Escape (Part 1)
i. Amazing Race
I just woke up. I've been sleeping for over sixteen hours since I got home from Cebu yesterday afternoon. The trip home was crazy - you see, everyone else went home one day earlier (Good Friday), while I was set to go home on Black Saturday due to my booking my plane tickets separately from everyone else. This meant that I had to find my way, on my own, from Bantayan Island (where we were staying) to the airport in Mactan before 2 PM that afternoon.
7:30 AM - I woke up from a night of partying from which I got home at around 4:30 AM. I packed my bags in an hour's time, took a bath and brushed my teeth, ate breakfast, and said my farewells and thank-yous to the caretakers of the house.
8:30 AM - I took a pedicab to the pier, bought a second-class (aircon) ticket on the RORO ferry headed to Hagnaya port, planted my ass on the sticky leather seat, and slept.
10:00 AM - I woke up, walked out onto the dusty pier and into the oppressive heat, and tried to get on a vehicle to get me back to Cebu City. The first two V-Hires (10-seater vans that function much like FXs back in Manila) that came along were swarmed by people wanting to get home, and left practically five minutes after arriving. No vehicles came along for another 30 minutes, so I was left sweltering in the heat with a group of people who only understood a bit of Tagalog and English. Dili ko kasabot (did I spell it right?) apparently goes a long way; it was practically the only thing I was saying, actually. Hehe. Good thing I met this group of college students who I could actually talk with and ask directions from. A Ceres Liner (a big non-aircon bus) came along at around 10:30, and a hundred people (I kid you not) rushed it from all directions trying to get aboard using two small doors. There were kids, the elderly, and a shitload of smelly men all pushing, pulling, and shoving to get onboard; I tried unsuccessfully (with my two huge daypacks and my water bag) to grab hold of the door railing to pull myself onto the bus, but someone always managed to pull it away.
10:30 AM - Another Ceres Liner came along, and the same thing happened. This time I managed to be one of the first ones to grab on to the railing and consequently managed to secure a seat by paying some porter cum seat-grabber 20 pesos.
10:41 AM - Yes, at exactly 10:41, the bus set off for Cebu City. What's ironic was that an aircon Ceres Liner pulled up just as we were about to leave. Damn. Anyway, the fare was 50 pesos. I was seated beside a man in his late 30s wearing a blue and white jacket with "Ermil's Dried Fish Business" written on it. A few meters ahead of me, seated right behind the driver and staring at me the whole time, was a dirty-looking native gay guy wearing bubuyog shades. Right beside me, squeezed into the aisle, was a 15-year old fat girl trying hard to dress like a Sex Bomb Girl (before you go on about how unchivalrous I was for not offering her my seat, please note that I couldn't even stand up, and that I hadn't had enough sleep yet); right in front of her was her mom, who apparently inspired her outfit. Damn, right? Just goes to prove that public transport is crazy no matter where you go in the Philippines. I was so freaking tired so I just fell asleep for most of the trip, waking up every once in a while to see the gay guy staring at me.
2:00 PM - We arrived at SM Cebu, the final stop of the bus. I scrambled off the bus and ran to the terminal to get a cab. The taxi driver kept speaking to me in Cebuano until I managed to get off a Dili ko kasabot, Tagalog lang! and then he continued his stories in Tagalog, punctuating his sentences with short spits of phlegm flying out the window.
2:18 PM - I arrived at the airport, checked in my luggage, and with 30 minutes to spare before boarding, figured that I could spare a couple of minutes for a cookie, a white chocolate mocha, and a cig at the airport's Bo's Coffee Club. They didn't accept credit, so I was forced to pay cash. BAD MOVE JONAT. The terminal fee was 200 pesos, and I only had a hundred pesos left in my wallet. All my remaining cash was checked in along with my bags. I then had to run out of the domestic departure gates, sprint all the way to the BPI ATM in the international departure area, and sprint all the way back. By the time I got back to the airport they were issuing a last call for PR858 headed for Manila. Haha. I got aboard just in time.
3:00 PM - I got on the plane, and got seated beside two nouveau middle-class (not even nouveau rich or old middle-class, take note) women who grabbed my window seat. They kept staring at me, grimy from my five-hour commute across Cebu, and kept whispering to each other about the dirty, unshaven guy beside them. I hated it. Oh, and Kris Aquino, James Yap, and entourage were on the plane with me. She was loud and funny.
4:10 PM - The plane touched down in Manila, got fetched, got home, and slept.
That was actually kind of fun. I felt like a genuine backpacker, with my North Face daypack, my un-knowledge of the local dialect, and the sense of urgency. Haha. I can't wait to really backpack in Europe when I graduate. If only I had the money...
