No More Bus Rides for Me

I promised myself that I will never ride any public transport bus. Today, I've had enough! Just to make it clear, di ako maarte. I'm a perennial commuter. I'm a fan of public transport since college.

Isa kong miyembro ng HonDa (as in on the dot umuwi). I was never the one to stay behind at the office. Even when I was still in St. Paul, I made sure I get out as soon as log-out time comes. I just wanna get home fast after a hard days work.

The MRT starts to operate at 5:30am. My work ends at 4:45am. So the past few weeks I've been taking the bus on my way home thinking that I can't waste my time waiting for the MRT station to open. But the bus wait and the bus ride seem to be getting worse each day. Sometimes I have to wait for the bus for about 20 minutes. It'd be okay if the bus would leave right away and drive fast. But no, buses seem to have this policy that they won't leave a bus stop unless it is at least half-full or worse, it's jammed with passengers. Every bus stop is an opportunity to pick-up passengers. I do understand the need to pick-up passengers, it's how they make a living. But man, wala namang pumapara eh! Kailangan talaga gugulin yung oras dun?! Worse points are Guadalupe, Crossing, Ortigas Ilalim, Cubao Ibabaw and Nepa Q-Mart. Imagine! If they stay like 10 minutes in these stop points, that's like 50 minutes of my life wasted! Plus other stops when passengers get off from it.

This morning was really the worst. The bus stopped in front of my office at 5:10am. It started moving at 5:20am. Then it stopped in front of Glorietta to encourage a group of construction workers to get on. It took a few minutes to convince the workers (I think they were more than 20) to come inside the bus. I was thinking "yey puno na, di na to titigil para magpasakay pa ng pasahero". It went past Guadalupe. But no, the construction workers got off at Crossing which left the bus almost empty! Oh no! By the time we reached Cubao, I could see that the sun was about to rise. Whew! I was getting impatient and it was showing on my face. As I've said, I'm one person with low EQ. But it wasn't only me who was getting irritated. I heard one passenger say, "Anong petsa na?!". Another said, "Umuwi na lang kaya ako kase mukhang gagabihin ako sa daan". Di ba naman!? To make matters worse, when I was about to get off the the bus, sabi nung conductor, "sa susunod kung nagmamadali ka, mag-taxi ka". Hmph the nerve! I just had to give him the finger. I know that's bad. Sorry na! I was really pissed. Record-breaking, I got home at 7am. I just had to check my butt if they had fused together.

I will never, ever ride the bus again. Enough of the bad smelling curtains, bad tv signals, cheap radio stations, endless Queen concert videos with Freddie Mercury jumping up and down on stage in skimpy shorts or Axl Rose of Guns N Roses in white cycling shorts, pirated movies, time-wasting bus stops and arrogant drivers and conductors. Ride the bus again? Kill me now!

2008 Hopes & Goals

It's about time to claim that 2008 is gonna be a good year for me! I'm gonna be really happy this year no matter what. I have so many hopes and goals for the year. Here goes....

strengthen my relationship with God

keep my family together

go to the beach more often

have an out-of-town trip one weekend by myself

meet more people and build friendships

spend more time with friends

reconnect with friends

have a vacation in another country

visit more places in the Philippines

be healthy

no more hospitalizations

go on a serious diet

start running again

get into extreme sport

go back to badminton

never miss a big Gary V show/concert

watch Maroon 5 and Justin Timberlake concerts in Manila

have a big closet for all my clothes

lessen the shopping (especially when depressed)

pamper myself with a good massage and facial at least once a month

be more patient on the road when driving

stop being emotional and pessimistic

be a good person

stop putting off things for later

save, save and save

start having Teepee fixed

get a new car (ssssh don't tell Teepee! Besides, it's only a hope)

start learning to invest money

appreciate every little blessing that I get

learn to accept easily that things don't always turn out as I want it to be

2007 Lessons

Another year ushered in and I just suddenly felt a sudden rush of hope. I was looking forward to another chance to start all over again. It's not that I had to wait for the year to end to have a fresh start. It's just that when a new starts, it's also time to start anew and look forward to better days.

2007 taught me a lot of BIG life lessons. As in lessons that changed my life because I got to know myself more especially my weaknesses, which I am still trying to work on and hopefully overcome very soon. I also got to learn from people around me. Their experiences for 2007 had made me realize a lot of things in my life as well.

What 2007 taught me:

• Sometimes, I lack self-control (be it eating, shopping, matters of the heart).
  
• Acknowledge my emotions and process it first before acting on it.
  
• Complaining won't get any person anywhere unless you start doing something about it.
  
• If the system cannot be changed, it's time for you to make a change in your system (start with yourself). It's probably time to quit as I did in my previous job.
  
• I have very patient and understanding friends. During the times that I was troubled, my friends just hang out with me. They respected my space. They never forced me to open up. They were just there to keep me company.
  
• Everybody deserves a second chance or even multiple chances.
  
• This year taught me how to carefully choose my friends.
  
• I am capable of hurting others and hurting myself.
  
• I'm not the nicest person in this world but not the most evil. I know I can be nice if I want to.
  
• There are relationships worth keeping and relationships that need to be sacrificed due to circumstances.
  
• I don't have much luck in getting a job abroad but opportunities still come my way.
  
• Constant praying and faith in God can help me go through difficult times.
  
• God never stops from showering me with blessings despite all of my shortcomings.
  
• In life there should be no regrets, only lessons learned!

Happy New Year from the Mortel Bulilits