Passenger Talesstories about my experiences as a traveler and passenger

The next day, we had a late breakfast. It was raining outside when we started. After breakfast, three of us went to the public market to buy pasalubong. Since we were going to Vigan after Baguio, we were really constrained in buying fresh produce since these would not survive the jaunt to Vigan. I had to forgo buying strawberries and grapes. The vegetable seller told us that the shelf life of broccoli was four days while longer for the cauliflower making it possible for us to bring back to Manila. The public market was interesting with various kinds of fresh vegetables and fruits, longganisa, preserves, and souvenir items. I even saw fresh blueberries for the first time. There was also pomegranate.

After going through the market we decided to go back to the hotel. When we got back, my companion decided to accompany the others back to the market to assuage her guilt in forgetting about them. I stayed in the hotel room because I didn’t relish going to Burnham Park alone. It would have been a good opportunity to take some more pictures but considering the wet weather, staying in the hotel room seemed preferable. We had a late lunch then we checked out from the hotel since the coaster that would bring us to Vigan arrived already.

Masarap ang simoy ng hangin para mapawi ang init ng araw.

(A gentle breeze is very much appreciated during a hot day.)

Ngunit kapag sobrang lakas naman ang hangin, nakakatakot ito at nakakasira ng mga dinadaanan nya. Kuha ko itong mga litrato nung pauwi kami galing Vigan at kadadaan lang ng Bagyong Cosme sa La Union.

(However, a very strong wind can be scary and destructive of those in its path. I took these pictures on our way home from Vigan. The storm code named Cosme just passed through the province of La Union.)

My aunt taught me to save when I was still a kid. She used to take one peso from my meager allowance and put it in a piggy bank (that was not a pig). However, as I grew older and became responsible for saving my money I forgot about saving regularly and I no longer had a piggy bank. I opened my first savings account when I was already working for a couple of years. Still the same story, I withdraw money and forget to deposit. My mom ended up maintaining the account. Last year I opened another account in another bank. I was determined to save. Unfortunately, the money I put in the account are the money I need to pay my bills so instead of saving for rainy days, I save to pay my debts.

Ever since I was a kid, I have been fascinated with workmen’s tools. There is something very appealing about their shiny appearance and usefulness. Of course the first tools I got acquainted with were the hammer, screwdriver and wrench. These were among the tools that the carpenter would bring when he was summoned to fix something in the apartment. However, as I grew older, I discovered that there are all kinds of tools and the tools I was acquainted with in my childhood had cousins that are more technically advanced. There are air tools, cordless power tools, electric power tools, etc. Since a man is only as good as his tools then I guess he also had to innovate and improve his apparatus to cope with the new demands of a technologically driven society.

Until I was diagnosed with endometriosis, I never heard of progesterone. Now, I search through the web for information about progesterone/progestins, gonadotropin releasing hormone agonists, and aromatase inhibitors. These are just some of the possible medications that can help manage the medical condition I found myself in. I do not want to go through a surgical operation so I am leaning more toward medical management. So far, two out of the three doctors I consulted prescribed injection over surgery since I am in no hurry to have a baby. The only reason it is taking me quite some time to decide to finally go for a treatment is because of the side effects, feeling the symptoms of menopause. Menopause when you are not quite thirty, it is kind of hard to swallow. Fortunately, after the medication you can say goodbye to the menopause symptoms.

Last May 15, our division went to Baguio. I was asleep for around half the trip. There wasn’t much to see since I’ve been to Baguio a few times before. I prefer seeing rice lands to houses. I only sat up and took notice of the scenery when we started our climb up through Kennon Road. I think that was the first time I passed by that road. We stopped by the Lion’s Head Statue and had our picture taken.

Going up through Kennon was certainly an enjoyable experience for me. We passed by several waterfalls and the scenery was as green as I wanted it to be. However, as we climbed higher we passed by areas where portions of the mountains were cut and instead of green you see brown and grey. A very depressing sight. I am not sure if these were caused by mining companies.

It was drizzling when we reached our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Veniz. It’s located across Burnham Park and very near the market. It’s right at the heart of downtown Baguio. After checking in and placing our things in our rooms we decided to go to SM Baguio because I haven’t been there yet. We just walked from our hotel to SM. It was an uphill climb that’s why we were out of breath when we reached SM. We played tourist and posed for our pictures in the patio until heavy rain finally drove us inside.

It was still drizzling when we decided to go back to the hotel. We did not bring an umbrella so it was fortunate that our jackets had hoods. Going down, we went inside some Ukay-ukay stores. A visit to Baguio is not complete unless you browse through the Ukay-ukay stores. My officemates bought stuff toys, not clothes. I just brought two t-shirts for my nephew. They were overruns and not second hand. We finally returned to our hotel and rested a bit before going down for dinner.

At around 9pm, four of us sneaked away to check out the nightlife. Unfortunately it was raining so we had to decide while still at the hotel what we really wanted to do. We decided we wanted to sing so we had the taxi driver bring us to a kareoke place. He brought us to The Chairman. The only available room was good for five so we had to pay for an extra person that was not there since there were only four of us. The room was spacious but the songs were not the latest. We were joking around that the group was divided between the Singing Bees and the American Idol. Only one of the group could carry a tune while the rest of us just had stout hearts and high self-confidence. Hehe. In the end, the Singing Bees won since halfway through, the American Idol fell asleep. Sometimes, it’s not the quality of the voice but stamina that wins the day (or night)

to be continued

Nakakatuwa na may mga ganitong lugar parin sa ating bansa at may mga likas na tanawin na di pa nadidiskubre ng maraming tao. Ngunit nakakalungkot na na ang mga ganitong tanawin ay unti unti ng nawawala dahil sa pagkakasira sa ating mga kagubatan.

(It’s great that there are still beautiful sights like this in our country and there are still other natural wonders waiting to be discovered. However, it’s very sad to note that such wonders are slowly disappearing because of the destruction of our forests.)

I have been battling with my weight and stored fats for sometime already. That is what I get for having a sedentary lifestyle but not so sedentary eating habits. I have tried some quick weight loss diets to no avail. It is really hard to resist eating when there is a steady stream of food at work and the people you work with love to eat. Eating is not just a hobby in our office it is a passion and it shows in the physical aspects of the people in our office. But I know one quick way to lose weight, get sick. I was sick for some weeks last month up to early this month and people were remarking that I lost weight. It was true but when I weighed in, I was very disappointed to note that I only lost two measly pounds, which I quickly gained back (and more?) once I started to feel better again.

Selling real estate seems to be a very lucrative job. A few years back I remember a friend working on her license. I do no think she pushed through with it because something else came up. However, such a job needs a lot of perseverance, salesmanship and a lot of energy for one to succeed and it also needs the right market condition. I do not think I have the talent to sell anything, much less an office space Connecticut, although, I think I have a talent for pointing people to the right direction.

There are days when commuting really gets to me. If you are riding a jeepney, you will inhale all the air pollution from the other vehicles on the road and even those from the nearby factories before you can reach your destination. There are really times when I wish I had a car, even a small one would do. Then I start thinking, where would I get the money to buy one? What about parking? An additional car in our compound would be one car too many. Then there is the rising cost of gasoline, money needed for car maintenance and car insurance, hmmm…Commuting is easier and a lot cheaper.