I just woke up. I've been sleeping for over sixteen hours since I got home from Cebu yesterday afternoon. The trip home was crazy - you see, everyone else went home one day earlier (Good Friday), while I was set to go home on Black Saturday due to my booking my plane tickets separately from everyone else. This meant that I had to find my way, on my own, from Bantayan Island (where we were staying) to the airport in Mactan before 2 PM that afternoon.
7:30 AM - I woke up from a night of partying from which I got home at around 4:30 AM. I packed my bags in an hour's time, took a bath and brushed my teeth, ate breakfast, and said my farewells and thank-yous to the caretakers of the house.
8:30 AM - I took a pedicab to the pier, bought a second-class (aircon) ticket on the RORO ferry headed to Hagnaya port, planted my ass on the sticky leather seat, and slept.
10:00 AM - I woke up, walked out onto the dusty pier and into the oppressive heat, and tried to get on a vehicle to get me back to Cebu City. The first two V-Hires (10-seater vans that function much like FXs back in Manila) that came along were swarmed by people wanting to get home, and left practically five minutes after arriving. No vehicles came along for another 30 minutes, so I was left sweltering in the heat with a group of people who only understood a bit of Tagalog and English. Dili ko kasabot (did I spell it right?) apparently goes a long way; it was practically the only thing I was saying, actually. Hehe. Good thing I met this group of college students who I could actually talk with and ask directions from. A Ceres Liner (a big non-aircon bus) came along at around 10:30, and a hundred people (I kid you not) rushed it from all directions trying to get aboard using two small doors. There were kids, the elderly, and a shitload of smelly men all pushing, pulling, and shoving to get onboard; I tried unsuccessfully (with my two huge daypacks and my water bag) to grab hold of the door railing to pull myself onto the bus, but someone always managed to pull it away.
10:30 AM - Another Ceres Liner came along, and the same thing happened. This time I managed to be one of the first ones to grab on to the railing and consequently managed to secure a seat by paying some porter cum seat-grabber 20 pesos.
10:41 AM - Yes, at exactly 10:41, the bus set off for Cebu City. What's ironic was that an aircon Ceres Liner pulled up just as we were about to leave. Damn. Anyway, the fare was 50 pesos. I was seated beside a man in his late 30s wearing a blue and white jacket with "Ermil's Dried Fish Business" written on it. A few meters ahead of me, seated right behind the driver and staring at me the whole time, was a dirty-looking native gay guy wearing bubuyog shades. Right beside me, squeezed into the aisle, was a 15-year old fat girl trying hard to dress like a Sex Bomb Girl (before you go on about how unchivalrous I was for not offering her my seat, please note that I couldn't even stand up, and that I hadn't had enough sleep yet); right in front of her was her mom, who apparently inspired her outfit. Damn, right? Just goes to prove that public transport is crazy no matter where you go in the Philippines. I was so freaking tired so I just fell asleep for most of the trip, waking up every once in a while to see the gay guy staring at me.
2:00 PM - We arrived at SM Cebu, the final stop of the bus. I scrambled off the bus and ran to the terminal to get a cab. The taxi driver kept speaking to me in Cebuano until I managed to get off a Dili ko kasabot, Tagalog lang! and then he continued his stories in Tagalog, punctuating his sentences with short spits of phlegm flying out the window.
2:18 PM - I arrived at the airport, checked in my luggage, and with 30 minutes to spare before boarding, figured that I could spare a couple of minutes for a cookie, a white chocolate mocha, and a cig at the airport's Bo's Coffee Club. They didn't accept credit, so I was forced to pay cash. BAD MOVE JONAT. The terminal fee was 200 pesos, and I only had a hundred pesos left in my wallet. All my remaining cash was checked in along with my bags. I then had to run out of the domestic departure gates, sprint all the way to the BPI ATM in the international departure area, and sprint all the way back. By the time I got back to the airport they were issuing a last call for PR858 headed for Manila. Haha. I got aboard just in time.
3:00 PM - I got on the plane, and got seated beside two nouveau middle-class (not even nouveau rich or old middle-class, take note) women who grabbed my window seat. They kept staring at me, grimy from my five-hour commute across Cebu, and kept whispering to each other about the dirty, unshaven guy beside them. I hated it. Oh, and Kris Aquino, James Yap, and entourage were on the plane with me. She was loud and funny.
4:10 PM - The plane touched down in Manila, got fetched, got home, and slept.
That was actually kind of fun. I felt like a genuine backpacker, with my North Face daypack, my un-knowledge of the local dialect, and the sense of urgency. Haha. I can't wait to really backpack in Europe when I graduate. If only I had the money...
(To be Continued)
posted by Jonathan at 10:53 AM
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