a second. and i sent up a prayer and an apology for taking too little care of myself and my responsibility.

 

the other side of the stick shift

after a long, long wait (like 15 years long), i’m finally taking driving lessons.

not that i’m really giving up the commute. the slex is such an expensive drive, not to mention tiring with the recent resumption of the construction of skyway.  more importantly, i don’t have a car to call my own.  i’ll just be the lucky substitute for when my aunt and/or dad are sleepy on the drive home from the mall or the doctor.  though i’m not much better than either of them when it comes to keeping the yawns at bay.

the weird thing is that i feel a lot more confident when the instructor is there in the passenger seat. i’d taken on a green star bus from the opposite lane with a barely-comfortable margin while overtaking another vehicle. i went 60+kph on a national highway. i also kept to two restarts while crawling along to the turbina loop on slex southbound from canlubang interchange.  but today, when i pulled out our car from the rear garage and put it back after church, i got frustrated at how uncoordinated my two feet were. mehhhhhh.

two more 2-hour sessions to go. maybe after then, i can take on the traffic at crossing. and parking. cross-fingers.

 

economics

after eleven months of silently enduring the sidewalks, traffic and smell of manila, i got assigned back to my original office in makati.  which is ok – actually, more than ok.  but one week into my relocation, i realized there is one definite advantage that the manila post offered me, and it concerns – surprise, surprise – the LRT.

i started going on the LRT because it solved the time warp problem.  like, you think traffic is moving albeit slowly, but you look at your watch and realize you’re running late?  initially, i started with the homeward journey because the LRT is way more convenient than riding a jeep.  then i eventually rode the LRT in the mornings as well, when i discovered that i was wasting too much time going to work.  hence, the trip both ways takes me under 15 minutes (barring delays between stations, or waiting out for less full coaches).  getting to the bus terminal before 6 pm has become rather common.

now, i’m lucky if i get there before  6.30.  and that’s because i took a cab.  public transport, particularly the buendia route, has become a nightmare.  i was very surprised at how i can’t seem to get a ride to LRT-buendia after 15 minutes of waiting.  it’s like getting a fluke every time i managed the feat.  and i was dumbfounded because the situation changed so drastically in just eleven months.  did the escalating gas prices force many jeepney drivers into taking shorter trips, or none at all?  is there now a shortage in jeepneys because driving them just isn’t feasible any more?

i idly asked my aunt (who is my daily trip companion) why the jeeps are all full and it seems more difficult to get on public transport nowadays.  and her answer was so simple i can’t believe i never thought about it: the gas prices forced more people to commute to work.  where my previous theory indicated a lower supply, it was actually more of an increased demand that caused the shortage.  ohhhhhhh.

 

stranded

it’s raining hard.  and with the heavy rain comes really bad traffic jams.  no surprise there.

i decided to show up for my weekly badminton game and managed to get to the courts almost unscathed (save for a few large drops of rain on my head).  but when my friends and i got to the locker room, we couldn’t hear each other over the noise from the rooftops.  next we heard, everybody else was stuck somewhere, because of flood or the turtle pace on the road.

i didn’t like the idea of standing around under a drizzle (at best) and spotting my bus through sheer luck (or worse, having to stand inside the bus for the 50+ kilometer stretch of the slex).  but i began to rue that (usually prudent) decision when i realized i couldn’t even hitch a ride to the bus terminal.  and when i walked a block to see what was going on, i discovered that going to the terminal might not be such a hot idea after all.  (in fact, i was getting really cold at this time.)

too many people, too little public transport.  and too much water.  sometimes the sure choice isn’t always the best.  less than 30 minutes later, i was boarding the higer bus from cubao, and i even had the whole back row to myself.  instead of getting stuck in traffic going to taft, and possibly facing a long queue for a bus that is beginning to rust.

a cup of starbucks to all the commuters who endured the wet and cold tonight because there is no other way.

 

midnight train to georgia

well, not exactly.  the last direct trip home for me is the 10.30 bus to sta. cruz coming from cubao.  so my cinderella time is between 10 and 10.30, depending on where in makati i was coming from.  i’ve had a few close shaves with that schedule, like the last time where i reached mrt magallanes station at 10.46 and the bus arrived at 10.56.  so far i’ve never (unexpectedly) missed that trip, and i plan to keep it that way.

there are some times that i know i can’t catch that trip, and i’d have to look for somewhere to stay.  but it’s not easy, because i can count with one hand the number of people i feel i can ask to stay with.  besides, i’d have to worry about logistics, like how to get to work or home from their place, and especially the overnight stuff i have to bring with me.  just last friday i stayed with an old officemate of mine, and i was lucky that she had a few things to lend me so that i’ll have a comfortable stay.  but i had a massive headache the next day, and i ended up delaying my trek home until late afternoon (after we wasted money and time at rockwell lol).

it’s times like these i wish i still had a place in manila.  but i guess no matter where i am, i’ll always have a last trip to contend with.

