Wednesday, August 30, 2006

On Public Transportation

Sosyal ng title ko ... ingles iyan pero feel ko mag-tagalog.


Araw-araw na ginawa ng Diyos, sumasakay ako sa pampublikong transportasyon. Jeep, FX, tricycle, paminsan bus na din. Kung may pera, taxi, kung nasa EDSA o Aurora Blvd ang daan ko, MRT at LRT. Kulang na lang eh sumakay na din ako ng kalesa, kariton, bisikleta para kumpleto ang aking public transportation experience.


Pero, in fairness, nakasakay na ako ng kalesa nung bata pa ako, nung may bahay pa kami sa Quiapo. Ngayon kasi, nasa bulubundukin na ako ng Cainta, at wala kaming kalesa doon at baka kasi matigok ang kawawang kabayo kapag sa highway siya dumaan at makipagsabayan sa mga humaharurot na jeep at truck.  Pero come to think of it, para kang nasa Sta Ana racetrack araw-araw kung puro kalesa at kabayo ang sasakyan sa highway! exciting di ba?! andami na sigurong hinete sa Pilipinas kung ganon.


Ang jeep ang pinakasikat na mode of transportation nating mga pinoy. kahit saan may jeep. sa siyudad, sa probinsya, sa bundok na ang daan ay parang isaw sa dami ng liku-liko. Kaya ding tumawid ng mga jeep sa baha at sa mga mababaw na ilog na mabato-bato pa. kahit paakyat o pababa ang daan, kaya ng jeep yan! no wonder ang jeep ang tinatawag na king of the road. imaginin mo, kaya nyang gawin ang lahat ng yan!




Ang jeep din ang pinaka-makulay na sasakyan sa daan. Sa jeep mo makikita ang iba-ibang klase ng dekorasyon, both inside and outside. Sa loob ng jeep, may altar o kaya electric fan. Ang pangalan ng buong angkan ng may-ari ay nakasulat sa bubong. Paminsan, sa haba ng jeep, pati ninuno yata at apo sa tuhod, ay nakasulat na din. May disco lights na sumasabay sa indayog ng pagkalakas-lakas na tugtugin na galing sa stereo na nakalagay sa kahon. Sa mga patok na jeep, ang music ay yung sobrang lakas, na kulang na lang eh, mamasahe ang likod mo sa lakas ng vibrations chuva. Pwede ka ding mabingi, pero kung dead to the world ang iyong hearing o sanay ka sa pagkataas-taas na decibel eh okay lang eto. In fairness muli, kahit saan may jeep. Kaya kung naliligaw ka, ang jeep ang solusyon.




Sa FX naman, malamig (yun eh kung malamig ang buga ng aircon) at komportable ang upo (kung ang katabi mo hindi pang-dalawa o pang 1 and a half ang upo). Ngayon, andami na ding FX. Parang kabuteng nagsulputan ang mga ito mula nang naging in ang FX as public transport. Marami nang pila ang mga shuttle services na ito na kadalasanang tinatangkilik ng mga nag-oopisina sa makati at ortigas.


Last and not the least sa listahan ng sinasakyan ko araw-araw ay ang tricycle. The ever famous tricycle. kahit saang sulok din ng Pilipinas e may tricycle. Iba-iba nga lang ang anyo nya. Parang jeep na din ang mga ito kasi kaya na din nyang dumaan at makipagsabayan sa highway (kumapit ka nga lang at ipagdasal na wag truck ang maksabay nyo), umakyat-baba sa paikot-ikot na daan at sumulong sa baha. ang mga tricycle din ang madalas na sasakyan sa loob ng mga subdivision at mga residential areas. Marami ding mga pila ng tricycle na malapit sa mga eskwelahan, palengke, at paminsan sa mga mall (aba sosyal!). nasa gilid nga lang. hehehe =)


At dito natatapos ang aking artikulo ukol sa mga pampublikong transportasyon, na sabi ko nga e, sa araw-araw ng buhay ko eh, sinasakyan ko. Bakit ko nga ba naisip isulat ito? wala lang. I just felt na since part na sya ng buhay ko eh, why not di ba? (mag-explain ba)....

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Of Cramming and Hysteria



The main purpose of an examination is to evaluate how much a student learned in a given subject. To be able to do this, professors formulate and devise questions to challenge the brain. During exams, the main purpose of student evaluation is satisfied, inclusive of the brain challenge part plus more. Because even the most dormant parts of the mind are set to work to comprehend and come up with the most probable logical answer. In short, during exams (especially during finals), all systems are in full battle gear, brain cells are on full alert, all senses are up and about and emotions are high (for some, if not most, emotions are going haywire) . Ranking high above the emotional ladder is nervousness (in most cases, near hysteria), especially if the studying done was insufficient.

In most cases, we all suffer from the common virus called cramming. All of us, in one way or another, have been through this or is still going through this (like me, at this very moment... haha). Let me see, what exactly describe what i am feeling right now? hhhmmmm... i am in panic mode ... nervous (borderline hysteria if i don't finish at least half of my required readings tonight) and still thinking about going to the mall to balance out all of these hair-raising notions of not being able to finish what i need to read and end up flunking. of course, going to the mall is not the most promising solution, but still, it seems to be the most relaxing thing to do at this point.

I know my professors expect a lot from us, and in turn, we should at least do well in the finals. well, doing good in the exams will mean more to us, since we need to maintain an average of 2.0 every year to stay in our program. but, it will also mean a lot to them. By passing, it will mean that they did a good job (and i swear, they did ... this cramming thing is more on time management on my part). Honestly, my professors are great and very considerate and that adds more to the pressure (nyaaaaaaaa....).

Time management. That is one skill i need to master. Not only to beat the hysterics and all the hullabaloo that comes with taking exams but also to be able to grasp and understand every facet of what i'm reviewing. Most times, i kinda forget what i reviewed after exams (don't we all go through that?) and end up reading everything again ... sad but true...

blah...blah...blah.... incoherent thoughts from a hysterical brain take over my fingers. signing off and hitting the books is the best option. and in most cases, the best solution is not always the option one wants to do, but what one needs to do.

If you have not experienced any of these ... good for you ... i have a few questions though, how did you do it? are you normal? do you have super supplements? were these supplements advertised? if it were, then we somehow missed it during those nights that we spent watching TV rather than studying ... sigh.....

seriously, if you haven't for the life of you felt any of these, my hats off to you. you are one super mortal.

blah ... blah .. blah... i seriously need to stop blabbing and start reading ...sigh ... nothing left to do but study ... may we all pass ...