misadventures of a wannabe commuter

I've always admired women who wear dresses, high heels, are all made up, and they commute. I find it simply fascinating. How is it that they can still manage to look good and composed after having to run after a jeep, bus, or tryk? I can't do it. I just can't.

Last week, my daily commute at 230am started. I was scared to be honest but I made a decision to treat it as an adventure. Well, it was an adventure .. to be exact, it was a series of misadventures.

Day 1 saw me walking with my little swiss knife out in the open. My thoughts were ... if some insane person gets to me or comes near me ... that's it. He dies. I don't care if he was just going to ask me for time or whatever but he will die. Yes, its a bit morbid but you have to understand that I pass by two blocks of pure weeds. It's all green, grassy, weed. AT.230AM.

Day 2 and I was inside the jeep ... it was my fault actually. I was listening to my iPOD and concentrating so much on being Zen that I realized too late we were going the wrong way. Yep, I took the wrong jeep and he was skirting the side streets of one of the most dangerous places in the South. It was bound to happen. The girl sitting me beside me suddenly lets out a yelp and poof! Bag was gone. She cried, and I wanted to cry with her but I was too busy stopping myself from hyperventilating and not passing out, out of sheer fear.

Day 3 was smoother and I was thanking my guardian angels and devils for a lucky break. It seems that I was getting used to this whole commute thing. I get to the office and I smile at my coworker who proceeds to tell me, "mahangin ba sobra sa labas?" (is it really windy out there?") With that, the smile was gone. Sheesh.

Friday was party day for me. I knew I was going to get lost. It was in a place I wasn't familiar with and I had no one to go with me. Still, I wore my 4 inch heels coz I had that much confidence in my shoes. The shoes did not fail me, the walking did. Since I knew I was going to be lost, I did end up getting lost. I had to walk 30 minutes in the humid air to find the right place. It was a good thing my friend had an ice cold beer ready for me when I got there. Best thing about the day, I only tripped once. Yey me!

Saturday and I was on my way to the Fort. Good news is I got to the Fort easily and I didn't take a cab at all. Bad news, I had to walk 15 minutes in the wrong direction and 20 minutes going back to get to the right meeting place. Another good thing was that I ended up at Sofitel that night where I had me time. Bad news is that I had to shell Php600 since my "date" for the night didn't pay for the food I ordered. LOL.

So overall, it was still a fun adventure. I learned that I am stronger and braver than I thought. I learned a lot of things about myself. Best of all, because of this, I now have a switchblade knife with a curved end that serves as a lighter as well. If that ain't cool, I don't know what is.