As the holiday season draws to an end I stretch against my chair with a mug of hot coffee and a quiet smile.

Got a bunch of new shirts including a nice grey shirt with crescent moons and Japanese writing all over. I've already worn it thrice since I got it! There's also a new pair of shades (parang aviator glasses! astig!), nifty glass chess set, a pipe and lots and lots of candy! Mmmm...

Hung out with the resident goddess and a couple of my buddies. I spent most of the time with my family, hanging out with my cousins, especially Darrel who had me giving piggy back rides til my back went sore.

So much fun. Wish I could show you some of the highlights but alas, I am cam-less. I swear, my first big purchase this year will be a digi-cam so that nothing more passes without me having a photo to remind me of it.

The food was awesome as always. Ham, cheese, arroz caldo, grilled tuna, lengua, steak, pinapaitan, atay, dinuguan, menudo, igado(did i spell that right), laing, buro, lechon, pancit, fried chicken, roast turkey, fruits, brownies, cookies, hot chocolate, milk, tea, red wine, white wine, sparkling cider, gin, brandy, tequila... and so much more.

Mmmm. Posting that made me hungry. Off to find something to nibble on before bed. Hope you guys enjoy yourselves these last few days of vacation!

I cannot, for the life of me, sleep without kicking off the sheets. It's like my subconscious knows that my body should always be out in the open air, goosebumps rising and falling across my skin as the cool wind blows.

Unfortunately, I'm sick right now and the cool wind feels like a winter storm and I'm shivering so bad that the bolts in my chair are starting to come loose... Okay, maybe that's a bit over the top, but you get the point.



Brrr... Someone keep me warm...

Work... School... Eat... Sleep... Work... School... Eat... Sleep...

THE GRIND PART ONE: WORK

Why? 'Cause I'm now a Convergys trainee! Frickin' hooray! I'm a member of the working class!

Although as far as work goes, being at a call center is a cush job. Air conditioned rooms, soft swivel chairs and nice, expensive headsets that don't pinch or chafe. The biggest drawback is the graveyard shifting but that's not really an issue with me. I like the night.

Training is like melted chocolate that you have to lick off the wrapper; mildly irritating yet still enjoyable. Right, baby? Three more weeks of that and then it's off to the floor.

Mmmm... I'm also back on my daily doses of coffee and cigarettes. Just have to make sure to keep it in check. I don't want to strip my stomach free of lining and I need to keep my lungs good enough to make my calls. Blah. Self-control's a bitch.


THE GRIND PART TWO: SCHOOL

School is school. The less said about that, the better.


THE GRIND PART THREE: EAT

The P's have been really good to me since I started working. Dad brings me to work (walking up Annapolis in my leather shoes is REALLY painful) and when I get home at noon, Mom makes me dinner (for you day people, that's lunch). But, when my paychecks start coming in...

THE GRIND PART FOUR: SLEEP

Finally, going to sleep has become effortless. In fact, falling asleep has become so easy for me that I've been sleeping all over the place. In the MRT, in Starbucks, in Jollibee, on the Kit Kat bench outside Greenhills Theatre Mall... And they're not just little catnaps either. I'm talking hour-long, dreamless sleep. Mmmm...

- - - - -

Well, that's all for now. Back to sleep for me...

P.S. A big apology to the MHS guys... I had to miss out on the drummer audi because of work. Damn. I've been itching to sing for weeks now, be it in a studio or on stage.

WARNING: Long entry! I think I pulled a Maddox on this one.

SUMMARY:
- Walk on the sidewalk, not on the street. You'll live longer and stay drier, too.
- Read the pink signs. They're there to guide you safely on your way. They are NOT trying to opress you.
- People who say Bayani Fernando is ineffective can go walk into a wet flag.

- - -

At the gym today I overheard a conversation about his notorious Wet Flag Scheme which eventually turned into a "Bayani Fernando Bashing" Session. There were several points that were brought up which really got me thinking (alright, it started with overhearing but eventually i was really listening. is it my fault if they talk so damn loud?)

It's cruel and unusual punishment

I agree that it's unusual but it's hardly cruel. Any person walking on the street would have the sense to look backwards every once in a while. You know, to check if they're about to get run over. During any of these backward glances one can easily spot the big blue truck with "MMDA" plastered on the front and the great white flag that has "MAGLAKAD SA BANGKETA. HUWAG MAGLAKAD SA KALYE" printed in bright pink. It's moving at a pace slightly faster than the average walk. If you hurry, you can outrun the damned thing. If you can't run, then hop the fence.

And remember, the key word is PUNISHMENT. They're doing that to you because YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG. (Hint: It's walking on the street!)

