I live in Manila, and believe me, this city remains to amaze me.
I am not going to rant here how bad traffic can get. I mean, heck, I've seen and driven through the LA freeway in similar state, so I'd like to say that all these problems with traffic pretty much have to do with... how to deal with it. Patience is a virtue, but you gotta be prepared.
Everyday --- well, except during my number-coding day ---- I drive to work. It's not really a long drive if you think about it. From Mandaluyong to the western edge of the Makati CBD, on lighter days I can make it in fifteen minutes. On "normal days", 30-45 minutes will do. Some days, though, it takes me more than an hour. Crazy, huh.
I love to drive and I am known for what I call "secret passages". These secret passages are NOT shortcuts, but rather alternative routes that can save you time but they sometimes require extra miles. For instance, every time I drive north from my apartment in Mandaluyong, I take the San Juan route. I take this specific street off Bluementritt which can lead me straight to N. Domingo or Aurora Boulevard. From there, I take New Manila, the Scout area, and then Edsa via the Kamuning or Quezon Avenue u-turn. Of course this does not save me from specific traffic blockages, i.e. corner of Broadway and N. Domingo which can be a pain because of the traffic light at the corner of Broadway and Araneta. So what I do, if the left from N. Domingo to Broadway becomes a pain, I go straight, head to the Horseshoe area, and take a left instead at the old Magnolia that will lead me to Hemady. And then I end up on E. Rodriguez where I get to choose between Thomas Morato or this small street leading to Kamuning.
Come rainy season, the trick with knowing all these shortcuts is you have to be aware of the flashflood areas. Mandaluyong, despite being a good alternate route between Makati and the north, is flood-prone. Stay away from the Maysilo Circle as much as you can. You can try the Barangka route, but this road tends to get really crowded because of the market. And yes, it intersects Boni Avenue, hence the traffic can become a nightmare even on regular days.
San Juan is also a tricky area. I think San Juan has lesser flooding because the area is generally hilly, but of course, as hills go up and down, there are certain sections that can get flooded with the snap of your fingers. An example is this area at the end of Manalo heading to Ver which offers salvation via the ends of Kalentong and then the higher ground at Bluementritt.
Anyways, I am now thinking maybe I should share some Manila traffic tips. Because seriously... I know a lot of them.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Cross-post: How to Marry Jason Segel: Imagining Meeting Jason Segel
How to Marry Jason Segel: Imagining Meeting Jason Segel: "I am quite amazed with the fact that even though I haven't written here in a while, a few souls somehow manage to wander to this blog by mea..."
----
I have decided to venture into the funny, on a dark and rainy Thursday morning.
Professional Blogging
I am thinking of blogging professionally.
I have been blogging for years but I have gone MIA recently. Let's say in the past 3-4 years I have been inactive compared to the time I was really blogging. And what I mean by really blogging --- it's all about writing thoughts and fears and annoyances. It's a true journal, the kind that starts off with "Dear Diary" and ends with "Revenge! Revenge!"
Yesterday I visited my old blog in Livejournal. I actually made friends online, via that blog. A stranger would drop by, read my blog, and this person would add me as a "friend". And then there were comments. And then I would add back, and the next thing you knew, you were making comments about each other's sex life and sharing seduction plans.
Right now, blogging has become less personal.
I think people are not that interested to learn about people as they used to. Why the hell not --- we are bombarded with reality TV anyway. The guys at Jershey Shore, albeit the fact that all they do is get drunk and kiss each other and generally piss about everyday... now that's the current demand. Frankly, despite the fact that I go to work everyday, I clock in and out, and I go out once or twice a week, my life is far more colorful. Because my thoughts actually have substance.
These thoughts --- are they something worth blogging about? Why do people blog these days? Do people still share pieces of themselves on the Internet aside from their reviews on the latest gadgets, the movies, the social scene, and what they are wearing?
I am currently using Twitter more mainly because I want to get the hand of these "stream of things". I do not want to be left behind and grow old without having a clue how FourSquare works. But hey... I haven't even got an iPod, my phone is in its rustic stage at 2 years old despite it being 3G and touchscreen and wi-fi enabled (it's very vintage considering the turnover of technology these days).
So if I am going to be a professional blogger, what am I going to write about?
I have been blogging for years but I have gone MIA recently. Let's say in the past 3-4 years I have been inactive compared to the time I was really blogging. And what I mean by really blogging --- it's all about writing thoughts and fears and annoyances. It's a true journal, the kind that starts off with "Dear Diary" and ends with "Revenge! Revenge!"
Yesterday I visited my old blog in Livejournal. I actually made friends online, via that blog. A stranger would drop by, read my blog, and this person would add me as a "friend". And then there were comments. And then I would add back, and the next thing you knew, you were making comments about each other's sex life and sharing seduction plans.
Right now, blogging has become less personal.
I think people are not that interested to learn about people as they used to. Why the hell not --- we are bombarded with reality TV anyway. The guys at Jershey Shore, albeit the fact that all they do is get drunk and kiss each other and generally piss about everyday... now that's the current demand. Frankly, despite the fact that I go to work everyday, I clock in and out, and I go out once or twice a week, my life is far more colorful. Because my thoughts actually have substance.
