THE LONGEST RIDE OF MY LIFE
I just realized today that I hit the wrong button on that Bus Ride entry. The thing is I opened it one too many times to continue it and hit Save as Draft everytime but I must have Saved and Published it (of course, how else can it be there? :) the last time. Sorry to all of you folks who visited the page, I can see there were six people. You must be wondering where the rest was... well, the rest is still in my head... 
and it is still in Kalanguya.
As I was sayin', I went to Manila last Monday, and oh boy, was it so hot. But before I was able to get there, I had to literally run in front of a
coming bus (as in hinarang talaga) and beg the driver to take one more passenger. It is not that there were no buses but I have been waiting for close to two hours and probably 20 or more buses have come and gone. They just swished fast by me with their lights off, meaning they are full. It was a Sunday night and I am aware that it's usually a busy time for buses going in to the city but I have done it before so I thought I will have no trouble doing it again. So anyway, I begged the driver of this Victory Liner that I 'ambushed' and he 
asked me if I am willing to sit on a plastic chair. I said yes without thinking about it. The most pressing thing for me is to be in Manila in time for the meeting. The driver said it is a chair, and I was thinking it was one of those nice monobloc chairs that you see nowadays (on your right). To my dismay, it was a plastic alright, but it is definitely not the kind of chair that I have in mind. It was a kiddie chair that can barely hold my weight. It's exactly something like the picture at your left. Still I was thankful that I did not have to sit on the floor.
All that time I was wishing that it's the 1950s so that one of the males there would have been gentleman enough to exchange seats with me (and then it won't be me blogging about this interesting bus ride, although it won't be him either cuz there would have been no internet yet although he could write it in his journal). So anyway, I settled myself to this little kiddie chair and tried to relax. I can't! It was like I was squatting on the bus floor. My thighs were touching both the steel or iron or whatever kind of metal the brace of the reclining seats were made of and it was so cold. So I decided to move a bit in between the opening where passengers go to their seats. For some reason, most of the passengers sitting on the aisle were men; men who snore, men who take off their shoes (and you know what I mean), etc. Thankfully, there was one lady and so I moved my little chair closer to her seat and relaxed a bit. When I moved closer to her, for some reason, one of my thighs won't budge, when I checked, my pants (my favorite pink pants) was glued to the metal by a big mound of chewing gum! I was ready to cry then
but I did not. The ride, the kiddie chair, the cold metals, the shoes that smells like I am in the middle of a fish market, the two men on the chairs at my back who kept kicking my little chair (they're asleep), and now the chewing gum and myself in the middle of all that was just so funny that I started chuckling. Then my eyelids begun to droop. I tried to rest my head on the armrest of the lady sitting at the chair on my left but my head can't even reach it. So I took out my 1100 Nokia (it has a flashlight, OK!
) and a Grisham book I borrowed and started reading The Brethren (again) just to keep myself awake. I already finished reading that at home but I have it with me to return it. It went nice for a few hours but just when I thought I'm solved, my phone battery decided to go low. I kept reading until it went dead.
After a 'month and a few hours,' we finally hit Manila. I went to my friend's apartment. She sent me a message earlier that night that a room and a bed will be ready for me when I arrive and it's true. I have my own key to the apartment so I let myself in without waking her up. It's already 7 in the morning. I went to the room assigned to me, put down my bag on the floor and went to bed. Three minutes later, I was up again because it was so hot hot hot. There was a little fan in the room but the humidity is so high that the air it blows is like that air that they use to dry and style your hair. Still I kept it turned on. I lay down again, then I sat up again cuz when my back hits the mattress, it feels like I'm having a high fever. I kept doing that, on and on until past 11 AM. I just got up for the last time and decided to go down, by now my friend is already up. She gave me coffee (yes, hot coffee) then off to shower I went. I finished off her drumful of water cuz I kept sloshing water on me but still I was sweating profusely. Hayyyyy, Manila..........
So anyway, we went to where the meeting will take place. I met a few people I know, chatted a bit and brought the proofread manuscript to the right office. The meeting was in two parts. During the first one, I was okay. The aircon felt so nice. After nearly an hour probably, more people joined us and they asked me and my friend a few questions. It was ok when I was talking but afterwards, I noticed my mind 'shutting down' a few times. I would hear this sentence and it seems that all I caught is the last three words. I had to work on it to understand what's being said. My eyes were open all that time but I was really too tired to keep my mind participative. I think in the end, I understood almost all that had been said, I just do not have the presence of mind to ask relevant questions so I just listened. It was good because my friend asked questions and I think the answers were kind of a repeat of what has been said before. They must have thought I was very passive, I hope not. I was just really really sleepy.
Blame that bus ride (hehehe). My sister and I burned the midnight candle two nights before with our proofreading. So I got a 4 or 5 hour-sleep in 48 hours and that was enough for me (in the past, I learned now). I always manage to catch some sleep even on a bus so I shouldn't have a problem with attending a meeting even when I come directly from 150km away. But that time, I don't know, it must be old age
too.
