Passenger Talesstories about my experiences as a traveler and passenger

One of the biggest questions teenagers face is how to get rid of acne. I am lucky that although I had pimples they were not acne. Until now I still occasionally have pimples especially when I have too many late nights in a row. What I wanted to be rid of were the whiteheads and blackheads. A regular visit to a facial salon would get rid of them but I never manage to do so. I manage to go only once or twice a year for facial, which is not enough to achieve a blemish free skin.

Then last week I finally broke down and bought a toner and an anti-aging facial wash from an officemate whose been convincing me to buy the beauty products she sells. The products were expensive but since these were on credit I tried them. In fairness, I noticed that my skin is smoother and the pores free of blackheads and whiteheads. Maybe after I paid for everything I will try her other products.

I saw the news about the C130 airplane that crashed in the Davao Gulf the other day. I was saddened by the news because it is another air tragedy that haunts the Philippine Air Force. There is a general feeling that the Air Force men do not die in combat but through equipment failure. There have been a number of helicopter crashes resulting in death to both pilots and passengers in the last two decades and now the downed plane has added to the list. I learned from the news that the C130 that crashed was one of the last two in the country.

C130 planes played a big part in my childhood. I have already mentioned in a previous article that we used to fly back and forth from Cebu to Manila and other destinations during vacations in the C130. We had a lot fun and funny adventures while traveling in the big cargo plane. The Air Force and the C130 made it possible for us when we were young to visit our parents during vacations even though we had no budget for travel. The C130 and the Air Force really helped a lot of ordinary Filipinos who could not afford to travel via a commercial airplane or boat to get to where they need to go in the country. It’s been so long since I had my last C130 ride so I don’t know if ordinary civilians can still hitch a ride in the cargo plane nowadays.

This month we moved to our new building. It is not yet finished with the fourth floor still under construction. We had a lot of misgivings about making the move at this time because the infrastructure is not yet complete. There are no phone lines and no Internet connection, which are very important in order to stay connected to our clients. Another concern was the security of our equipment. Proper fence installation has not been done yet and the glass windows still have no grills. These windows seem like an open invitation to burglars to help themselves to our computers and other machines. There are guards on duty but this is still inadequate. However, we did not take into account that the construction workers are in the premises 24/7, thereby making it hard for burglars to strike, I hope.

We are still getting used to our new office and so far have made three rearrangements in our office layout, which is also temporary because the provision of permanent office furniture is still up for bidding. This move has not really been thought out properly but what can we, the employees do if the higher ups decide arbitrarily? We have to follow their whims reluctantly and with a lot of grumbling.

Before the September 11 tragedy, I did not know that there was such a thing as travel insurance. Then just after the tragedy, travel became a bit more costly because not only did insurance become mandatory but also expensive. I was glad that after a while, travel insurance became voluntary, especially when traveling by plane. It is one less expense to worry about particularly if you are just going on a routine trip within your country for a short period of time. Of course it is another matter if you are going to travel abroad for an extended stay. Travel insurance would be a very good protection indeed against unexpected crisis and additional expenses.

I was reading Oceans of Fire by Christina Feehan in the jeepney earlier this afternoon while waiting for the jeepney to be filled up. It was a hot day and there were no conversations inside while the bored passengers waited. The silence was broken by a very unexpected sound, the squawking and flapping of wings. I was so surprised I almost dropped the book I was reading. Everybody turned to look and saw an old woman trying to calm her agitated brown chicken. Hahaha! When I saw the old woman enter the jeepney I did not notice that she was holding a chicken. While she was calming the chicken I saw that its feet were tide and it was wrapped in thin yellow plastic with its head sticking out. She succeeded in calming the chicken and I didn’t hear anything out of it after that.

A few years ago, one of my former officemates invited me to attend a networking seminar. I am not fond of attending such seminars because I am not good at marketing or sales so I just find it a waste of time. However, since she was very insistent and so positive about it, I decided to give it a try. What was surprising about that networking company was that the speakers were in their twenties and a lot of those who attended were also in that age range. I have forgotten the name of the company but what I can vividly remember is that part of their package was car insurance, complete with car insurance quote and how much you will save if you join the group. I remember thinking, “What do I need car insurance for when I do not own a car?” There were other products for sale but that was the only product I can remember.

My friend was not able to convince me to join because I was wary of the enthusiasm of the speakers. Call me pessimistic but I cannot quite trust such boundless enthusiasm. Of course I did not tell her that. I just explained that there was no way for me to raise the joining fee amount. I since lost touch with my friend so I was not able to ask her what became of the company. I just hope it was not a scam or anything because it was around that time that exposés on networking scams made headlines.

My friend Judc is trying her hand at sales. She has a friend who is selling KIA cars and for every successful referral she will get a commission. She does not let the fact that they are both in different countries get in the way of doing business. That is the beauty of the Internet; it is very easy to stay in touch. However, I think it is kind of hard to sell cars particularly now when oil prices are soaring high and people are thinking twice about buying cars.

Of course the expense do not stop when you finally buy a car. One of my friends shared that she had to enroll at A1 Driving School thrice just so she could drive competently. She also mentioned laying away money for accidents or for car insurance. Figuring how much to budget for car insurance is relatively easy nowadays because car insurance online quote is available. But aside from these expenses, the most pressing would be the ever rising price of gasoline. That is why people are forced to commute rather than to use their cars to save on gasoline expenses.

Yesterday in the jeepney, the girl in front of me tore open the candy wrapper. She threw the small piece of the wrapper out the window then after eating the candy, threw the rest of the wrapper out also. Since the jeepney was moving fast, the girl beside her caught the wrapper. She was frowning then she threw the wrapper inside the jeepney. Hay. I can’t understand why people don’t just pocket these wrappers and other similar trash then just throw these when they find a trashcan.

We were in the Business Center of Sejon Hotel in Korea, working on our reflection for the day. when I overheard an American couple say to the hotel staff, “Where can I go (site) where there are normal letters (alphabets as opposed to Korean script)?” Good thing the staff did not say, “But these are normal letters.” Hehe. I realized that sometimes I am also guilty of this kind of thinking. Just because it is normal for me does not mean it’s normal for others.

I remember back in high school I was fond of watching this local sitcom “Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata”, a satire about Philippine society. One of the memorable characters, played by Nova Villa, was a social climbing middle-class housewife. All her furniture was wrapped in plastic cover to preserve them. If she had a patio with furniture then I am sure it would also be wrapped with patio furniture covers so that nobody can use them. Another memorable character was the one played by Tessi Tomas, as a power hungry wife of a politician and there was her gun-toting crazy son, played by Anjo Yllana. I miss those days when sitcoms were really funny and it was not all about sexy girls prancing around in barely there outfits. Those were the days…