October 24, 2008 • 2:57 pm
Just yesterday, I got a funny surprise I was not expecting. After dropping off at my parents place I boarded this bus with company name JMK. This is one of my favorite buses. Colored mustard yellow. They ply the route from MIA Road – Ayala – SM Malanday and vice versa. They have 2 mustard colored buses and 2 yellow green buses. All of them are pretty clean and decent and very nice to ride on. When I get off at MIA Road from my Erljohn & Almark bus from home, I always look for these buses. They have become my favorite and I always make it a point to get my persona on any one of them. If I’m lucky I can find them all the time and normally I would be very satisfied. Aside from being clean, they boast of flat screen TV’s that show action/adventure films that sometimes makes me want to just ride along EDSA until the movie is finished. I have this thing about buses. I guess you could say I’m a bus addict. I enjoy the long commutes with the TV/DVD on and some really good show is available or if I’m really tired just doze off into nothingness. So, anyway back to my story. I got on it and grabbed the 1st row seat at the front of the bus. Along Roxas Avenue the conductor sat beside me and asked me if I’m Bisaya. I guess it has to do with the accent. He told me that he recognized me from before when I rode that same bus wearing my brown Trench Coat and Leather Boots. I guess I made quite an impression and that time I was asking him for directions. I guess I could say that I was a regular bus commuter. Really certified now. He told me that he was also Bisaya. There are a lot of Bisaya folks here in Metro Manila. They are by the hundreds and more. So never be afraid folks. Some days, you might just encounter people who speak BISAYA on the road.
Filed under: Daily Travel Diary , bus conversations, bus trips, Daily Travel Diary
At 8:00 PM last night, I started my daily commute home. I was waiting in the corner for the bus to stop and I noticed that it was already full to the brim with commuters standing on the aisle and near the staircase and I said to myself, “here comes another body bumping, elbow pushing experience for me”. But this is actually the scene that I go through with everyday and this is not something new. I have gotten used to this scenario. When I got in the bus, I immediately saw this Caucasian guy with spectacles who seemed to be having a hard time with himself and I said to myself probably another tourist willing to brave the crowded bus for a Philippine experience and he was being bumped to and fro by all the passengers and he seemed to be in pain that I finally asked him if he was ok. I pitied the guy, he seemed kinda old and lonely and he was mumbling to himself so I finally asked him if he was alright and he told me that people in the bus are rude, they don’t say sorry when they bump into you and he said that sometimes he was forced to retaliate in bumping because otherwise he was going to get bruised and bruised. I told him that it was normal in our country and that sometimes because of the rush and traffic that people forget the basics of politeness and that some of them don’t even notice what they do. That sparked the conversation and when I finally got to sit with him we started on our own conversation. I saw the looks people in the bus were giving me and I said, “what the heck”, I was just talking to this guy like I would do to any other individual notwithstanding the color of his skin but then again understanding Filipino mentality I understand why they were looking at me. In the course of our talks, I found out that it was his 3rd time here and that he was planning to live here all his life since he had no family back in the states. With that statement I got to thinking, I was luckier than this guy, he had no family and he was in a foreign place while I was with my family here and in my own territory. He told me how he got run over by a taxicab here in Makati and it was a hit and run case. I asked him if he got himself checked out by a doctor and he says that he hasn’t been to the hospital yet. Poor guy. I also learned that he was an online English teacher here in Makati and that he was juggling 2 full time jobs so that he could feed,clothe and rent a place for himself. He introduced himself as Bob and I did the same thing and introduced myself to him. We shook hands and again, people were looking. I was just enjoying all the stares. We talked about how both of our countries were actually the same in a lot of aspects and I got to thinking that indeed, somehow both our countries were facing the same problems and he told me that at least here in the Philippines there were no rampage killings by young people like those in the states and we were talking about the Obama fever and how he hoped that Obama would really be a change for the American people and he was saying how stupid Bush was. That was something else. As we were nearing our destination I felt sad for him and told him to see a doctor for his bruises and bad knee and what I got in return aside from that conversation was his sincere wish of “God bless you and take care”…Isn’t that something else?!!
Filed under: Daily Travel Diary , bus conversations, Daily Travel Diary
