Passenger Talesstories about my experiences as a traveler and passenger

1.) Hold-uppers – I’m sure jeepney drivers hate hold-uppers because they these people threaten the drivers at gun point and rob them of their hard-earned money. Sometimes drivers not only lose their earnings for the day to these criminals but also their lives.

2.) Corrupt police, traffic enforcers, Citos, MMDAs etc. – I would have put these people in number one but at least they don’t kill the drivers ( I think). Drivers hate these people in general because they prevent drivers from breaking traffic rules and regulations. It’s a cat and mouse thing, in a neutral setting, neither is good or bad, it’s just the way it is. Drivers want to get as many passengers and do as many rounds as possible to have more money. Sometimes they break the rules to get ahead. Police and traffice enforcers are there for the safety of both drivers and passengers that is why they monitor and call the attention of the erring drivers. Both have important roles to play in society. Nevertheless, there are police officers and traffic enforcers who are always on the look-out for erring drivers in order to get fast cash. Instead of giving tickets to the drivers, they are open to or demand bribes. During peak seasons, some enforcers just make up charges or make a big deal out of minor infractions just to get some money. I heard that P500 is now the minimum payout or maybe that’s just for private vehicles. Although in many cases, drivers rather pay bribes than having to go and get their driver’s license from the LTO and waste a day’s pay or earning. So corruption in this case is a two-way street. As they say in economics, there can be no market if there are no buyers or sellers.

3.) Unofficial Barkers – I just noticed that there has been a proliferation of barkers. Almost all street corners or places where passengers converge have them. Some of these barkers are not really needed. They just want to make fast cash off the drivers.

4.) Non-paying Passengers – These people take advantage of the fact that it is hard for drivers to track passengers who have paid or not. They want a free ride. Earlier, there was a student who did not pay for his ride. His other classmates paid and they were urging him teasingly to pay his fare but he did not. He just got off the jeepney with his friends shrugging off their advise.

5.) Undisciplined Passengers – These are passengers who want to get off where they want to without regard for the proper loading and unloading zones. Or those passengers who sit like they own the jeepney or bus without regard for their fellow passengers. So why would a jeepney driver dislike such a passenger when they usually just affect their co-passengers? Well, a driver could lose a prospective passenger because a person does not make room for another person.

I don’t know if this is really what driver’s think but these are based from my observations. People may agree or disagree with the ranking or any or all of the five things but I believe that my observations have merit.

During the first few days of our stay in KDI School, I used to go to the gym with my friends. I mainly used the treadmill to walk then jog. I remembered how easily I lose my breath if I jog so what I do is walk first then jog for 10 minutes then go back to walking. I was amazed how my friend Deki could run on the treadmill for more than 30 minutes without flagging. I guess she has more stamina and stronger lungs than me. Now that I’m back in my country, I go jogging with my officemates twice a week after office hours. It takes us about 45 minutes to walk and jog around the UP oval. It feels great after. I just hope that it will be a permanent exercise.

What the protesters did:

Stress can really age a person. Take for example if you are a woman president, not only is your job very stressful, but add to that fact is the problems caused by your husband and children. People are constantly criticizing you and always waiting for you to step down. Even a truck-full of strivectin would not keep you looking as young as when you first started. After all the crises you have been through, would you not look forward to the end of your term and retiring from public eye? If it were me, I certainly would welcome anonymity and normal life but I guess others have a different view of things. As they say, power is addictive, the more you have, the harder it is to let go.

Colon cleansing has certainly been popular this week. Without encountering such thing for most of my life, suddenly my boss told me about her experience during the weekend with colon cleansing. Then the next day, my friend called me up and related her family’s vacation in one of the health and wellness resorts in the country. She mentioned that her husband tried a colon cleansing treatment. Both my boss and her husband mentioned about the temporary relief from the bloated stomach feeling. These were just temporary because the treatment was supposed to be more than just one-time thing. In my boss’s case, she mentioned about a fruit and vegetable juice mix that will serve as herbal colon cleanser. It involves fruits and vegetables like carrots, sayote, cucumber and others mixed in a blender and drank as juice.

It is very painful to have hemorrhoids and also kind of embarrassing, especially when you will have it checked by the doctor. As much as possible, it is better to avoid having it. Prevention is really better than cure. However, if you cannot avoid it because of bowel movement problems or special fondness for very spicy food, then the best course is to look for natural cure for hemorrhoids. A search in the internet can help you come up with a list of alternatives which you can consult your doctor about.

It has been more than a week already since I got pickpocketed. What a way to start a week! Kuya Alvin was not able to use his car because of color-coding so I had to commute to the office. I was hurrying to catch our official service in Katipunan. While getting on the jeepney in Ligaya, I felt something or maybe it was my instinct that made me put my knapsack in front of me. But I saw that the front pocket was already open. When I was able to sit down, I checked my bag for my coin purse, which I usually put there. I was glad when I saw that it was still there. This happened very fast. Unfortunately, I was five minutes late so I was not able to ride our service. When I got to the office, I told my friends about my experience and how nothing was taken. The next night I passed by Mercury Drug to buy medicine. The salesman asked me if I had a Suki card. I searched the front pocket of my knapsack for my cardholder but I couldn’t find it. I told the salesman that I must have left it at home. It was a few more seconds before it sank in that maybe that was what the pickpocketer took from my bag. All the way home I was still hopefull that I left it at home but at the back of my mind I knew that I did not take it out my bag the whole weekend. When I got home, I checked out the places where I may have put my cardholder but I could not find it. Not only did I lose my Suki Card but also 2 atms, a credit card, GSIS and health cards, voter’s, alumni and old school IDs, SM advantage and Bench card. I also lost some business cards of people I want to get in touch with. Now, I wish that the pickpocketer got my coin purse instead, which only held around a hundred pesos, than all my cards, which are very hard and not to mention expensive to replace. This was the second time that this happened to me this year. The first time was inside the MRT where my coin purse was lifted. I was using the same knapsack and the purse was also in the front pocket. The money was less than Php100 but my coin purse was inexpensive but new. I guess I must have gotten less attentive since arriving from Korea, where we were not very careful about our things. Now, I have retired my knapsack for the time being and using another knapsack. I no longer put my coin purse in the front pocket. As for my cards, I’m still in the process of replacing them.

It is very hard to be an adolescent. Not only does your voice change, you also feel awkward and ungainly. To top it all, pimples break out of your face making you look like pimples with the face growing instead of the other way around. Kids today are lucky because there are many medications they can choose from, there are creams, gels, soaps and if these still do not work, they can try an acne serum. Due to all these changes, parents find that raising their children becomes much harder during this period.

There are guys who go to the gym to lose weight or to have that toned look. However, there are other guys who want to build their muscles to have bodies like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s or Lou Ferrigno’s. Some want to join body building competitions so they build their bodies up in order to have a good chance at winning. While training for competition, they have special diets and take bodybuilding supplements to get that muscled look. I remember my friend telling me that her boyfriend only eats tuna or something when training for a competition. Like all other training, bodybuilding requires intense discipline and perseverance.

Finding effective natural weight loss supplements is really the goal of lazy weight losers like me. I hate to exercise, though I go walking around UP oval twice a week now, and I have a hard time controlling what I eat. Although there are a lot diet pills in the market, I’m afraid to take them for possible side effects. Something natural and made from the fruits and vegetables that we eat that when combined would help in losing weight would be a great way to go.