Road Affair

It's Wednesday, my public commute day. I left the house at 5:50 am, now it's 6:14 and the fx I'm riding is crawling, covering just a couple of kilometers since stopping to pick me. This is Ortigas Extension. Traffic while common everywhere in Manila is heavier on this short stretch, a major road linking Rizal to one of Manila's commercial business districts. If today was another day of the week and I were driving, I would have taken a long detour going inside Cainta from Taytay to skip traffic along several subdivisions to Cainta Junction, and save 10-15 minutes, crucial minutes that would determine my road affair for the day, which would usually spare me from getting squeezed on all fronts and sides, and the silent fight against bikers and speeding (despite the traffic) PUVs. 

It's now 6:33, and this fx has finally inched its way for its turn to cross the junction. Haha, I've gotten rusty writing a blah-blah post. It's been almost three months since my last blog musings. Work has taken over and filed my hours. Traffic is a major time filler, too, sadly. 

I've gotten used to waking so freaking early at around 4am, eyes still closed but fully awake. Mornings start quiet save for the AM news and the witty and funny rejoinders of Chico, Delamar and Gino on FM radio. I spend between 40 and 60 minutes in the car going to work. This is one of the things I did differently this time. Before, I opted to take the public commute because I thought it was a better choice, saved me gas money and effort. Now, I realized driving despite the traffic and spending on gas made for a slightly better quality of life. I am no longer rushing to get off work to avoid the long queue at the fx terminal. That I realized was a major source of my stress before, never mind the blaring radio in the fx or the loud conversation of the driver with his co-drivers on transmitter radio, or being squeezed by other passengers, or being forced to listen in to small talk of passengers or a passenger's side of conversation on his/her mobile phone. Some drivers are funny and I would silently laugh over radio exchanges, and kind of decoded some of their radio signals. 

We're making progress now having passed the hazards/accidents that caused the heavier than usual traffic. I'm cutting this short now. Happy mid week!' :)