Oh, my chair!! :)
and it is still in Kalanguya.As I was sayin', I went to Manila last Monday, and oh boy, was it so hot. But before I was able to get there, I had to literally run in front of a
coming bus (as in hinarang talaga) and beg the driver to take one more passenger. It is not that there were no buses but I have been waiting for close to two hours and probably 20 or more buses have come and gone. They just swished fast by me with their lights off, meaning they are full. It was a Sunday night and I am aware that it's usually a busy time for buses going in to the city but I have done it before so I thought I will have no trouble doing it again. So anyway, I begged the driver of this Victory Liner that I 'ambushed' and he asked me if I am willing to sit on a plastic chair. I said yes without thinking about it. The most pressing thing for me is to be in Manila in time for the meeting. The driver said it is a chair, and I was thinking it was one of those nice monobloc chairs that you see nowadays (on your right). To my dismay, it was a plastic alright, but it is definitely not the kind of chair that I have in mind. It was a kiddie chair that can barely hold my weight. It's exactly something like the picture at your left. Still I was thankful that I did not have to sit on the floor. All that time I was wishing that it's the 1950s so that one of the males there would have been gentleman enough to exchange seats with me (and then it won't be me blogging about this interesting bus ride, although it won't be him either cuz there would have been no internet yet although he could write it in his journal). So anyway, I settled myself to this little kiddie chair and tried to relax. I can't! It was like I was squatting on the bus floor. My thighs were touching both the steel or iron or whatever kind of metal the brace of the reclining seats were made of and it was so cold. So I decided to move a bit in between the opening where passengers go to their seats. For some reason, most of the passengers sitting on the aisle were men; men who snore, men who take off their shoes (and you know what I mean), etc. Thankfully, there was one lady and so I moved my little chair closer to her seat and relaxed a bit. When I moved closer to her, for some reason, one of my thighs won't budge, when I checked, my pants (my favorite pink pants) was glued to the metal by a big mound of chewing gum! I was ready to cry then
but I did not. The ride, the kiddie chair, the cold metals, the shoes that smells like I am in the middle of a fish market, the two men on the chairs at my back who kept kicking my little chair (they're asleep), and now the chewing gum and myself in the middle of all that was just so funny that I started chuckling. Then my eyelids begun to droop. I tried to rest my head on the armrest of the lady sitting at the chair on my left but my head can't even reach it. So I took out my 1100 Nokia (it has a flashlight, OK!) and a Grisham book I borrowed and started reading The Brethren (again) just to keep myself awake. I already finished reading that at home but I have it with me to return it. It went nice for a few hours but just when I thought I'm solved, my phone battery decided to go low. I kept reading until it went dead. After a 'month and a few hours,' we finally hit Manila. I went to my friend's apartment. She sent me a message earlier that night that a room and a bed will be ready for me when I arrive and it's true. I have my own key to the apartment so I let myself in without waking her up. It's already 7 in the morning. I went to the room assigned to me, put down my bag on the floor and went to bed. Three minutes later, I was up again because it was so hot hot hot. There was a little fan in the room but the humidity is so high that the air it blows is like that air that they use to dry and style your hair. Still I kept it turned on. I lay down again, then I sat up again cuz when my back hits the mattress, it feels like I'm having a high fever. I kept doing that, on and on until past 11 AM. I just got up for the last time and decided to go down, by now my friend is already up. She gave me coffee (yes, hot coffee) then off to shower I went. I finished off her drumful of water cuz I kept sloshing water on me but still I was sweating profusely. Hayyyyy, Manila..........
So anyway, we went to where the meeting will take place. I met a few people I know, chatted a bit and brought the proofread manuscript to the right office. The meeting was in two parts. During the first one, I was okay. The aircon felt so nice. After nearly an hour probably, more people joined us and they asked me and my friend a few questions. It was ok when I was talking but afterwards, I noticed my mind 'shutting down' a few times. I would hear this sentence and it seems that all I caught is the last three words. I had to work on it to understand what's being said. My eyes were open all that time but I was really too tired to keep my mind participative. I think in the end, I understood almost all that had been said, I just do not have the presence of mind to ask relevant questions so I just listened. It was good because my friend asked questions and I think the answers were kind of a repeat of what has been said before. They must have thought I was very passive, I hope not. I was just really really sleepy.
Blame that bus ride (hehehe). My sister and I burned the midnight candle two nights before with our proofreading. So I got a 4 or 5 hour-sleep in 48 hours and that was enough for me (in the past, I learned now). I always manage to catch some sleep even on a bus so I shouldn't have a problem with attending a meeting even when I come directly from 150km away. But that time, I don't know, it must be old age
too. Oh, my chair!! :)
Comments
You make me feel guilty with that sitting on a chair thing. Eh kasi ako, I also tend to not give seats to the fairer sex (except kung matanda, maysakit, o buntis). Might change my ways in the future hehe.
hehe... "might change, huh!"