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Traffic in Davao City!

Lately it’s so traffic here in Davao City. If you go to the downtown area coming from Matina it will take a while to get there especially if you’re going through the Bankerohan area. Right now the city has been working on the Bankerohan bridge for over a month now. I’ve heard it will go on for a long time. Geez, going through in that area in the morning and in the afternoon (rush hour times) it’s definitely not a  fun drive, an excruciating headache I know that for sure. :-)

A few weeks ago me and my niece went through there at Bankerohan on our way to downtown. Usually we go through the other side, at the SM Ecoland at Quimpo Boulevard area. Problem is we had to swing by at some other place in Bankerohan. So we decided that we will just ride the jeepney to Bankerohan, it’s not that far from NCCC Mall anyway. So off we went. My goodness we’re not yet halfway to Banke just around the UM Matina college we noticed that the jeepneys barely moved. I think we were stuck in the traffic for over 30 minutes not even moving. I told my niece it might be better for us to just walk than just sitting in the jeepney. So off we went and started walking. Other passengers on the other jeepneys started walking too. So many people walking and its kind of fun watching other people walking and talking to us. It really reminds me of my time living in Manila in the late 80′s. Traffic there was horrible its bumper to bumper. But, I got used to it later.

Bankerohan Bridge Repair

Bankerohan Bridge Repair

Like 30-45 minutes later we head back towards NCCC again. My niece she did remember the plate number and the driver of our jeepney. He was still there in the traffic. No more passengers on his jeepney though, they already went walking crossing the bridge. Lot’s of those drivers they were complaining that they earned less money now. It’s hard hearing from them that they’re having a hard time. People tend to walk now instead of riding. It used to be people rides jeepney even if its just a short distance away. Now with the traffic, much better to walk than ride.

Bankerohan is already bad enough for the traffic jam, sometimes at the other side at Quimpo its bad traffic too. One time they were also working on the bridge there. Plus if there’s something going on that Agro grounds near the bridge the traffic is also unbelievable. The only way to go to the town without traffic jam would be at the Maa road to San Rafael out in Marfori. Or From Maa to Diversion road, lots of exit there to go to town.

Just a month ago it was on the news here that Davao might have a light rail transportation soon. Hopefully it will go through. Only thing it  means more traffic that the Davaoeno will endure. It’s going to be longer time than what we are going through right now. Really I am feeling sorry for the students and the people that work. Luckily our house is not far from our kids school. Our niece who goes to college and had to go through the bridge, she goes to school a little early now. Sometimes she had to walk across the bridge.

Thank goodness we have 2 malls and S & R near our house. So that I don’t have to go to the other side of town constantly. Well, to you guys just have patience right now. I know it’s not easy but nothing we can do about it.

Cheers!

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Conversation that I heard!

It’s really nice now that we decided to ride jeepneys in going anywhere here in the city area. On one of our jeepney routes, me and my niece overheard a very interesting conversation of 2 old friends. One of the ladies might be in her mid 50′s and the other one might be a little younger than me. I am just estimating their ages. The route was a bit longer because of the traffic accident. So even with the traffic I was not agitated because of the delay, just thankful of the interesting conversation I’ve heard inside the jeepney. As the minutes went on, their conversations got intense. Both of them shared each other stories about their friends or close friends  rendezvous. I will share their conversation here, some readers here might know of similar stories happens to their friends or relatives. Feel free to share here. I will make 2 post from the lady’s chitchat.

Overheard on the Jeepney

Overheard on the Jeepney

As I gathered with their conversation, both ladies used to be neighbors. They were just in that jeepney together accidentally. When the older lady converse about the wedding of I think her close family member. She was asked to be the godmother (ninang) of the couples to be. She was happy to do it. She was even helping the couple in the wedding preparation. Just by listening I could tell that the wedding was a success. The godmother said that the guy, a foreigner from the States, was a bit older than the lady. I guess the guy had money and was getting a big pension. As I was hearing the conversation, the bride was a lavish spender. Bought stuff that’s not even necessary. They had a really nice wedding. Which was understandable since she was just married once, so why not have a fancy wedding? She bought stuff for their house and of course the typical thing partied almost every night, drinking beer and liquor.

The guy wants to live here in the Philippines because he has the money to live here comfortably. The lady really insisted before the wedding that they had to live in America. So the guy agreed to the wishes of the girl because he really loved the girl so much. Thinking about it, it might also good for the lady to live in the States for a few years for her to learn American culture  and that she will get her US citizenship and after that they will settle back here in the Philippines for good.

Well, after the wedding when they should have the honeymoon somewhere. The girl postponed it and said that she’s not up to it going somewhere, because she was really exhausted with the prep of the wedding. So she just wants to go to the hotel and sleep. The godmother saw the reason for her not going with the honeymoon somewhere. The bride already had an affair with her ex two days after the wedding. Instead of spending time with her husband she was in bed with her ex. The husband was alone in his hotel room. He thinks his wife spends time with her parents. That really shocked the people that saw  her and the ex especially the godmother.