These thoughts --- are they something worth blogging about? Why do people blog these days? Do people still share pieces of themselves on the Internet aside from their reviews on the latest gadgets, the movies, the social scene, and what they are wearing?
I am currently using Twitter more mainly because I want to get the hand of these "stream of things". I do not want to be left behind and grow old without having a clue how FourSquare works. But hey... I haven't even got an iPod, my phone is in its rustic stage at 2 years old despite it being 3G and touchscreen and wi-fi enabled (it's very vintage considering the turnover of technology these days).
So if I am going to be a professional blogger, what am I going to write about?
Monday, June 6, 2011
Picking Up
The last time I wrote here was November 2010. That was about seven months ago. Looking back, it was a pretty tumultuous period. I had a project I couldn't get off the ground. I was not taking as many projects as I used to which is why I got pretty broke around that time (and then I managed to get a cool project-based arrangement which expanded my writing). I lost few friendships. I was trying to get my dating life in order while nursing a broken heart --- in which case, this said "dating life" remains to be in the height of suspense in the manner of, "Who is the next guy? Is this going to be a mistake again? Is she temporarily going to give up on this tiring quest of finding love, hence is she going to "use" another guy (again) in way of pantawid-gutom (eow!)?"
Seriously --- every time there is the attempt to get things right this time around, there are always the glitches. It kinda makes life exciting. Kabbalists will probably point out that finding the light is the main purpose after all. It is all about not going to the dark place. As this Reese Witherspoon character read from a self-affirmation post-it in this movie which I can't remember the title of (because it was pretty ho-hum even though it starred Reese, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson), "Courage is not the lack of fear but the mastery of fear" --- or something. Anyway, it is all about the mastery. Balance is another word. But hey, let's give ourselves the permission to be human, alright?
Come late December I accepted this full time job. I am not going to disclose my job details in this blog, but a lot of the exciting happenings in my life is because of this job. It's pretty cool. I have travelled to three countries starting last March, and yes, thanks to this job, I have finally set foot in the United States of America and spend some time in France. Actually, at the moment I am picking up this blog while on a lay-over in Incheon, Korea from Los Angeles to Manila, and I am dang glad that this airport is modern, well-designed, and lay-over-friendly. And it has free Internet too.
So yes. Career-wise it is a bit of a weird turnout, but still very much in the film industry which I refuse to get out of. I somehow call this stint motivated by a "personal noble cause", which, funnily, this Hollywood guy I met at an LA party could not help but laugh as --- yes --- "personal" and "noble" do not really go together. But you know. We have such quirks. Besides, anything noble has to come from a personal cause. Something along the opposite ends of psychic numbing, which means you are being proactive about it instead of complaining, complaining, complaining. Or being apathetic and indifferent.
I think in the next year I am going to make some drastic career moves. I can't help but say that somehow I learned something from my LA trip. It was short but personally and professionally necessary. Hey, I might not have met Jason Segel on this trip, but I have managed to find myself discovering this working balance among inspiration, idealism, and being a plain hard-ass. I am no longer in my 20s. I have managed to set my foot in the process of awakening this time around.
Seriously --- every time there is the attempt to get things right this time around, there are always the glitches. It kinda makes life exciting. Kabbalists will probably point out that finding the light is the main purpose after all. It is all about not going to the dark place. As this Reese Witherspoon character read from a self-affirmation post-it in this movie which I can't remember the title of (because it was pretty ho-hum even though it starred Reese, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson), "Courage is not the lack of fear but the mastery of fear" --- or something. Anyway, it is all about the mastery. Balance is another word. But hey, let's give ourselves the permission to be human, alright?
Come late December I accepted this full time job. I am not going to disclose my job details in this blog, but a lot of the exciting happenings in my life is because of this job. It's pretty cool. I have travelled to three countries starting last March, and yes, thanks to this job, I have finally set foot in the United States of America and spend some time in France. Actually, at the moment I am picking up this blog while on a lay-over in Incheon, Korea from Los Angeles to Manila, and I am dang glad that this airport is modern, well-designed, and lay-over-friendly. And it has free Internet too.
So yes. Career-wise it is a bit of a weird turnout, but still very much in the film industry which I refuse to get out of. I somehow call this stint motivated by a "personal noble cause", which, funnily, this Hollywood guy I met at an LA party could not help but laugh as --- yes --- "personal" and "noble" do not really go together. But you know. We have such quirks. Besides, anything noble has to come from a personal cause. Something along the opposite ends of psychic numbing, which means you are being proactive about it instead of complaining, complaining, complaining. Or being apathetic and indifferent.
I think in the next year I am going to make some drastic career moves. I can't help but say that somehow I learned something from my LA trip. It was short but personally and professionally necessary. Hey, I might not have met Jason Segel on this trip, but I have managed to find myself discovering this working balance among inspiration, idealism, and being a plain hard-ass. I am no longer in my 20s. I have managed to set my foot in the process of awakening this time around.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)