It shames the people

The people are ashamed of being seen wet... But they're not ashamed of breaking the rules so bluntly stated by the multitude of pink signs.

HUWAG TUMAWID. NAKAMAMATAY. GAMITIN ANG TULAY UPANG TUMAWID

MAGLAKAD SA BANGKETA. HUWAG SA KALYE.

DITO ANG SAKAYAN. PUMILA NG MAAYOS.

Tinagalog na nga eh! 'Di parin maintindihan?!? O ayaw lang intindihin?!? What shames me is the fact that my countrymen cannot abide by simple laws of traffic.

He's overstepping his jurisdiction.

What. The. Fuck.

Bayani Fernando is the Chief of the MMDA which is the acronym for METRO MANILA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY. Doesn't that imply that his jurisdiction is the whole of Metro Manila?

Okay, fine. Let's play by the rules. Private owned property is out of bounds for him. Therefore his task is to 'develop' (an ambiguous term, to say the least) the PUBLIC areas of the metro. That means that every street, sidewalk, flyover, overpass, and alley in the city is HIS JURISDICTION. HIS TURF.

But this is inferencing on my part. I don't know what the letter of law dictates. I can't defend my statement with any method other than COMMON SENSE, so I'll move on.

He should stick to the beautification of the city

Once upon a time the term MMDA was synonymous to 'street sweeper'. They tried their best to keep the city looking pretty whilst the problems of human and vehicular traffic festered around them. The people whine and bitch about how hard it is to travel and the government fobbs them off with excuses and when elections come around mayoral candidates rip up the roads and fix them again.

And then here comes Bayani Fernando. He's got solutions to the problems that have plagued our city for so long! Hurrah! Oh, but wait! His methods are unorthodox!

Pink and blue pedestrian walkways? A PUV lane? No-contact traffic law enforcement? U-Turn schemes? Fenced off sidewalks? Urinals on the sidewalk? Street vendor raids? Wet flags?!?

And then some one says.

"He's a stumbling block in the road of progress!"

Emphatic nods all around.

Honestly, at this point I wanted to get up and clobber these people with my coffee mug. No... Wait... First I'd fill the mug with boiling hot coffee straight from the Black & Decker pot, and THEN give them each a sharp rap to their backward-thinking heads, simultaneously drenching them with scalding java.


If you take a close look at the accomplishments of the MMDA in the past years, you will find that BF is anything BUT a stumbling block.

Pink and blue. All right, it's damned fugly but it does serve a purpose. I can spot a urinal a mile away simply because 'cause it's so fucking bright.

The PUV lane? Speeds up traffic flow by segregating vehicles. Also pisses off people since it's another chance to pick up a traffic violation. Even I've been ticketed for straying into the yellow lane. But I'm not complaining. It's definitely an improvement.

No contact traffic law enforcement, A.K.A. "HULI KA! You're caught on traffic camera!" was implemented as a way of avoiding "kotong". People don't understand that. They think the video surveillance is just another way of handing them a ticket. What they don't realize is that the MMDA and police who are watching over the traffic are also being taped. It'll be harder for them to pull any dirty deals. (although I'm sure they've found a way around that. Filipinos can work their way around any situation)

The U-turn, jug-handle and one-way traffic schemes have caused a lot of confusion and frustration but it really is the best solution for a city whose roads aren't big enough for the amount of traffic it has to put up with.

Street vendor raids. Ugh. I could do a whole other entry about this. In a nutshell, he's reclaiming the sidewalks for the pedestrians. He's also indirectly helping those who spent time and money to operate LEGAL STORES. 'Nuff said.

Sidewalk fences, overpasses and wet flags. Their purpose? To keep the people on the fucking sidewalk! It's so damned Filipino for a person to run across a highway, risking death by speeding car, even when the overpass is just a 5 minute walk away. C'mon! This is a no-brainer decision!

Option A, The Overpass:

The Bad
- Sore feet
- 5-10 minutes of your time
- Pleas from the beggar on the overpass (which you will likely ignore)

The Good
- Legal
- High rate of survival

vs. Option B, Playing Frogger:

The Good
- Saves time
- Doesn't require you to tire your feet and legs
- Adrenalin Rush (for that get up and go feeling bright and early in the morning!)

The Bad
- ILLEGAL (Streets are for cars, mush head)
- Very likely that you will DIE*
*NEWSFLASH: All that time and energy you saved is worth jack shit if you're ROADKILL

So friends, Filipinos, city-men (and women). The only reason the MMDA has to discipline us with fences and wet flags is because we can't seem to DISCIPLINE OURSELVES.

Walk that extra mile. Stop taking shortcuts. If we all put in a little effort, this city would be a better place to live in.