 

pour some misery down on me

i love the rain.  i’m one of those people who would enjoy walking under a slight drizzle (or even a medium one) without an umbrella (…ella, ella, eh?).  i just hate the thought of travelling through it.

saw avenue q last saturday and it was so worth it.  and i didn’t really mind that it was raining hard (because the typhoon signals were going up apparently).  what i did mind is the water dripping from the holes on the window of the bus.  i hate hate hate hate drippings!  and i’ve lost the comfy cocoon feeling from riding the bus.  it’s become icky once again.  ewwwww.

on the upside, at least i didn’t get my feet wet.

 

freaky friday

what is it with friday?

when we got out to wait for the buses, i was expecting them to be almost full.  well, the one we got on was.  but surprisingly, it never got to the point of SRO that i’d expect for that trip.  the back row (where i sat, naturally) had only three people on, when it would have seated 6.  and so i enjoyed my mental headbanging to storm large while the bus raced through the slex.

then i go to the lrt station (because yesterday is the last time i’m riding a jeep the traffic is so bad) and the train comes in just as i got to the platform.  and it’s almost empty?  at 8.15 am?  and for the first time in a long long time i got to sit?

where have all the people gone?

 

ignorance is bliss, but what you don’t know may hurt you

my dear aunt always warned me about showing off my gadgets while on public transport. there’s the danger of getting my phone or my mp3 player stolen from right under my nose, or, like what happened to me once, dropping the device and sitting on tenterhooks waiting for the people to get off so i can search on the floor (thankfully that one ended well). and if she had known just how much i depend on my mp3 player while on the bus, she’d have warned me even more about paying attention to my surroundings. well, this time, she didn’t need to. i found out on my own.

 

why i don’t like mondays

taking the bus to work is never easy.  taking the bus to work on a monday morning is hell.

i was woken up at almost 5.30 this morning, after more than 12 hours of sleep (long story), and my wonky brain was telling my uncooperative body to like, wake up, like, now?  because you know it’s monday and you have to take the bus to work?  well, a zonked-out aircon is preferable to the bus.  that’s how bad it is.

monday morning bus rides have always been a problem since even before i started working.  most people who are weekend commuters make it a point to leave the suburbs on sunday evening at the latest to avoid the massive traffic jam on monday morning.  daily commuters like me hardly have any choice.  the only possible thing is to wake up early enough so that if i had to stand in the bus for the next 50 kilometers, at least it won;t be for too long.  but the time i woke up this morning put paid to that.  and it was also too late to take my alternative, which was go to the next town (actually a city) and take the non-aircon bus going to lawton.  damn.

nevertheless, undaunted, my aunt and i headed to the unofficial bus terminal to wait for the buses.  the first one actually had several vacant seats, but we preferred the one headed to another terminal.  four buses later, we were frustrated at the situation.  all buses are full, and with not a few standing passengers.  it’s looking really bad.  which is why my aunt decided to finally take her car to work.  thank merlin.

so, today, i actually avoided another monday morning disaster. except for the tardiness part.  that’s something i’m still working on.

 

the catalyst

does anybody ever notice what kind of seats buses have? i don’t. but today i really really did.

the bus i ride in everyday has several types of seat covers. the new kind has pseudo-leather seats that must be made of some material that repels dust. it is so repellant, in fact, that a person can fall from his seat if the bus is too fast and makes an abrupt turn. like i almost did this morning.

in fact, the rollercoaster ride i was on this morning only highlighted how much the bus seats contribute to a person’s physical and mental well-being.

because i was at the aisle spot of a three-seater and there was no handrail (which may or may not be a lucky strike) i had to plant my right leg firmly in front of me to keep from slipping. i couldn’t nap at all because of the concentration required of me, in addition to tiring my poor fat leg before it was due for a workout. my back probably winced at the awful posture i subjected it to. and my arms ached from the effort of holding onto the front handle.

at which point i finally decided to chronicle my daily battles with public transportation.

the end.