Holidays are coming

The first sign of the coming Christmas season...

As the year is drawing to a close, I am getting busier and more exhausted everyday - more so as the weather changes drastically from hot to cold and cold to hot. Nevertheless, it has been a wonderful 314 days so far.

I can already feel the holidays.

My everyday scenario on my way home from work or graduate school.

Wet season

On my way home from graduate school, I had to wade through ankle-deep brackish water at Buendia to get to the bus that seemed to be waiting wearily for passengers to make their way through the concrete jungle under seige by natural forces.

Needless to say, the wet season is back with a vengeance with matching eerie lightning and loud thunderclaps to boot. And what happened to me seems to be only a preview of the days to come under the rainy season. And this time, may the Ondoy tragedy not happen again.

Travelogue

There's nothing like a long journey home to let my mind get lost in its own sea of thoughts.

While the things I think about seem to be permanently stuck at a certain point, the actual feeling of being in motion eases the furious battle in my head and assures me of a promise of moving on.

"If I could make these moments endless
If I could stop the winds of change
If we just keep our eyes wide open
Then everything would stay the same..."

The way is barred by many obstacles but I know that beyond all the red lights, the intersections, the toll plazas, and the heavy traffic - lies the goal, the destination, that makes the journey worthwhile.

"And I know that only time will tell me how
We'll carry on without each other..."

Friday stretch

Today was my first time to commute alone from Makati City to Lipa City. Thankfully, I was blessed to hop aboard a bus where the last available seat was waiting for me. As if calling me as I made my way down the aisle, the seat was dead center at the back of the bus.

Although I'm used to going home alone since I was in college, going straight home from work was different from my school time jeepney-LRT-bus-tricycle routine with walks in between.

Here are the scenarios of commuting from where I work to where I live in the province:

1. I have to ride a jeepney going to Glorietta / SM Mall.

2. I walk to the MRT Ayala Station where I wait in long lines to buy a ticket and get on the train.

3. I go down the last stop, which is Taft Station.

4. I walk some more going to the indirectly connected station of the Light Rail Transit 1 (LRT 1), which is EDSA Station.

5. I buy a ticket, get on the train, and go down Gil Puyat/Buendia Station.

6. I go down the stairs of the station, walk some more, and find a safe place in the highway where I can cross to the other side where the bus station was. Oh, after going down the stairs, another option is walk some more towards the overpass a couple of blocks away in order to get to the bus station.

7. I catch a bus that passes by Tambo Exit, which is the exit nearest where our neighborhood is. The bus drives through the Southern Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and Southern Tagalog Access Road (STAR) Tollway in a two to three-hour long travel. Fridays have the most awfully heavy traffic from 4pm onwards, since ‘all the people’ are going home to their provinces for the weekend.

8. I get off at Tambo Exit, cross the street and walk towards the tricycle waiting area.

9. I ride a trike and get off right in front of our house.

There you go... a How-To-Get-From-Point-A-to-Point-B made personally by yours truly.

Unlike Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, sadly, I have no red shoes whose heels I can click three times while saying 'There's no place like home' to shorten the 3-hour commute back to Lipa City. Whenever I was asked, "Granted you can possess one superpower, what would it be and why?" I would always answer, "Teleport: It is the fastest and most hassle-free way to go to different places anytime, anywhere." :)

Anyway, I really like the Manila Light Rail Transit System. It's an efficient [not to mention cheap] way of getting around the Metro (in spite of the fact that one gets a first-hand experience of how it feels like to be one of those sardines packed in cans especially during rush hour).

Inasmuchas driving is a skill, I believe commuting is a skill, too. :D

The daily grind

There are quite a number of ways how I can go to work in the morning and go home in the afternoon or evening.

There are also a variety of vehicles I can ride during the day. Unfortunately, the most popular ones that people ride in the metro - namely the jeepneys, FXs, tricycles, and transits - haven't been captured in pictures by yours truly (yet), except for the bus.

This is only a sneak preview into the exciting world of the Metro Manila commute.

Now, if you excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, I have to start walking to catch my first ride of the day.