Yesterday,our little Nate turned two and we celebrated it quietly at home with a birthday lunch. Today, Josef and I visited their place to share another celebration with my son-in-law’s family. He finally got to blow a candle on his cake and mingle with other kids and his cousins. I think he enjoyed himself blowing the #2 candle several times while Nissa took pictures. We’re teaching him how to answer “I am two years old” with matching index and middle fingers raised like a letter V.
Did I tell you that I am afraid to take a commute alone when going to far places? Most of the time, when Josef is free, we go together. After attending the early morning mass, we met at the EDSA Shrine. He came straight from a night shift and it would save time than for me to wait for him to come home. Going to Manila even on a Sunday is quite a challenge to one’s patience. I thought, people were out of the streets since for every scheduled Manny Pacquiao fight there is no traffic. It was the exact opposite though so we took the train (MRT) from Ortigas to Taft Avenue, another connecting train ride (LRT 1) to Tayuman where we took a 10-minute jeepney commute to go to Tondo. On our way home, we did the same, taking LRT 1 to Doroteo Jose station then transferred to LRT 2 until we reached Santolan, the end station on the eastern side of Manila. Josef laughingly told me that finally, I have experienced going around all the stations of the metro rail and light rail transits. Hooray! Honestly, it is a bit hard to climb stairs to get to the next connecting ride. Oh, my poor knees! Why are all the escalators not functioning? I can imagine the hardship of everyday ride for our public commuters but I guess, it is the best option than taking a bus which also takes forever because of the traffic. Metro Manila is so congested.
So what’s new? Every year the government thinks of expanding the roads (and they do causing more traffic) but every year there are new cars too, truck bans are out of this world, smoke belching is an accepted norm and yes, sometimes traffic enforcers are not doing their jobs well. If I can help it, I don’t like being in a crowd of commuters, bumping elbows, jostling one another although at times it is more practical to commute than to bring a car where you’ll be stuck in traffic. The Metro Manila Development Authority and the big shopping malls in Metro Manila have agreed to adjust their opening time from 10am to 11am and they close at 11pm. I guess that is only for the Christmas season. The big question is, will it change the traffic situation?
By the way, congratulations Manny! I wonder what Mayweather is thinking now.
Dreams And Escapes 
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