Seasonal Traffic Rush

Oh well, what can I say? It's the seasonal traffic rush on the road today. Just can't imagine how heavy the traffic is this few days. My usual going home duration is about 30 to 45 minutes and the past few days almost doubled.

Can't say enough.

berso sa metro invades the mrt By milan via MrGreenBug

The LRT from my memory is a stinky, badly lit, poorly ventilated, unkempt means of transportation.
but it has one saving grace!


The berso sa metro advertisement posted inside the trains, kept me entertained all throughout college,
going to and fro school, and a few more more months when I was assigned to work at OOCL,
i'd spend the whole train ride from pedro gil to edsa taft just trying to decipher those verses and
falling in love with the spanish language..


and now its in the mrt as well :) I'd like to give kudos to Instituto de Cervantes for thinking of such innovative
promotional campaign, not only does it pass time while travelling, im learning as well.


cant wait to see more of those verses.

ExSqueeze Me.

Came in early to work today, congratulate me, well earlier than my usual so congratulations are still in order :D

But man, it was chaos early in the morning.
There was this one lady wearing frosted pink lipstick (for intergalactic effect yata. This is sooo wrong. WHAT IS IT with frosted pink and old ladies? One of these days I would have to write an entry about which lipstick color best suits a certain age group.) on her lips and on her teeth as well who was trying to push her way in telling no one in particular to please move so she can squeeze in ‘kasi maluwag pa naman sa gitna’ I crane my neck to look for the imaginary space she is talking about.

Hello. I will not voluntarily stick my face approximately just 8-10 inches away from someone I don’t even know if the space she was talking about actually existed.

But that wasn’t the funny part. The girl in front of me had her big bum sticking way out. (I don’t think she could help it, she was born that way with big boo-tay! ) and frosted-pink-lola asked her to move to the center of the train, in between the seats.. probably the location of the space she imagined, and the girl with big booty told her that she can go ahead, she’s about to get off the train anyway ‘mahihirapan lang ako kasi malapit na ako e’ I was secretly glad of this info since I could not place my hand on the pole cause she was hugging it. As in full body contact from her head to her legs. (girl you need a boyfriend for that, the pole is for everyone to steady themselves while they ride the mrt) I got my hand on it but she was crushing my hand with her stomach and the guy behind me is hitting my head with his forearm so imagine my joy when she said this when we were at magallanes station.

Ayala station.
…ok maybe the next one.


Buendia.
…well guadalupe is still relatively close to magallanes. Somehow


Guadalupe.
…maybe she measures near and far a different way.


Boni.
… she’s still here

Shaw.
… hmmmn.

Ortigas station. She gets off.

I couldn’t even react. Ortigas is near lang pala no.

################################################################################################

I know its mean but if you’re –ehem- big boned, please don’t squeeze in anymore when you know you wont fit. It just makes it hard for everyone.

Im slightly big boned as well so don’t hate ;D

Vampire commuting

Commuting to and fro the office has always been a hassle for me. Hoping really hard for something syfy-ish such as a floo network, a flying car, those travel tubes found in Futurama, or even the old and trusted “Beam me up, Scotty.”

I’m sure Scotty wouldn’t know that if you ask Kristin Kreuk, referencing the movie Euro Trip here.

I’ve always wanted a schedule of ten or eleven in the morning and add nine hours to it. That’s my favorite time for work schedule. For the simple reason that the hassle of commuting can be experienced by all of us.

You don’t have stand on the bus; you can pick your favorite seat.
You don’t get to seat beside cranky FX co-passengers, you might end up riding an almost empty public utility vehicle.
And traffic. You don’t end up with the godforsaken traffic in the morning.

But alas, you can’t change the company policy of “you have to be here before nine in the morning or else.” And you have to follow that of course. You’re just an employee. You really don’t have a say in anything. And you enjoyed watching Twilight the movie, but it doesn’t really matter if that’s the case.

That’s why we have a boost of earphoned people commuting our highways. I’m sure ten or twenty years from now, all those EENT doctors would probably end up laughing ala Count Dracula with matching lightning and thunder at their clinic’s window.

So yeah, I have no point here actually. That’s what we all encounter during mornings.

Actually, that’s what I encounter during mornings. I know you might have a different one. And I know you want a hassle-free commuting.

It leaves us to the best job in the world.

A graveyard caretaker.

No commuting needed. Work hours are graveyard (duh) shift.

Yeah…

Hope (Asa)

I was on my way to work today and on the street I happen to come a cross two children walking in the middle island of the road on the wrong side of the road (my side so they were on my left). And as I passed by the two children, one struck me most.

This child, probably between 8 to 10 years old (though I'm really not good at guessing ages), was wearing this too big shirt for him so I guess you can imagine how shaggy the picture is. Anyway, this shirt was black
and there were three words written on them in RED BOLD letters saying: 'ASA KA PA?'.

Those three words really struck me as I and some friends I know use these phrase usually when we are left hanging on something or feeling hopeless about a situation to turn into something positive or being able to expect that things are not to improve.

In these rocky times, it's really hard not to say 'ASA KA PA?' and be pessimistic about the current affairs -- career, finance, politics, etc.

What about you, 'ASA KA PA?'.

Traffic Observation

Just would like to share my observation on the traffic situation from Timog to Ortigas, that's my usual commute route these days:

     - Without traffic - 15 to 20 minutes
     - With a little traffic - 30 to 45 minutes
     - With heavy traffic - 1 to 1.5 hours (yes hours)

That would be if you're driving by personal transportation. If by bus, maybe add about 10 to 20 minutes more on the above-estimates of travel times.

