For me, running out of money while travelling constitutes as a travel emergency. It is especially scary when you are in a foreign country with no friends or family who can help you. This happened to us in Beijing because our friend underestimated his expenses and borrowed from us but since we only brought enough we all ended up with no money. He was forced to withdraw from his credit card, which he did not want to do because interest and exchange rate fees were high. Unfortunately, the first time he tried to withdraw, no money came out although his bank sent him a text message regarding the withdrawal. We had to go back to the bank the next day to report it. After plenty of explanations and discussions, an agreement was reached then we went to another bank to make an over the counter withdrawal successfully. All’s well that ends well.
Technology is really great. I remember when I was a kid my grandmother used to constantly admonish us minimize opening and closing the refrigerator door. Of course, when you’re a child and you come in hot and thirsty from playing outside, the first thing you do is open the fridge to get cold water. When I was in high school, I saw for the first time in a cousin’s house a refrigerator where water can be dispensed without opening the door. How cool was that? I did not think about how the water got there, I assumed they filled it up with water every time the container inside ran out. It seems that I was working from a wrong perception. Now I realized that it similar to how a washing machine gets filled with water. A tube connects your water supply to your refrigerator. However, refrigerator filter is essential to remove contaminants from the water before you can drink it. You can have automatic supply of cold filtered water without having to fill up water containers and putting it in the fridge. Maybe this is also a cheaper alternative to buying a separate water dispenser and constantly buying gallons of distilled water.
I bought my three-year old nephew a sleeveless souvenir shirt from Boracay. When I arrived home, I showed it to him immediately. He was very excited. He changed into the shirt right then and there. The timing was right since he and his mother were going to run some errands so his mother got him shorts that was more suitable for wearing outside. However, he did not want the shorts his mother gave him. He was looking at my luggage and said, “Shorts.” I was perplexed until his mother explained that he was waiting for the matching shorts to his t-shirt. Hahaha! Unfortunately for my nephew, auntie did not buy him shorts, although, he really waited for some time for me to produce the anticipated matching shorts from my luggage. It took awhile before he understood that auntie only bought the t-shirt. At least now I know that next time I’ll buy him a shirt, I shall buy him shorts also.
Kalibo International Airport was bustling with foreign and local tourists. Hundreds of Taiwanese nationals waited in line while airport officials were checking their passports. My two friends and I were resting, trying to catch our breath from the boat ride, the very hot van ride, followed by a very windy bus ride and finally the slow tricycle ride from Boracay to Kalibo. We were a little hungry so we took out our junkfood and started eating. Then we remembered that we brought Nescafe 3-in-1 sachets and our own styrocups. All that was missing was hot water. Good thing hot water was available for P5 a cup. After buying the water and mixing our coffee, we sat down to savor our Nescafe 3-in-1. When I finished drinking I said to Lui, “Ang sarap talaga ng Nescafe.” (Nescafe is really delicious.) Then I realized I sounded like a advertisement for Nescafe. So I told Lui that our experience would make a good advertisement for the coffee. Who knows, maybe I’ll see the scene on television one day 
A clean toilet is very important. Sometimes when you are out and nature suddenly calls you, the search for a empty and clean toilet can be frustrating. Usually it is not a problem in big malls. Restrooms are generally clean but there are times when the lines are long. Of course we do not notice the brands of the bowls, whether it is a Saniflo toilet or something else, but we notice immediately if it is clean or yucky. I remember one time after watching a movie I went in search of a restroom. I knew that the one inside the cinema would be full so I went to the one outside. It was full also and so was on the floor below. I ended up in the basement restroom while the cinema was on the third floor.
Keeping track of documents is one of the big challenges in the office. Companies now are lucky because they can buy a good document management software easily. We used to have such software to track documents as it travels from one office to the next but when we transferred to our new building, we had to suspend its use. The reason was that we had no LAN in the new building. There were many problems that cropped up and until now, after three years, we still do not have LAN. So now we still use logbooks to track papers and documents that we give to and receive from the different offices.
Yesterday while I was riding the jeepney, I was subjected to the most disgusting music ever. The driver was listening to this band, I don’t think they were popular, where the lyrics were all about sex, sex and more sex. The songs were littered with lines such as “Eat my/your pussy” and words like ass, sex, and more pussy. I can’t believe that some people think that such garbage as music. I was very thankful that I was able to get down from the jeepney after a short while.
I was crossing the street to get to our meeting place when the MMDA directing the traffice suddenly signaled the vehicles to start. I was then stuck in the middle of the road while I waited for the stop signal so that I can cross to the other side. While waiting, a car suddenly slowed down in front of me and the driver lowered his window and winked at me. I was stupefied! What a maniac! Yikes! It gave me the creeps.
I envy how our librarian looks now. She is very slim. I was surprised when I came back after almost a year of absence and saw how slim she had become. I asked her advice on what the best weight loss supplement was and she told me a tea product. I have not tried it yet because I always forget to buy. She advised me to start it on a weekend because at first your body has to constantly release the toxins. For these things, it is more comfortable to stay at home.
Luisa and I were waiting for a jeepney to ride. There were many passengers also vying for seats in the jeepneys so when I saw the empty seats in front of the jeepney, I hurriedly pointed it to Lui and we were able to get the seats. Others were trying to get into the back. Usually, I don’t like riding in front but I knew that we could not let the opportunity pass. Since Lui would have to get off first, I was the one seated beside the driver. I took out my P100 to pay both our fares. The driver asked if we had change but I told him no. Lui was trying to give me her share of P7 but I told her to keep it. When the driver asked us again if we had change, I persisted with my negative answer. He was reallyt trying make us produce a smaller amount but I did not give in. Actually, I had change but if I gave it to him, I’d have a hard time later. Finally, I saw the driver take out a wad of bills from his pocket. It turned out that he had change for my P100. Sometimes drivers and passengers bluff each other when it comes to paying or getting the fare. In truth, I felt a little guilty lying to the driver but it turned out he was lying to me too. I guess we were both lying to each other and he gave in first.
