3 posts tagged “philippines”

Here are a couple of the videos we worked on to promote our conference. We were going for a very basic "man on the street" feel. Truthfully, I just didn't have the time to get permits left and right so we did what any sensible videomaker would do - guerilla style.

It was fun and exhausting. I'll post the rest soon.

Manila has been hot and humid these past couple of weeks. Just yesterday, we hit 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrenheit). That's not that hot but add h-u-m-i-d-i-t-y to the equation (sorry don't know how to measure that!) and it makes it worse. I've been told that humidity is actually what keeps Filipino skin young but it sure is a price to pay when each step you take makes you drip, drip, drip and feel stick, stick, sticky.

What better time for me to decide to take walking seriously than the start of summer in the Philippines!

Allow me to explain. My fellow single mom friend recently purchased a pedometer. We've been complaining about how we don't have time to go the gym. Blah, blah, blah. So she was at the mall recently and decided to buy a pedometer to motivate her to do something... healthy. And, it's a simulation of being on a treadmill in an actual gym. Minus being stuck in one place. It's been a no-brainer for her to use:  wear on belt every morning before walking out the door, keep on all day, remove at night upon arriving at home, and voila, total number of steps recorded, total distance walked, and number of calories burned are all magically displayed on the monitor.

I got jealous. I wanted my own pedometer! So I got one. It cost me around US $ 45. (P 2,295.00). Not exactly cheap for the Philippines but cheaper than a gym membership that I hardly use. (Have a lifetime membership somewhere but I just don't feel like going! *throws tantrum on the ground*)

Anyway. I started using it Monday morning for my daily commute to and from work. I was so excited to see my progress at the end of the day!

Not too bad. Though my goal is 10,000 steps a day, I didn't come down hard on myself and walk more, more, more til I hit my target. I decided that there's always tomorrow.

And there was. Which is today. My total steps? 9,847. Kilometers traveled? 5.90.

Since I get all sweaty on my way to work (even without the extra push to walk briskly), I decided to commute in a t-shirt. As soon as I got to the office, all I had to do was change into my top and blazer. Once upon a time, this was an excuse that kept me from making the effort.

No more. Truly, where there is a will, there is a way. You just have to want it bad enough. And at this point in my life, I do. It's all about the forward motion. Keeping on keeping at it. Or at least start moving in that direction. Even if it is summer.

I live in a country where only a little over half a million have vehicles. Considering that the population is roughly 88.7

million, that's a lot of people without their own means of transportation. And now, I'm one of them. I recently sold my 91 Toyota Corolla. It was actually given to me by a friend two years ago. Yes, given. He blessed me as an act of faith - sowing as an answer to another's prayer.

(But fast-forward two years and I find myself in need of cash and my only quick and legal solution is to sell the one thing with the highest yield - my beloved car.)

Being car-less in Manila isn't actually that bad. Since so many people can't afford to own vehicles, creative means of public transportation have sprung up and evolved in the country - the motorcycle with an attached carriage we call the "tricycle", its non-motorized version of bicycle with carriage known as the "pedicab", the FX shuttle - alongside the ubiquitous jeepney, bus, and cab. Nowadays, I actually get more reading and thinking done since I've been freed from the burden of driving and navigating through our infamous traffic.

If my neighbor brings his car, I hitch with him to work and my daily commute is easy. But more often than not, I hit the roads with the rest of the 88 million Philippine inhabitants and chase after the slowly inching jeepneys as they leave the curb, line up for seats on shuttles or tricycles, or crowd and fight our way onto buses for seats that we barely fit. Cabs are a luxury or only a salvation for when running late.

One recent Monday, with the morning rush more rushed and crowded than normal, I had to squeeze my way through five people fighting to get through the bus's door. Once on, I found a seat near the back. Thankful for the spot despite its location near the noisy rear where the engine's located, I settled down and welcomed the lull of zoning out and getting to my next ride twenty minutes away.

What a luxury it would have been. Guy diagonally behind me decides to listen to the music on his mobile phone sans headset and for all to hear. I look at him. I face forward and sigh - at least he's listening to Nirvana. Guy and girl in seat in front of me start having a lurid conversation for all to hear. Too much information. I tune out by opening up my Reader's Digest.

Aaahh. The sweet refuge of the easy read. Two pages later and I'm off the bus and on my way to a jeep. No music. No talk. Thank God.

But the best part is that it only cost me $.50 to get from home to work. Much cheaper than maintaining a car - gas plus maintenance plus parking.

Who am I kidding? I miss driving. *Sigh*