Below are the 3 most recent journal entries recorded in a bus' life's Blurty:

Thursday, February 10th, 2005
6:07 pm	SQ 76- SINGAPORE AIRLINES now at my office desk We are all beautiful in our own way. Amidst our diversity, we all share a common humanity. It is almost two weeks now since I last laid my eyes on the nurani indah- the beautiful heart of Indonesia, yet the memories and spirit are still as vivid as the morning dew that kisses my cheek away as I walk through my everyday struggles. Two weeks since for almost twelve days I am one in heart with forty other young people from Indonesia, Malaysia, United Kingdom, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Twelve days of rather beautiful stay with probably the brightest minds this side of East Asia and the UK. It was not a homogenization of thoughts but a brewing of myriad of points of view concocted towards mutual understanding and bridging the divides between these territories. The world is not so big after all. Indeed the Filipinos stood out once again- both in a dogmatic perspective of excellence, and in mischiefs! But then again, even these tomfooleries are transformed into brilliance, as the flips in us were able to pull it off-a true measure of Filipino ingenuity, astig! They were impressed, very. However, no one, not even Lydia de Vega can feel the same rush as we ran crazy with beers, chips, and pirated dvds in hand away from that unscrupulous taxi driver who stopped us in a rather dark Jakarta street after much shoving from us when we realized he had been doing a rather obvious merry-go-round of Kemang! It was such a relief to find refuge in a toddler shop! Whew their taxi drivers are as worst as the Philippines’, which is a total contrast in Singapore- where everything is clean and disciplined. Walking our way form the Esplannade to the Merlion is like walking inside a blueprint or a scale model of the urban landscape of one’s city. Singapore is simply exhilarating! In this very ideal state, I wonder how happy the people can get with too much restrictions and limitations. Hmmmm, I still love the Philippinesv despite its crazy drivers, the obnoxious smog in EDSA, the hustles and bustles that is Divisoria or Quiapo, hypocrite devotees, the utopic Greenbelt, and the greedy politicians! Where in the world can you find the cheapest beer (hurrah), the even cheaper cigarettes, ukay-ukay finds, insanely delicious chocnut, isaw, fishball, balot, and the most optimistic people in the world? Today, although still nostalgic of the two weeks that was, I am back to my truly insane world of everyday struggle in work, in school, in relationship, and the internal skirmish deep within. It’s nice to be back home. Current Mood: crappy Current Music: a string of DIDO hits (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 8th, 2004
9:52 pm	1103-04 JMK Transpo somewhere in the heart of cagayan de oro Indeed. The world on time…never did I imagine that in my lifetime I will be like some parcel in FedEx being transported to some uniquely remote destinations. How I wished it had been Tibet. But it was closer to home than I imagined. My day ended, or should I say started with me joining some members of my Community Development class in the relief operations for the victims of several communities that was ravaged by the three typhoons that took the country by storm, literally. If there’s one thing that this tragedy earned us is that as a country it reminded us that we should operate as one community. This is a rare event for a very regionalistic country plagued with divisiveness and indifference. The most recent in memory that we acted as one nation was when we anguished over some Mexican named Marquez who robbed the much-needed victory on our people’s champion Manny Pacquiao. Of course there will always be EDSA uno hasta tres, or when by chance our country’s representative to the Miss Universe pageant is voted Miss Photogenic, or when two Angelos were captured in two distinct locations by some atrocious rebels. These are the rare occasions when either we stood proud or wept in disappointment, nevertheless illustrating how our country sympathize over victory...or tragedy. In this case, over the lives of more than six hundred countrymen claimed by the recent catastrophe. Such a sad fate for a country needing major refurbishing from natural and man-made disasters. Today, everyone is blaming one another, pointing fingers who should take the karma on what took place. However, the even sadder experience is how the government is methodically selecting like some jurors in Starstruck who should take responsibility on the matter. In broad day light sometimes we opt to be blind. *sigh* But, there are the others who chose to open more than the eyes can see, the few who offered their hearts and hands. Inside the NDCC warehouse I can almost felt a community in action when strangers come together to pack a flood of goodies... a flood of goodies after the great flood?? tsk tsk such a tragedy! As a nation what does this prove us? Anyway, on the way out we ended up inside the FedEx cargo truck like some Chinese hoi polloi being smuggled to some clandestine borders in the Land of Milk and Butter. But that experience created another community which I am having strong faith with. For the time being, the question is, will the relief goods be delivered on time? I trust FedEx with that… Current Mood: spiritualy scarce Current Music: a marathon of alicia keys hits (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, December 6th, 2004
10:05 pm	PXD 927 JELL TRANSPO somewhere near intersection of quezon avenue and timog avenue i miss riding the bus. eversince MRT started lording over the jungle that is EDSA i felt robbed. stripped of that rich oftentimes wonderfully insane events that can only take place inside the bus...today my life is geographically defined by which MRT station i got on or off further mortified by two astronomical malls ever tempting my instinctly compulsive consumeristic tendencies (but this is another story i could write another full chapter)! it all started en route to some meeting in an attempt for world peace in pseudo-bohemic tomas morato when i took old reliable Jell bus...heavy with emotional baggages and in deep thought of myriad of things of my own volition of pulling myself into the lowdowns as sleek-as-a-rabbit-hole, my sociological imaginations was briefly interrupted by some guy in his mid-20s feeding us with leaflets asking for some financial aid for his supposed organization that seeks to help the physically challenged (God bless your soul hijo!)...well, in the spirit of the yuletide season which is so in the air now and my recessively kept good faith i readied some extra cents i was able to get in my pocket (you know hot difficult it is getting one in such crowded space you can almost smell the worker's day stink on the other passengers' back-that includes me! hehe) when he started to sing..."bate namen meri krismas...!!!" it almost made me roll, but i forgave him for that. in such good act and intent it's rather impolite to laugh your heart out. his second attempt almost made me rise and raise hands and sing and dance in delight when he blurted out "ang buhay ng kristiyano ay masayang tunay! masayang tunay! hey hey!" (pucha it's still playing in my head!) it almost convinced me but i kept my cool, what is a few cents shared for a good cause right? but nothing, nothing prepared me for his last song it blew me away! in desperation he started to sing "walang sabit...huhuhhum ang buhok ko! walang sabit..." it killed me. i cringed in amazement and embarassment i almost wanted to die that very moment! i can almost see that perky but adorable (???) Sandara Park dancing with matching "hawi" of her hair. dude, for chrissssake leave it to her! *puff* i retreated the few coins i have into my empty pocket and went back into deep contemplation smiling. i almost put my hard-earned cents to some unscrupulous fly-by-night organization...sigh! haaay naku...ang buhay nga naman sa bus. sometimes it is a reflection of our craziness(es), a microcosm of our own eternally damned society! there are the greedy economists insisting us wtih silly goods; the evil politicians convincing us with sleight-of-hands politickings; the preachers with vested interests; the reluctant leaders; the powerless laborers; the elitist romantics; the apatethic majority; and the stupid few! such a circus of life inside the bus! but boy, you made my day! Current Mood: empty stomach wandering soul Current Music: some zen meditation music i am embarassed to ask the counter (Comment on this)