So the godmother was fuming. She told the bride to end the relationship with the ex or she will tell the husband immediately, she said not tomorrow, its going to be today. She told the bride that if she ever do that again that she will never want to get involve with the family because she will never tolerate that kind of behavior. She also added that from now on she will monitor the bride and if theirs something she notice that’s not appropriate to the marriage, she will tell the husband and the church.  Hmm. Shocking.. It worked though, because she said the bride really straighten up and behave like a wife after their talk. Just by listening I was hoping too for the happy ending of the new couple.

So I guess you better get godparents that are really close to the family. At the end it will help out both husband and wife. I’m just glad that the godmother really stood her ground and gave her piece to the new bride. I think the parents were also giving advice to the bride to stick with the husband because not just he had the money but also they could tell that the husband will be there for their daughter until the end. They know that the ex will just be there while he can dig in money from their daughter. Plus morally they know that their daughter was already married. They bride was still processing her papers to go to the States. Hoping for the best for the husband and wife while living in the States. Good luck to them.

Watch out next week for the other story. If the story rings a bell to you feel free to comment. Have a great day!!!

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A Taxi Driver’s Story!

I was riding a taxi from Abreeza mall to our house. When the taxi cab driver saw one of my son with me he could tell that my son is a multi-race. So he asked me if my son is mixture of German & Pinoy? I answered him politely nope. He then asked again what country, I told him the USA. He said oh, the US. I have my son and ex-wife there. So I asked him did your wife marry a foreigner? He said yes. He said actually she really is not my wife. We didn’t get married, we were just together for a long time. So I kinda tease him maybe your partner got tired of waiting for you to asked her to marry her? He said maybe and just move on with out me. We kinda both laugh on that.

Anyway, he was really curious with the life in the USA. I told him that maybe his son could petition him later for him to go there. He said maybe. He said that his son did not expressed any interest of getting him. He told me that he still continue communicating with his son there. I could tell the taxi driver really is interested to go to the USA for he wants quote and quote to make his and his new wife and kids have a better life. I can’t blame him for wanting a better life. He really regretting not finishing school, its imminent when he’s talking.

Davao Taxi

Davao Taxi

I asked him how old is his son. He said he just turn 20. He said his son had been in the States for 5 or so years now. the son’s working at McDonald and studying college too. I could tell that he is really proud of his son. Which he should be. He said that his son told him that he cannot send money for his dad because he is paying his brand new car right now. He said his son bought an Audi car. I don’t know why he mentioned the brand of the car. I said really, that’s a very expensive car. He said his son said that he needed that car for his job. So I asked him then what’s the position of his son at McDonald? Is he an executive? He said his a server. I just said ah okay. I just said that he probably needs it then. Well, if the son thinks he needed that car, so it’s his choice. But the taxi driver really said his frustration that his son did not bother to send him money. I didn’t say anything because it’s not my place to tell him what to do.

For me in my opinion, it’s okay for that kid to not support his dad here since he is going to school. But I don’t think he really needed that expensive car for him to go to work. When we were there in the States before, kids of friends of mine who were going to college bought used cars for them to go to school and to go to work. It’s too early to show off a very expensive car. I asked the taxi driver maybe his ex-partner were the one paying the car, he said no, it’s just his son. I just didn’t know that the son can afford an expensive car payment, plus school, plus his personal things.

Because of the taxi driver’s dilemma I was thinking then for my son Aaron. Since AJ is getting serious of going to the States to visit GrandMa and maybe to study.  I was thinking then what’s best for AJ to do when he will be in the States by himself without Mom and Dad. Just Grandma will be there with him. I would not want him to be burden with car payment. For me if he wants to study in America, he can ride the bus. So many buses route from my mother-in-laws house to the nearest college there. I would rather he uses the extra money for his personal things than the car payment. Hopefully Aaron will think it through on what to do than buying stuff that’s not so necessary for him. Anyway, that’s just my opinion.

Cheers!

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Jeepney’s cheating passenger!

A few weeks ago me and my son AJ were riding the jeepney. When we got inside, there were just a few people. Slowly on the way to our destination pretty much almost all the seats were filled. But in between our destination a well dressed lady hopped in. She sat next to me. I kind of liked it because she’s totally clean, I could still see that she just showered, her hair still wet. (Talking about being observant, ha ha ha). Anyway, I really got interested with her because I liked her blouse. I was thinking that the style of it really fitting good with Jean. I was trying to see the name tag of the blouse. Ha ha ha. Easy to see since she’s sitting a little bit off the seat due to the little space left. Half of her bottom was sitting off the edge of the seat. I was really trying to give her space as much as I could but failed. Lots of us were bigger than the size they intended for the seat.

This Jeepney has lots of riders!

This Jeepney has lots of riders!

