My Blog

It only seems to happen here in this part of the planet. Riding a cab is almost always quite an adventure for me and maybe for just about everyone. You get the usual Q & A types–those cab drivers (probably every other one) who are notorious for asking you where you are headed before even deciding you’re worthy of being picked up.

You get the usual negotiator types–those who explicitly ask for "tips" or "dagdag" on top of what the (usually already rigged) taxi meter says. When this happens, I only agree on one condition–that these guys take the service road instead of the expressway so what I’m supposed to pay for the toll gate, I’ll just give to him. See, I live in Parañaque and I usually take the South Superhighway route on my way home.

And then there are those who let their horny hormones get the best of them–the types who almost always prefer female (usually pretty) passengers over guys like me. I always hate it when I lose out to a girl when it comes to hailing a cab and I’m not being sexist here. The way I see it, my money is just as good for cab fare as her money so what gives? A friend recently told me it has something to do with me not having boobs and a vagina that women can actually use as leverage in case they don’t have enough cab fare. Of course, my friend was only kidding but then maybe the clever bastard has a point. Who knows how much of that joke has some truth to it? I mean, what else can I possibly give the cab driver if I fell short of his "metro?"

As for female taxi passengers, a word of advice for my Friendsters of the opposite sex. Try not to argue too much with a cab driver, at least not to the point of agitating the fella. It doesn’t matter whether the argument is about directions or about the fare. You may have your way by the time you reach your destination but the cab driver can still have the last say on the matter and I’ve seen it happen on not a few occasions.

A couple of seconds after getting off the cab, most drivers will likely yell something within hearing distance of nearby bystanders. You know what he’ll say?

"PANGIT!"

Ladies, you’ve been duly warned.   

If nothing else, the rainy season is the time when most people can wear long-sleeves clothing again, be it shirts, jackets, coats and sweaters. I didn’t realize it until recently but being a member of media in my case actually meant never having the desire to buy anything that remotely close to what would pass for rainwear. And as I scrounge to my stuff for what to wear on a particular rainy day, I discovered that I still have more than my share of favorites.

On top of my list right now is an HBO In Concert denim jacket that I usually wear with either dark jeans or corduroy khakis. There’s the blue and white HP BMW Williams nylon jacket that matches well with just about everything. I also have a cream-colored Esprit jacket that my brother got for me from an ukay-ukay store in Bangbang and a red windbreaker from Apple Computer that I got as a souvenir from the now defunct Apple Philippines office. I also have the gray-colored variety of that Apple windbreaker but seldom wear simply because the fabric makes me sweat easily.

I also recently discovered a black colored AC/DC sweater that I got as a Christmas gift from Warner Music Philippines many years back and I still haven’t found the time to wear the cardigan sweater that I’m wearing on the photo I’m using for this blog simply because I can’t recall where I last put it.

One thing I can’t figure out is what umbrella to use to match with all these rain gear as one, I’ve never been an umbrella person and two, I don’t think there are enough umbrellas in the house to mix and match to begin with. Yes, I keep losing them all the time.