Friday Night

This has happened to me twice already.

Downtown is always a bad place to be when you want to go home on a rainy Friday night. Earlier this year, I was waiting for a jeep along Quimpo Boulevard. After several minutes trying to hail a jeep, I figured that I'd just ride a taxi. So off I walked to Bolton, amidst the pouring rain, mind you, since there are probably taxis waiting outside Jollibee Bolton. To my dismay, no taxis were in sight. So I walked the length of Rizal Street to stop at Quirino fronting Davao Doctors Hospital. I presumed again that there may be taxis in the vicinity of Gaisano South Mall or along Quirino. Fortunately, there was a taxi, perhaps fresh from unloading a passenger, and I went home after one and a half hour of trying in vain.

Yesterday, the same thing happened. I got dropped off at Quirino by a colleague and the same dilemma surfaced. Just like before, hundreds of people thronged the sidewalks of Davao City, waiting for that elusive jeep or taxi to emerge from the downpour. But the jeeps were packed and taxis were rare. As for me, I've learned my lesson. If I wanted to have a chance at getting home before 10 PM, I had to go back to where the jeeps were about to turn around and resume their routes after dropping off most of their passengers along the way. I had to go back to the source, so to speak. So off I went to Roxas Boulevard. But jeeps were still rare even there that I had to walk almost the entire length before a jeep mercifully unloaded a passenger to accommodate me. 

Someday, I'm going to own a car.

Slightly Depressed

It's unfair.

An account turns sour and the client complains and the boss hears of it. An account goes well and the client earnestly begins to thank and praise you in private. Truly, a case of  a single bad apple making the entire fruit basket suspect.

It's unfair. But then, so is life.

My Sister Is Engaged

...to a stranger.

To someone I barely know. I mean, the guy never did reveal himself to us.He was simply the 'wallflower': the inanimate object sitting at our sala set with a downloaded movie stored in his flash disk or the guy sitting beside my sister during the mass. Looking back, he never did make us feel comfortable with his presence and, even today, I could not recall any meaningful conversation with the guy I'll later call my brother-in-law.

But then again, I love my sister. And I guess part of loving is trusting that your loved one has a good sense of judgment when it comes to finding a husband.

Jeepney Fare

I don't know why the LTO is obssessed with centavos.

In their fare matrix, they've deliberately placed centavos in their computation knowing full well that the passengers and the jeepney drivers can't comply with this. For one thing, virtually nobody carries around twenty cents or a denomination smaller than one peso when they travel around.

I think the jeep drivers are privately happy about this, though. For instance, the minimum fare for students is P6.40 (I think). So the drivers conveniently take P7.00 from the passenger instead simply because, as mentioned, nobody carries centavos anymore. If we Dabawenyos were less tolerant to perceived injustices like this, the LTO would have been deluged a long time ago by numerous complaints about drivers not following the LTO's matrix.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Wedding

First time in Santa Maria, a town south of Malalag in Davao del Sur. Attended a wedding by a colleague, Weng. Just writing this post to note some traditions observed during the event.

The newlyweds giving out treats in exchange for money. Check.
The newlyweds dancing in front while various people pin money on them. Check.
Avoiding the bouquet. Check.
Avoiding the garter. Check.
Picking a couple from the audience using the garter and bouquet to, well, hopefully be the next couple. Check.
Sumptuous feast of murdered livestock. Check.
A barricade of godmothers and godfathers. Check.
An even bigger group of friends, family members, and colleagues. Check.

It's good some Pinoy traditions are here to stay.