October 2, 2019, Wednesday
1. The traffic was so bad. Dahil ba Baclaran day? From Pasong Tamo to Amir Sali’s shop in Valle Verde 2 took a solid two hours. From Valle Verde to Podium took me one and a half hours!!! Grabe. I’ve seen people walking, parang gusto ko na ring maglakad.
2. I was riding on a separate car, while Len and Bong were in a separate car. They were picked up by Driver Idon from NAIA Terminal 2. They landed at 3:50 pm from Bacolod but encountered the rush hour traffic at EDSA. They arrived at the Podium at 6:30 pm.
Our cars were already side by side in front of ADB Headquarters but for some reason they disappeared from my radar. I thought they were behind me. I ran out of battery from calling the driver. “Saan kayo napunta? Magkala[it lang tayo ah?
Driver Toy was recommended to me a month ago. According to his former employer, hindi daw nagbibigay ng stress si Toy. Nay ko po. Not true. He moves soooo slow. He responds soooo slow. He processes instructions soooo slow. He is soooo slow.
When you tell him you’re living, he would stand there and stare at you. When you tell him, “kumilos ka na aalis na tayo, sumakay ka na”, he would ride the car. He would sit there and not do anything. Eh tama nga naman. Ang sabi ko lang sumakay sya sa kotse. Hindi ko naman sinabi agad na paandarin nya. Pagsakay ko at saka ko sasabihin “Oh umandar na tayo, alis na tayo!”
In maybe one year he would move a little faster, think a little faster, process instructions a little faster.
A—–“Toy, dumiretso ka lang, kita mo BDO- dito yung Podium, nadito ako nakatayo sa entrance. Dito on hayan ka na nakikita na kita.”
I moved five steps because someone stood right beside me. When I looked, our other car disappeared from my sight. Nawala na sya. It took 5 calls, naubos na battery ko.
Fifteen minutes disappeared from that distance of maybe 20 meters. He entered the BDO driveway instead of going straight to Podium. Ubos na ubos ang pasensya ko. Bad trip na ako.
Instead of giving him money for his dinner and parking, I told him to just bring the car home. “Umuwi ka na lang. Nai-stress ako sa’yo.” I would just ask another driver to come pick me up. Baka kasi maligaw pa sya, kung saan mag-park, mabwisit lang ako.
His resume indicated he was a taxi driver. Eh how come he doesn’t know the streets around here?
3. I asked my sister what she wanted to eat. Chinese daw. I brought her to Paradise
Dynasty on the 3rd floor ba yan?
We ordered yang Chow and white chicken. We were shocked at how small the serving of the chicken was. Kasing liit ng tasa ng tsaa. We ordered an extra dish.
We had the chicken wrapped. The maids were happy.
The servings were very small.
Hindi kami gaanong nabusog, dinaan na lang namin sa dessert. Len had mango pudding while I had honey lemon jelly. Did I like it? Hmmm.
4. While walking on the ground floor towards the exit, we passed by this sculpture at the exhibit of Gallerie Joaquin featuring artist Ram Mallari.
P1,200,000.00 daw itong si Merkurio.
P160,000.00 for this mixed-media assembly. For that price, I expect it would have moving parts to make the art piece more interesting.
5. Bong had dinner with his high school classmate from San Beda, Jobert. I met him in California two years ago. I think he’s one of the top officers of ABS-CBN. Such a nice fellow.
6. While we were standing at the entrance waiting for our sundo, a boy selling flowers approached me. This is not sampaguita, this is camia. P20 for the altar.