Just like a mile or so down the road, she was knocking on the jeepney roof alerting the driver that she wanted to get off. That jeepney that we’re riding doesn’t have a conductor. So the driver just rely on the honesty of the passengers. So when she got off, I was thinking I never saw her handing her fare to the driver. So on our way to our destination I was trying recalling if the lady paid her fare. I didn’t remember her handing her money to me to pass on to the driver. I would have seen it if she paid because I was next to her. So after we got off, I asked Aaron if she remembered the lady right across from him. He said yes. I asked him did he remember seeing the lady pay or even handing her fare to anybody. Aaron said nope. I guess my son was also observing the lady. Hey, who would not, she’s an attractive lady and maybe just a few years older than Aaron (I hope AJ won’t see my post, he would not like it what I said. :-) ). We really are positive that she didn’t pay. But too late to let the lady know.

It really got me thinking after that if the driver will get a lot of dishonest or forgetful passengers everyday, that would really cut way back on their income per day. P8 fare for a short ride, really the jeepney fare depends on the distance of your travel. What if that person travel from one end to the other end of the journey. Some fares here cost P25. Most of the jeepney don’t have conductor. That definitely cuts big time on their income.

I didn’t really think about it when my niece was telling me about it before. But when seeing it with my very own eyes, it’s almost like a mouth dropping thing. I remember a few months ago when hopping in the jeepney. As soon as I sat down the passengers and the conductor were talking about one of the passenger didn’t pay and she was asking for her change. The conductor gave the change thinking that the change goes to the person next to that lady. Well, that lady got off the jeepney after getting the money. Right before I hop-in the lady next to that lady that got off asked the conductor for her change. The conductor told her that I already gave you the change. Everybody then realized that the lady took the change from the conductor.

Honestly, maybe the lady forgot to pay her fare. Can you imagine if lots of passengers forget to pay the driver for the fare? I mean the driver really tried very hard to earn money for that day for his family. Most of them have several kids that go to school. I think that is something for everyone to think about now. Take out the change as soon as you get in the jeepney. If not feel like paying right away, hold on to the change until your destination and pay then. Some scams are going on right now too on the jeepney. My niece told me about it: That some passengers if you pass the money to them, they pretended then to the driver that it’s them that paid the fare. Most of those crooks sit at the back of the driver. Scam everywhere I guess.

Cheers!

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Wheelchair access in the Philippines

I was just watching TV at our bedroom and in the show they had someone on a wheelchair.  So that really got me thinking of how the people here on a wheelchair go from their day to day lives. I mean not a lot of establishments here that were so accessible by them. I’ve seen lots of places that don’t have wheelchair access. Even trying to ride the public transportation would be so challenging for them. We don’t have public van that had easy entry for them. I guess unless the family will spend money to have custom made car. Going somewhere without help, it must be so difficult though. I mean going in and out of the jeepney with no help must be really hard. I know of course some passengers will help out. We as human being do our instinct to help. I guess that’s the best we can do.

Ramp - You won't see many of these in the Philippines

Ramp – You won’t see many of these in the Philippines

When my mom was confined on her wheelchair whenever we brought her somewhere, we had to bring one of our nephew or brother-in-law with us to carry her in and out of the taxi. Sometimes Bob would carry her in and out of our car. My mom likes to travel with us. She enjoys Bob’s driving. Ha ha ha. It was not easy for her being confined in the wheelchair, I’m sure it was not comfortable for her too. We brought her places for her not to be depressed on being inside the wheelchair. Sometimes when she stayed at my sister’s house and they’re bringing her to the mall, some taxi drivers were so nice and helpful in carrying her.

I’ve known friends here in the Philippines that use wheelchairs too. But one in particular. I’ve seen him going around the places with his wheelchair. He is not whining about being in it. Instead he is so active in helping out other less fortunate people here in the city. I’m so happy to know him. He is so busy with his speaking engagements here and other places in the country. People really get inspired by him for not dwelling on being in the wheelchair. I really applaud him for that.

handicappedLuckily now malls, hotels and condos are easily accessible by wheelchair already. I think the schools too. Not sure if all hotel bathrooms are accessible to wheelchair user. I guess if booking hotels try to ask them ahead of time and get the rooms that are wheelchair friendly. The good thing here if the person has money, he/she can just hire a private male nurse  to carry her/him in and out of the car. The going in and out of bed. Must hire 2 nurses for the 24 hour shift. But if the person has no money, I guess just ask the family for help. I’m pretty sure the family will help out.

Honestly I never thought the hardship of the handicap people endured before. But after seeing how the US cares and changed a lot of the building code for the handicapped people to have easy access, it really made me think a lot. I’m wishing and hoping that our government here have the funds to change a lot of the buildings to have ramps for the easy access of the handicapped. I mean I’m not saying for an instant or immediate change but slowly. I’ve seen there too when I went to the doctors office and all the names outside the rooms had braille writing for the blind people. They really show there how they care so much of the handicapped people. Just like the parking area of the handicapped there, they really made sure that its handicapped person that parks. Here we have handicapped parking but some people just don’t follow the rules and park illegally. They had also there that park illegally but the building owner immediately alert the car owner about it. If they don’t listen the building owner will call up the police.

Just a thought, I don’t mean to start a fire here.

Cheers Everyone!

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