I’M STILL not driving in the Philippines.
I have disposed my Mitsubishi Adventure in November.
The RV is not in top condition again, but it runs.
It’s manual transmission, but I haven’t learned driving that.
I doubt very much that I’d still like to drive in the Philippines.
***
I kind of like my life with a Japanese bike.
I have a motorcycle, but I’m still having trauma from my last fall.
My friends have advised me to get rid of the motorcycle.
They’re afraid it would kill me.
***
I take the public transportation, and I’m pretty good with commutes.
There’s a shuttle van service from Dumangas to Ticud in Lapaz.
I often take that.
But if I need to go Jaro or the big malls, I usually just take the jeepney to Tagbak, and take the e-bus to the malls.
I also take the Tagbak jeepneys if I come from a Ceres ride, like from Boracay or Sicogon or Islas de Gigantes.
***
To go to Bacolod, I take a motorcycle ride to the RO-RO port in Dumangas.
Going to and from the airport, I usually hire a driver to drive my RV.
Everywhere else in Dumangas, I bike.
Or, rides are arranged for me by my friends.
***
I just came back from a quick run in the city.
It is unfortunate that two of the paint materials for my cabinet projects are not available from our local hardware and construction supply stores in Dumangas.
But I’m already back from buying them in the city, so there’s no use whining about it.
P150 taxi fare from the paint store to Ticud.
P50 from Ticud to Dumangas.
I gave a P20 tip to prioritize my baggage/ box of paints.
***
While in the city, I withdrew some money from my dollar account.
But a friend helps me deal with BPI so the very moment I arrived at the bank, my very appointment number was called.
Like under 50 seconds.
So that was a walk in the park.
***
My friend was hungry, but she’s not a big eater.
We ended up eating lunch at Dainty’s Restaurant on Iznart Street.
Up on the second floor, the restaurant has red chairs and brown tables.
There’s also an antique mirror by the stairs so I ended up taking my mirror selfies for my “Mirror Selfie Series of 2023” on Facebook and Instagram.
***
Then, I was in a taxi to Ticud.
Got things done.
I don’t really like the hustle and bustle of the city.
I was going back to watch a movie at the Cinematheque in two days’ time anyway.
And wasn’t it just four days ago when I went to the city to buy virgin coconut oil?
So yeah, I’m often in the city to do quick errands.
***
If you still haven’t noticed, I’ve started writing stories for Page 1.
It’s called FRONTPAGE,
It started on the first weekend of March.
They’re human interest stories, and the concept is one story, and a photo or two or three.
They’re trying to be news stories, but I’m writing them in the first person because I’m just more effective as a journalist that way.
***
My friends tell me I need to be in the city more often to cover events.
I say, I will be in the city when I want to be in the city.
I have no need. No need to be in the city.
The people may need me, but I generally don’t need them.
***
As for events, I do not need to cover everything under the sun.
I will cover what I want to cover.
That’s the way my journalism works.
If I wrote it, it really happened.
(The proof is in the photo, too!)
Because as a Page 1 writer, if I don’t cover it, it didn’t happen.
Or to be bitchy about it, if I didn’t write about it, it wasn’t newsworthy.
***
Oh, we can put nice and socially acceptable meaning as to why an event was snubbed, or not prioritized.
But I’m not really for snubbing events.
In fact, I volunteered to do FRONTPAGE precisely because some art, literature, or culture events are so snubbed by local papers.
I’m here to remind you the things that happened but weren’t reported to you because they’re not economically or politically profitable.
As a journalist, I’m just grateful that Panay News is 100% behind me on this one./PN
