overdrive

unfortunately, this isn't about the famous e-heads song, although i distinctly remember my mom singing this to me every time i'd beg her to allow me to start driving. she'd lean close and lip-synch to that part where it goes "gusto kong matutong mag-drive, kahit na wala akong kotse." because for the longest time that was me - license without driving.

it took me almost eight years from the time i first got my license before i actually had any need for it.

anyway, today was one of those rare times that i actually took a car to work. no hearing but tita celia's in manila and you know what that means - wherever she is, i have to be there. so i dumped enough clothes for the next two days in my car, and drove to ortigas - that lovely place north of makati which has less traffic, less people, and what used to be the biggest sm mall.

unfortunately, it was also one of those rare times where edsa was horribly jammed. when i first got off magallanes interchange and saw the almost-ready-to-be-crazy number of cars, i said to myself, pasay road lang yan. i started to panic a bit when the cars in the tunnel seemed to be stuck in place but, ever the optimist, i said hanggang diyan lang yan. did it get better after exiting the tunnel? no. did it ease up by buendia? no. was guadalupe the reason for the hold up? no. boni, we can always blame boni and pioneer, right? unfortunately not. i got to megamall without ever figuring out what caused the one hour and a half trip from mantrade to megamall.

it's crazy, really. i never thought i'd say this, not when i love my car to bits and commuting is just something i do because gas prices are so beyond my finances right now, but thank god for public transport. i can't wait till tomorrow when going to work would simply mean getting on a bus, sleeping, reading, or daydreaming in transit, and waiting for that moment when the conductor would shout megamall to tell me that my trip is over and its time to get down.