fare hike

this morning (oh yeah, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY PHILIPPINES!!!!!) going to the mrt station, jeepney fare was still 4 pesos. Going to UP from edsa was still P5.50. That afternoon around 130, the fare from UP to edsa was still P5.50. Later today, around 3:45, the fare from Crossing to the village was now P5.50. Ho-hum. During the prodwork, Lyn told me I was lucky "kasi di pa tumaas ang fare ko papuntang UP." Yeah, well, my luck ran out that afternoon. Things happen for a reason, I don’t know what that reason is for me to run out of money everyday.

let’s compute my estimated daily expenses:

village to mrt: P5.50
mrt to quezon ave: P11.50
edsa to UP: P7.50
ikot (at least once): P5 (I’m guessing)
meal: P50 (I highly doubt I will spend this little for food)
UP to mrt: P7.50
mrt to shaw blvd: P11.50
crossing to village: P5.50
= P102

that doesn’t even include xerox, merienda, project fees, etc. ho-hum.

in megamall, while waiting for the rain to stop, I visited the art exhibit on the fourth floor. the exhibit was entitled “contradicting metaphors.” Really nice, really dark actually, I kind of felt depressed though. But there was this one piece that really made me smile. It was entitled “stripes.” What was so unusual about it was that it was made entirely of erasers. the striped ones. They were regular striped rubber erasers laid out in columns and rows to form a gigantic square. I was about to make this really profound realization about it, when all of a sudden, a kid wearing a batman costume and on roller skates, skates right through it. The guard got so pissed and I don’t know what stopped me from cursing at the little shithead.

oh well.

There was another piece that I saw. There were black and white photos placed on a shelf. I nearly cried when I saw what the artist took pictures of: the beach (or some island) and the locals flashing their huge smiles at the camera. And there were fishing boats, kids in snorkeling masks and the horizon. I nearly cried because it reminded me so much of Zambales and how much I miss it.

...I miss the genuine warmth and openness of the people, their smiles which can make anyone’s day and their friendship.
...I miss the blueness of the south china sea.
...I miss the way sand is forever stuck on any part of your body.
...I miss the cold nights where it feels as if you’re inside an air-conditioned room.
...I miss sleeping on the ambay.
...I miss roasting kasuy during the night.
...I miss the way the fishing boats light up the sea at night, making it look like a hustling, busting city.
...I miss the way the moon shines over the entire Cabangan lighting up the place.
...I miss all the kwentuhan and tuksuhan with my friends there, my kapatids (hehe, coño) and with my parents.
...I miss the way we all get drunk every final night there.
...I miss the way the mangoes taste so sweet.
...I miss the way my parents are so intent on feeding me and fattening me up.
...But most of all, I miss all of life’s simplicity. How they never lose track of all what truly matters in life. How life isn’t made up of images and pretensions, of what you have or what you don’t have…

I blink and I find myself back in Megamall. Back again to the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Back again to the dull, gray and dreary metro. Back again to the world of fare hikes.