Sleeping on PUV's

Since commute would take me about 2-3 hrs to get home, sometimes, I get to sleep while sitting on whatever vehicle I am on. This usually happens during morning commutes.

How do I sleep? Let me count the ways.

1. Bag Hugging - In buses, since I sometimes bring my laptop home, I will hug the laptop bag and then put my head on top and sleep on it. Usually, I would get stiff necks after the commute, but hey I am soo asleep that I can never notice the pain.

2. Masa - me and my ofc friends would sometimes call our other colleague this, 'masa' which is the short term of 'masandal tulog' (when he leans, he sleeps instantly). I am kinda like that. I love sitting near the window so that I can just lean my head on the window sill or the window itself just to get me to sleep. If I am on an FX, I would be resting my head on the back rest just to get my eyes a good resting.

3. Head Bangers - When I don't have anything lean on, this is my last resort. I just close my eyes, and let my head down and follow wherever inertia leads my head to. This is my most funny position, there was this one time that the driver woke me up because I was blocking his side mirror view. He even told me not to sleep just about anywhere when I went down the vehicle, some advice eh?

It is really not advisable not to sleep during commutes, it's not safe especially here in the Philippines. Your things maybe stolen or you may pass your stop because you overslept. But I guess I am one lucky commuter, or I am just one safe gal.

Whenever you sleep on commutes, you have to take precautions.

1. Make sure your bags are near or tangled up on a part of your body. This way, if someone tries to steal it away from you, it may give you just the right jolt to wake you up. I would usually tangle my bags on my arms so that I could feel if someone takes it away from me.

2. If possible, hug the bags while sleeping. I hug my bags because there may be someone opening your bags, or cut them using a blade and gather whatever's important inside. This will protect your bag and also yourself.

3. Always think that sleeping is the last option. There may be some robbery or bomb threats inside the vehicle that you may not be aware of if you are asleep, so it's better to be aware of what's happening around you.

But of course, if you are dead tired, give yourself a break and just lean in and sleep. Just be careful. Be safe everyone. :)

Pwestong Box Office (repost from Multiply)

Paborito kong upuan sa bus ang sa parteng may bintana. Maarte ako at may gusto akong posisyon, yung side na nasa bangketa. Maraming advantages ang pwesto na yun in fairness, at sa tingin ko yun ang side na unang napupuno ng pasahero. Box office ang pwesto na yun. 

Dahil nasa bangketa sya, sya yung side na may mga tao, at dahil isa akong discreet usisera eh advantage ang pwesto na yun. Mahilig akong sumakay ng non-aircon na bus, at sa upuang yun eh maririnig mo ang aksyon sa bangketa. Mga nag-aaway, mga nanakawan, mga chikahan at kung anu-ano pa. Ewan ko pero gustong-gusto ko yung feel ng sidestreets ng manila. Unique at classic.

Syempre dahil may mga bangketa eh anjan din ang mga street foods, sa kabilang side ksi puro usok lang ang maamoy mo (Remember na non-aircon ang paborito kong sakyan) . Nakakatakam yung amoy ng mami, kwek kwek, bbque at kung anu ano pang mga lutong kalye. Naalala ko napabili ako ng mami dahil sa amoy lang. Heheh.. Kaya di ako napayat ano? Ang ganda din tignan nung mga bangketa sa gabi, may ilaw sila tapos makikita mo yung mga usok usok and yung mga tao na kumakain at isa ka sa kanila. 

Sa may pwesto din iyon ko nakikita ang mga billboards. Ewan ko ba? Pero since mahilig ako sa pictures sa pwestong un ko naappreciate sila. Kapag nasa ibang side kasi lalo sa EDSA nakaharang ang MRT. Panget. Ang masayang parte lang ata sa pwesto na yun eh pwedeng pwede mong pagtawanan yung mga nasa MRT na parang sardinas sa loob. Hehehehe..  Classic yung hitsura nila sa loob eh, lalo yung malapit sa pinto. Sarap kuhanan.

Karaniwang gabi na kasi ako nauwi. Sa pwesto ko na yun ko naappreciate yung Manila lights, makikita mo sya pag umaakyat na ng flyover ang sasakyan o nasa isang lugar na kayo na kita na yung mga bundok (Likod ng St. Peters sa commonwealth, HS pa lang favorite view ko na yun kaso hinarangan na ng CVG at kung anu ano pang bldgs, malaking sayang). Ang ganda. Kaso masyado nang maliwanag, dun ko lang napapansin na masyado na palang urbanized ang Maynila.

Sa tinagal tagal ko na ring bumabyahe eh di ako nagsasawa sa pwesto na yun. Ewan ko, di pa rin nawawala yung pagkamangha ko sa Maynila. Aminado ako minsan natutulog ako, pero kapag nag-iisip ako at may problema, nakakawalang stress yung feel ng Maynila sa mga mata ko kapag dun ako nakaupo. I guess, isa sa mga bagay na hinding hindi ko maiwanan dito ay yung pribilehiyo na makita at maramdaman ang mga bagay na yun. Kaya kapag sumasakay ako ng bus, talagang tatakbo ako papunta ng bus, maupuan lang yung pwesto na yun.

Feb 20, 2009

Normal Day

Normal day. I rode the fx to the North MRT Station, waited for 30 mins to get inside the platform. Figured that I should buy the North-Ayala one way ticket to save my stored value ticket (also, I would like to save time in buying a stored value ticket, the line for the one way ticket was shorter and faster than the other - yeah, hello impatient girl).

So, I was able to ride the next incoming train, as usual, I was standing again in the middle. But was able to get to Ayala Station before 8am. Bought my lunch at KFC, ate my breakfast at Siomai House, went down the station to ride the bus to Bicutan. Good thing, it's also one normal day, there were enough buses (not lucky though, I get to ride the ordinary/non-aircon bus). 

I didn't get to commute on my way home, so I didn't know if it's traffic or not. But I thank God, the week started out right. Our team was able to use the new lab (finally) and we (our team) get to eat together again the same table. 

Yeah, I am starting Normal days again. This day, I think I won. :)

Wednesday Bump

It seems that this wednesday was my lucky day.




This was taken around 755am, North Ave MRT Station. I left the house at around 635am, arrived at MRT Q. Ave Sta at 710am. Fell in line, line not moving, left station at around 730, transferred to North and boom, line was about 1km from point of origin.
Stupid decision but I am impatient when it comes to falling in line. So upon seeing the effing view of people, I wanted to just curse out loud and just give a good punch to some random stranger in the face. But of course, I didn't do that, that's just how angry I was.
The day couldn't be any better, I went home at 530pm, went for the bus thinking that the traffic won't be as horrendous, but I was soooo wrong. It took us 1.5hr to get to Edsa, so I decided to go for the MRT, again.




I got home at around 9pm. And I swore I will never the shirt I wore this day.

Distance

“I didn't pay attenton to times or distance, instead focusing on how it felt just to be in motion, knowing it wasn't about the finish line but how I got there that mattered.” - Sarah Dressen, The Truth About Forever

I live where everything seems far - FAIRVIEW. Whenever people hear where I live, they all say the same thing - oh, far. Yeah, it is far. Everyday I commute to different places to get me to work, to friends, to sports activities etc.

I have this love and hate relationship with commute. This is where I wanna write about them - this is where I fight the streets of Manila/Phils or anywhere just to get me to one place to another. 

As stated from the above quote, this will all be about the journey and not the distance. Because in the end, it is what matters, it is what's fun.