when it rains, it pours... and traffic and flood come along

...and you can expect that only in the philippines, in metro manila to be exact. we were there this afternoon (for those who still don't know, we already live here in cabuyao, laguna) as jude had an official business with DENR in roxas blvd. we went along as i also wanted to secure copies of iñigo's birth certificate from NSO and to pay my contribution with SSS. but before we proceeded with our plans, we dropped first our little boy in jude's parents' house in vito cruz so we don't have to worry about him and his nap time.

i left jude in DENR at 2:00 p.m. and just took the cab going to NSO's branch in macapagal ave. (reclamation area) and boy, traffic was already heavy that time! i reached NSO at 3:00 p.m. and to my dismay, the office is already closed. i was told by the guards that malacañang already announced ealy that afternoon that government employees can already go home by 2:00 p.m. because of heavy rain. waaah! to think that i even paid php 130 for my taxi fare just to get there!

so i left the NSO premises and rode a trike going to buendia, and paid php 20 btw for my fare. fortunately, (the only fortunate incident i had) buses abound along buendia so going to cash and carry, where jude and i agreed to meet, was never a problem.

the flow of traffic was heavier this time and if not for the movie of jackie chan that's being played on the dvd inside that bus i could have already died of boredom. it was already past 4:00 p.m. when the bus reached the corner of bautista st. (former dian st.) and to my horror, the entire area of bautista-filmore was flooded! i didn't see any spot along the road where the bus driver can drop me without me dipping in the floodwater. waaaah.... AYOKO!!! when was the last time i walked on a flooded street? twelve years ago during my UST days--that was a long time ago... maarte na ako ngayon... i really don't want to walk on a flooded street as i'm already aware of leptosirosis (did i even spell it right?) and its likes.

and just like a manna from heaven, i saw a pedicab coming before us. i asked the bus driver to call the pedicab driver and let him go near the bus door. woohoo-hoo! a piece of luck for me. but in just a matter of seconds, it showed me otherwise as floodwater already splashed onto my feet the moment i jumped inside the sidecar. and the more boo-boos i had when i sat down in its chair, which was actually a wrong move because the water can get high up to waist-level which made my pants wet! i was already in distress this time as i can't bear wearing wet pants all the way to our house in laguna. the pedicab driver advised me to just squat, and so i did.

i bought shorts (and panty... hihi) and a pair of flip-flops as soon as i reached the mall of cash and carry and changed into these right away. thank gawd i have alcohol with me all the time; hence, i was able to sanitize myself first.

jude already arrived after a short while and we decided to have snacks first in luk yuen for a hot beef brisket noodles before going back to his parent's house. we left the mall at 5:30 and what could be a just 5-minute drive became a nerve-wrecking almost two-hours ride as the traffic along bautista st. was really horrendous, nightmarish, and kasumpa-sumpa! there were a few school vans near us and i can't help but feel bad for its passengers, the school kids, as i'm pretty sure they were already hungry and bored to death.

we reached the house at exactly 7:15 p.m.. i really felt bad as nothing good happened to my day (jude was able to get what he needed from DENR) and worse is, i spent 200 bucks for an unworthy trip aside from spending for another pair of shorts, panty, and flip-flops, which i don't really need. =(