her morning elegance

Her Morning Elegance - Oren Lavie

Thanks to Aki for showing me this vid. Stop motion charms me no end.

I love it.

meant to travel

I was at National Bookstore checking the travel section when the guy next to me caught my attention.

"You love to travel, too?" he asked. I smiled brightly and said yes.

"I'm planning to go to Australia," he continued, as he reached out to the Lonely Planet guide to Australia.

"Australia. Wow. Is this for work or vacation?" It was my turn to ask.

"Oh, I don't work."

And with that I was hooked.

Here was a very confident 25-year old businessman who was also an avid traveler. He talked about studying in Europe, ordering a gelato in Milan, the cold weather in Beijing and feeding needy children in South Africa.

All I could do was smile and ham it up. He was talking about previous travels while all I had to share was future travel plans - going to China with friends in a couple of years and plans to apply to Australia for further training. My recent islandhopping escapades and travel to HK and Macau certainly was not up to par. Nevertheless, we still had an enjoyable chat and we ended up exchanging contact information for possible "collaborations" in the future. (As a physician he thought I would be interested in his new anti-aging business venture, while his feeding the needy crusade was what piqued my interest).

We discussed the merits of the different travel guides (Let's Go, LP, Rough Guide, etc) - the no-ads stand of LP, the very specific travel info in Let's Go (how to order a gelato, recent political/economic development). I suggested he read Bill Bryson's In A Sunburned Country before he left for Australia although it wasn't available in the bookstore at the moment. In the end he chose to get a Let's Go guide to Australia.

More small talk then goodbye, with a "maybe we'll see each other in Australia", a handshake and a smile.


A conversation with a fellow traveler always leaves me buoyant. It's almost like I've actually done some traveling when all I've had was an eye-opening chat. And to put icing on this travel bug's cake the new edition (May 2009) of Lonely Planet Philippines is out now. I was fortunate enough to purchase it at it's initial price of Php 809 on the same day they increased it to Php 1,009.

What do you know, I am blessed.

I was meant to travel.

just doing their job

Traffic was a little better today. It was kind of a lopsided day. It was human traffic that drained me.

It was still raining when I got off the bus at EDSA Central. As soon as I entered the building I got suckered into a conversation with a Chinese Amway sales agent. I'm not sure if he just did not understand what I was saying or if he just did not want to take no for an answer. For 15 minutes I went along and humored him. I took his card, gave a false number and hurried along.

Next stop I was accosted by a magazine saleswoman offering raffle tickets for a trip to Dubai. A few days before I had already filled up a raffle ticket for a trip to Australia that looked exactly the same as the Dubai ticket. I politely declined the offer and continued perusing the Asian Geographic Passport.

Walking across the mall I knew I was going to be a good target for a lot of sales agent. I had that "I'm lost" look on me, plus I was alone. I walked hurriedly along avoiding eye contact.

Barely walking a kilometer I must have said no to 7 sales agent already. Very politely, if I may add. You really can't harbor any bad feelings towards them. They are all just doing their job. I just wish that they wouldn't be so mean and demeaning sometimes.

manila traffic

I will never get used to Metro Manila's traffic jams.

It took me 2 1/2 hours to commute from Quezon City to Bicutan tonight. It was not even raining hard and the bus I was on took the Skyway already. Two and a half hours - about the same amount of time it takes a mid-day bus to get from QC to Batangas.

I don't mind long bus rides if I'm traveling long distances. But to sit for hours in a bus that barely moves along EDSA is torture for me. I feel fortunate that I do not have to endure this torture everyday like the thousands of Metro Manila commuters.

After my 2 1/2 hour bus ride, standing in the rain waiting for yet another ride

Sitting sadly in the bus tonight I was reminded of what one tour guide said about Metro Manila traffic. We were in Hongkong that time on a city tour and Mr. Lee, our guide, was explaining that we might be a little late getting to our next destination on account of the rush hour traffic. I remember smiling and looking out the window as cars zipped past at 35 kph. That was rush hour traffic - cars just moving a little slower than the usual 80 kph.



Mr. Lee was right to say that Hongkong's traffic system is a little better than Manila's. He loved visiting the Philippines for vacations but had to shake his head at the Metro Manila traffic where you can sit in a bus, have a two-hour nap and not be afraid of missing your stop. When you wake up from the nap you're probably still in the same place anyway.


Even Lonely Planet's Tony Wheeler agrees that Manila's traffic jams are to be reckoned even beating out Bangkok. Although he does add that Shanghai still wins for the worst traffic jams (Tony Wheeler's World Worsts in The Titanic Awards).


I suppose there are still a couple of good things about traffic jams. I can attribute my love for walking to traffic since at times walking takes me to my destination faster than taking a jeepney. On occasions that I do need to take a jeepney the hour-long commutes present an opportunity for me to catch up on my reading. And of course, stuck in traffic one learns to appreciate the empty spaces and open roads of a provincial setting.