hazards

in line with this term's expenses, i had to resume my teaching duties, this time teaching pre-algebra instead of english [what irony]. this requires me to travel thrice a week to the global city, usually via lrt, mrt, and taxi. on saturdays, though, i take a jeep to bicutan, a bus from there to ayala, and a jeep from ayala to the essensa cameron, which, if you havent yet guessed, is where koreans with far too much money stay.

buses that stop at bicutan are either "ibabaw" or "ilalim" buses, the former of which supposedly stop at ayala [i still have to find a foolproof methodology, actually]. with this in mind, i erroneously took the first such bus i saw, only to be curtly informed by the conductor that i should have taken an "ilalim" bus instead.

strange, considering that this was the first time that an "ibabaw" bus had betrayed me. but between the both of us, i wasn't the one on the road twelve hours out of every twenty-four, so arguing my case was out of the question.

i spent a good five minutes at mantrade watching bus after bus speed by, since they were all upward-oriented as well. when an "ilalim" bus finally rolled around, i wasted no time in grabbing a seat, but could only watch in disbelief later, as the dusit hotel flashed by and vanished into the distance.

walking back from buendia, i contemplated this bizarre turn of events. if neither "ibabaw" nor "ilalim" guarantees a hit, then what does?

some two hours later, on my way home, i was still turning this problem over in my head, but was suddenly distracted by a commotion at the bicutan crossing: a middle-aged woman had for some reason decided to strip herself of her worldly burdens and was currently pacing the length of the bangketa in nothing but her skin and rather gaudy bright-red lipstick.

the kotong cops were of course on the sidelines, visibly enjoying the spectacle. their lives must be seriously boring. i mean, come on, gawking at mata hari i'd understand but salivating over jabba the hutt? thanks but no thanks.

still, despite my cynicism i did attempt to contemplate what last straw caused her to snap. a death in the family, perhaps, or a crisis left unchecked? that nagging thought on the back burner that finally boiled over?

meh, didn't last long though.

sige ingat.ü

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edit: "ibabaw" and "ilalim", as it turns out, refer primarily to a dichotomy at ortigas, not ayala. thus, that wonderfully helpful conductor had actually meant that a bus going under ortigas was more likely to go over ayala. next time, i think i'll just ask. 
posted by stani at 10:20 PM