Ticket Rejected

If you happen to go to work everyday and just like the rest of the normal people you can’t afford to have your own car and then face the daily commuter’s consequences… deal with a horrible traffic while passing thru Edsa.

Before I don’t worry about it that much…for I was a part of a morning newscast show that requires me to commute very early. In as fast as 15minutes from Monumento, Caloocan…I can be at Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City where my office is currently situated. But my present schedule is now set where most commuters rush to their work.

At first, I tried leaving the house two hours before my actual time at the office…but I found myself still caught in the traffic. Now, I was force to ride via the Metro Rail Transit or MRT, for the purpose of saving more time and a test for me to overcome my fear or phobia in a crowded transportation like that of a train.

I must say that most people riding the MRT were far from their old habits like that of not falling in line. But one thing is not fix yet and that is…learning how to allow passengers go out first before going inside the train. But the bottom line is… there are obviously more passengers where in they lack trains to accommodate the volume of commuters.

Most of the times you’ve been hearing the pilot of the train telling the commuters don’t hold the door to avoid delay…next train will be on its way shortly.  But the eager passengers were still forcing the door despite of the lack of space inside. Sometimes, announcement such as “The upcoming train will just pass by and will not load commuters”, that pissed me off and I believe the exact sentiments of the many.

Recently, it was announced that there will be an increase in the fare of the train…I just hope that this will be the best answer to resolve the daily jam-pack volume of commuters and soon enough we will be seeing more trains.

And I do hope that they can also fix the trouble I recently encountered at the time I previously inserted the MRT Magnetic card on their machine…”Ticket Rejected” (in a red warning). It was pretty normal for every individual to ask why such thing occurred. The only response I got from one of the MRT staff was it was expired…and it was purchased last December 2012.

Upon hearing that I was shocked…WHAT?! I happened to purchase a stored value worth P100 exactly a week ago. How come?  I wanted to explain myself…but guys believe me they trust their machine more than the explanation I was making.

I just nodded but dismayed. And the saddest part…I was left with a choice purchasing a single journey ticket again. I will describe the feeling with the following words…GRRR!

To explain my side which was never heard…aside from I just got it a week ago, the same ticket showed a “ticket rejected”, at the very time I first inserted it in their machine. But since, I think such “error” occurred sometimes…I let the train staff to fix it. Never in my expectation…that the same problem will happen again and what worse was I was the one paying for the consequence of it.

The unexpected one

On a daily basis especially on a normal day, most of my time was devoted at my work. It is a five day office attendance and usually sometimes six or more if we have breaking news or special coverages that will fall during weekend. It was pretty normal for a guy who committed himself at a TV Network, especially that of News. If I don’t work on my day-off…I usually invite my family strolling at the mall, or if we wanted to break the monotony…we explore famous parks here in the Philippines, and to name a very popular one…Luneta Park.

When everything seems to be programmed, I usually think of other means to enjoy my spare time. One friend from College days just proposed a get together swimming. At first, everything was not definite for one…the location, who’s coming, and even on the last two days if we are pushing thru or not.

But despite of some dilemma, fate has intervened…the “whole barkada” found our happiness at the Jeds Resort, situated at the Calumpit, Bulacan!

There was a feast of foods from a simple adobong manok , fried hotdog and chicken, lumpiang shanghai, liempo, menudo, and bangus (milk fish).

There was a drizzle of rains that welcomed us before entering the swimming venue. And it didn't stop the whole day. Though the weather didn't match our happy thoughts…it didn't stop us from attaining ecstasy.

My daughter Althea was so excited even before everything happened. I and my wife Mary Anne was very happy to see here dipping in the water, and even mesmerized when she showed us how to swim. Very different from a fearful Althea that we used to know. This time, she was out of the water for longer hours.

It was a whole day activity. But indeed...it was FUN!

The power to explore at the palm of your hand

I remember I had my first cellular phone year 2001. And at the time, I was lucky to have a Nokia 3210 mobile phone. Back then, the very purpose of introducing it to the market was to experience an instant call and sending of text messages anywhere you are. And such brilliant idea made every “Juan” and people from different parts of the world finally changed the way how communication works.

I remember when I was taking my Master's degree in Broadcast Communication in U.P. Diliman,
I proposed a thesis study for the class on understanding how these technology works for a paradigm shift. And back then, our country according to one legislator was believe it or not...a “texting capital of the world”.

And that was how most Filipinos patronized and enjoyed it. Today, there are so many names of service providers and mobile phone makers making their way to continue develop and add more features in the use of such technology. With the advent of popular brands of cellular phones today like that of…Iphone,  HTC,  Nokia, Samsung and a lot more… this gave more people from different walks of life, more reasons to get indulge with it.

Now, most people no longer rely on their personal computer that was taking so much space to set-up. Today, I believe most offices, homes, and businesses has more valid reason to use them. On the other hand, most individuals like young professionals (yuppies), merely depends on their personal mobile phone that has exciting features like that of having an unlimited internet access right at the palm of their hands.

Lately, I was lucky to have a post paid mobile phone provided by Smart that comes with the Unlimited LTE internet access. This was absolutely new to me, for I have been using another brand of phone that limits me from a simple functions...the call and text.The unlimited access I got from my service provider is giving me the power to be on-line anytime, anywhere.

I am very particular on looking at the importance of it in checking my e-mails, updating my twitter and Facebook (FB) posts, on writing a blog, and indeed very functional and helpful in my current work in the media.

The access also gave me some form of entertainment in my long hours of daily travel going in and out of the office.  That is why I don’t bother that much when my monthly post paid bill comes in.

But honestly speaking, a good internet access will be best enjoyed with a mobile phone that comes with the best features.