But the thing is, I have observed that if:

     - Traffic is slow from Timog to Santolan, expect that traffic is a little faster after that upto Shaw maybe;
     - Traffic is fairly moving from Timog to Santolan, expect that traffic is bumper to bumper after that upto Shaw maybe;

Nonetheless, heavy traffic is caused by the volume of vehicles on the thouroughfare and add that with unruly drivers and those "VIP" with escorts weaving left and right. That's my opinion.

No bright traffic future, I guess.

Holiday Traffic

The Yuletide season is in the air and I feel that it's hitting the roads too.

Just recently, my going home commuting time has lasted an hour to an hour and a half from just 30 to 45 minutes. That's a lot of time wasted on the road don't you think?

I can only think of one reason why this is so. What else, it's soon going to be Christmas and everyone is busy going to the malls due to weekend after weekend 3-day sale of these malls despite of the just recent calamity that hit Metro Manila. I guess it's our way Filipinos dealing with calamity -- let it pass and continue on with our lives. Hmmm..

Crazy Monday

What can I say, today (10/10/2009) was a crazy Monday. Why do I say that? Well, I left the house for work early that the usual time I leave and it took me almost two hours to get to work.

On a few-cars day, from Timog Ave, QC going to Ortigas, Pasig City, it takes only about 10 to 15 minutes -- tops by car and about 30 minutes or so by bus.

On a typical day, the same distance will take me roughly 45 minutes to an hour -- by car or by bus.

But today, the same distance -- two hours??? This is crazy!

Aftermath Of Typhoon 'Ondoy'

Who could have prepared for a downpour of rain that lasted almost 24 hours with it's peak downpour on the morning of September 26, 2009 that within six (6) hours the amount of rainfall is almost equal to the average rainfall in a month.

Despite of the damage, loss of life, and trauma that this typhoon has brought to many of our countrymen I would like to share some lighter side of this tragic event:

1) I couldn't stop thinking what more could have happened if this peak of rainfall happened during the night when everyone is sound asleep. I see that it's better (not that it is) that it happened during the day. For sure it could have been more devastating if it happened at night;

2) I do understand the sentiments of the people affected by the sudden release of water by the dams but it got me thinking what more could have happened if the operators of the dam waited longer after everybody got warned about the release of water. I guess it was a choice of picking the lesser evil (not that it is right) to benefit more. What if the dam collapsed even with warning more damage could have been done. Imagine tons of water raging down with mud, concrete, and other debris; and

*** UPDATE: 10/15/2009 ***
Found an article that I think have the same sentiments as I have: 'Metro flooding: were the dams to blame?'

3) I can't imagine if it happened on a weekday when almost everyone is out especially the working force. Where families are literally apart because of work, school, or had to simply stay at home. The few people left at home could have been at higher risk of not surviving. I can say no more to what effect if this has gone by not on a weekend.

To us, that have gone by dry be thankful. Say our own wishes and prayers for the affected by this unwanted and unexpected turn of events.

New Exercise Route (Coming Soon)

So, I have spent most of my working career in Ortigas and those times it was fun to walk around -- even going to work. Times have changed. A two-way street has changed into a one way street, there were more cars than ever and a lot of FX plying around, and one cannot miss that over pass that was built to cross Julia Vargas and Emerald Avenue. Such a steep climb and don't forget it's slippery when wet surface.

Another is nearing it's completion and I bet no one can miss this especially those going to Megamall. Yup, it's almost finished -- the overpass over at the once intersection of Juila Vargas and Bank Road (I think). Currently, there's these pedestrian lanes on the four corners of the intersection. Then again it's cars versus pedestrians. Of course you know who won -- the cars.

This will soon change my afternoon walk from my office to the bus stop. Can't wait to try it.. as if?! Happy overpassing soon.

Foot Bridge/Overpass (Relatively) Too Low

I now usually travel by bus on the south bound lane of EDSA and will alight the bus before the intersection of Meralco Ave. and EDSA then will just cross EDSA going to Galleria Mall.Admittedly you have to be a courageous pedestrian to cross EDSA even if there's a pedestrian crossing lane.

Anyway, had anyone used the foot bridge or overpass that's located at the intersection of Meralco Ave. and EDSA near the EDSA Shrine/POEA? I have tried it twice since it was built and it altered my daily commute. Aside from altering may daily commute, I have noticed that when I was forced to try it, that it crossed under the fly-over and MRT. On this part, where it literally crosses under the fly-over and MRT is relatively very low. At an instant, I found this way very annoying. Anyone with at least the same height as me (around 6 feet) will surely hit his/her head on the concrete from the fly-over or MRT rail support. I'm sure anyone coming from Galleria going to take the south bound transportation will have to cross the relatively low foot bridge or overpass unlike before and I'm sure are annoyed but can do anything.

Another realization came to my mind when the rains in the metro started pouring heavily. If those were relative low for a tall guy. What happens to people with average height cope up when they bring their umbrellas and use that foot bridge or overpass. I haven't tried it and I might not be able since I purposely avoid using it.

What about those people with handicaps. I can't say much about it but in my opinion, MMDA surely prioritized the vehicular traffic over pedestrians. There was once a sign boasting that foot bridge or overpass as having able to improve travel time which supports my previous statement.

Try it once and let's hope you don't bump your head and forget you're in Metro Manila.