i found this incident quite funny. i was on my way home yesterday, seated in the front seat of an fx, when suddenly the smell of chorizo wafted inside the fx and i heard from behind the rustle of plastic wrapper being opened. i’m guessing that a fellow passenger was getting ready to enjoy a snack on the way home. however, alas, it was not meant to be because the driver spoke up. he said, “let’s eat later when we have disembarked already so that it would not smell inside the fx.” i’m sure it was a very embarrassing moment for the person who was planning to eat and he/she’ll think twice about eating inside an fx again.
i was riding the FX with an Antipolo signboard home. it was already past six o’clock in the evening so the traffic was already heavy. i had two co-passengers, a guy and a girl, who knew each other. they were getting off at metro walk, which was not far from where we boarded the fx. usually the fare is only P10 for short distances but it is common for fx drivers to demand P20 as the minimum fare in order to make a profit since that route is quite long and traffic is really heavy.
anyway, the guy pays the driver P20 for his and his companion’s fare. the driver told them that the minimum fare was P20, so they needed to pay additional P20. the guy reacted a little strongly since the distance was not really far. then the guy and his companion began discussing with each other about the fare, how both of them did not have change and how the additional P20 was not in their budget. suddenly, the driver told them quietly, “never mind. you don’t have to pay the fare.” they were stunned and became a bit sheepish. actually, i was also stunned because i’ve never heard a driver react like that. drivers usually trade barbs with passengers who complain about the fare or other drivers stop the vehicle to let out the passengers so that they can pick others who are more ammendable to the higher fare or passengers who will really go the distance. the driver continued to drive in silence with nary a snide comment or any remark that would show his displeasure.
the two passengers became quiet and they didn’t know how to react. then the guy tried to pay their fare, but the driver would not accept. i can surmise that they felt guilty because if i were in their shoes, i would also feel guilty. finally, we arrived at metro walk and since traffic was so slow they were able to get off at the left side. the girl was nearest to the door at the back of the driver’s seat so she got off first. then the guy followed but not before dropping their fare into the lap of the driver. i don’t know if it was P20 or P40 but all i know was that the two passengers were still a little bit unbalanced by the unusual reaction of the driver. even after the two passengers disembarked, the driver didn’t say anything about what happened. some drivers would have made cutting remarks or tried to justify their actions or some would have boasted of having turned the tables on the two passengers. but the driver just kept quiet and continued on his usual journey.
this is one example of the how a villain can become a hero. or how to use guilt effectively. hehehe.
saw on the t-shirt of the man in front of me in the jeepney:
NARCAR Racing
35th Grandfrix…
life has a way of making me laugh amidst the difficulty of commuting and the horrendous traffic, especially early this morning.
last friday i overheard this conversation between two first year college guys. they were talking about a school project that involved going to high schools and distributing questionnaires. they were discussing the schools that they’ll cover. the first guy told the second guy that he wants to go with second guy if he was going to st. paul’s. then all of a sudden the first guy asked his friend, “what would you do if you like this girl and you find out that she’s bisexual? liligawan mo pa rin ba?” i don’t quite remember his friend’s reply. first guy continued, “ang hirap nun kung marami syang kaibigan na babae, di mo alam kabit na nya pala yun.” then they made generalizations that 40% of girls are bisexual or something. i don’t know where they got this figure.
this conversation just struck me because i never really thought about female bisexuality from a boy/man’s point of view. it must be because being female, i’m more preoccupied about the dangers of getting involved with guys who are bisexuals or closet homosexuals. do guys really worry about female bisexuality or was this something that only teenage guys worry about?
earlier that same day, i was listening to nicoleliyala (is that the spelling) read a problem sent by a female listener who was in a relationship with another female. she was complaining about how possessive and jealous her partner was. i liked how nicoleliyala answered the listener. she said something like women are very emotional by nature so being in a relationship with another female doubles the emotional “aspect” of the relationship. i wouldn’t know how true that would be but it seems highly probable.
Travel by land to Bicol is really a long journey. The first time I went to Bicol was more than 10 years ago with my bestfriend and her family in Camalig, Albay. We termed the journey, a long and winding road, from the title of a Beatles song. The second time I went was last May 2007 with good friends and former officemates. We went to Camarines Sur and the journey was around 11 hours. 
Our destination was the Camarines Sur Watersport Complex. My friend Judc wanted to try wakeboarding. But before we proceeded to CWC, we dropped by the home of a former officemate, who relocated back to her hometown in Bicol. She fed us what was supposed to be breakfast, but became our lunch already because we arrived very late. After eating, she took us to see a waterfalls in their area. If we had arrived early, we could also have visited a nearby island.
The trek to the waterfalls took us around 30 to 45 minutes. Good thing the sky was a little bit overcast and the area was densely forested. When we reached the falls, we were so sweaty that we really had to take a dip in the cool water, that is after a lot of picture taking. The only people there were the 
local children and a caretaker. It was amazing seeing the children swinging like monkeys in a long rope hanging across the width of the falls. The children made it look so easy but when we tried it, we could not make it work.
We stood right underneath the area where the water met the earth. It was glorious to feel the heavy water as it struck us. The feeling made the long, sweaty trek worthwhile. Almost all waterfalls I’ve been to required quite long treks. I guess it must be so that we can work up more sweat and feel more refreshed when we take a dip in the cool to sometimes very cold water. After a few more minutes frolicking in the waters, we walked back to our the van where two of our companions waited for us. Then we proceeded to the beach for lunch and a little rest.
It was already late when we reached the CWC. We checked in at the EcoVillage. Our accommodations were small cabins made out of materials from container vans. It had an air condition and two beds. Very cozy and the walls were gaily painted.
Restrooms were in a separate building. I remembered waking up at around 4am to go to the bathroom. There were lampposts strategically located outside making the area look surreal.
EcoVillage is quite a long walk from CWC. It’s best to have your own transportation. When we got to CWC after freshening up, it was already dusk. The competition was already winding down. We just looked around the place and the watched some of the wake boarders doing final runs. After that we went back to EcoVillage to eat dinner then we proceeded to the open field where the awarding ceremony for the winners of the competition was done. This was followed by performances of some of the best bands in the country today. There was also a night market on th
e outskirts of the field. We went home at around midnight.
The next day after a late breakfast, we went back to CWC. My friends really wanted to try wake boarding even though we were told that there would be exhibitions that morning that’s why the wake boarding area was not open to the public. However, when we got there, we found out that the exhibitions will start after lunch so the area was open to the public. My friends got very excited and since they were dressed for a “just in case” scenario, they quickly fell in line. I had to go back to our cabin to change to a pair of shorts. When I got back they had already tried knee boarding twice but weren’t successful so far in completing the big rectangular-shaped pond. The first time I tried, I fell off when I tried to make the first turn. On the second try I was able to make the turn but I fell off half way thru the third side. After that, I felt too tired to try again. Only Judc was able to complete the circuit, twice. She crowed about it all the way back to Pasig.
There were some celebrities hanging out at CWC while we were there. Some of the guests had their pictures taken with the celebrities. This is a picture of my friend with Marc Nelson. I was dithering on whether to also have a turn posing with him that when I was finally able to conquer my inhibitions, it was already too late. He was walking away swiftly to have a turn at wake boarding.
We started home at around 2:30pm. It was another long journey. We stopped in Quezon for dinner. I got home at around 12am. It was a long and tiring trip but the places we visited made it all worthwhile.
