#1 - Libertad LRT Station
since all my nine Welcome Centers is along the LRT way, so LRT became the one and the only train transportation i used since past two months. from our secretariat in Don Bosco, Makati, Libertad LRT station is my starting point to visit all my Welcome Centers. it's a very interesting station, apparently. come back from the meetings and if i haven't take my supper yet, i have many option; Chow King, Inasal, and McDonalds! but usually i take McDonalds, until one of the employee know my name already. haha!
from our secretariat, i have to ride a jeepney going to Libertad, but i will alight 300 meters away from the station so i have to walk. but i always enjoy this walk because i always passed the stores that sells almost everything; shirts, wallets, necklace, bracelets, cellphone cases, DVDs, electronics, etc...
my favorite moment is when i come home from meetings, and usually it's already late in the evening, i walk from the station to the jeepney terminal near Jolibee. this walk, accompanied with Coldplay or Keane, beneath the dark of the night, passing through the closed stores on my right side and try to avoid the tricycle which want to park on my left side. until i find the Pasay Road jeepney in the opposite of Jolibee.#2 - Jeepney
seems to be, this lengthened car from an American Jeep, became the main transportation mode in this country. and it's true, we can't avoid jeepney if we want to go to some place. and i like it very much.
being in a jeepney, we have to bow down if we want to know where we are, also if we want to get in or get out. but my favorite moment is the passing coins. since it's a long car so it will be not possible for those who sit in the back have to pay to the driver by themselves. so what to do? we pass the money through another people until it get to the driver's hand safely. it's some kind of sign of trust, isn't?
another thing is, i always admire the jeepney driver, because of their multi-tasking. it's true! they have to look out the road, change the gear, operating the wheel, looking for passengers, hit the brake, receive the money, count the change, give the change, hit the gas. it's always amazing when i observate a jeepney driver doing all those things without getting any accident ;p#3 - McDonald's
yes i know this fast food restaurant is exist in any country in the world. but i have to admit, if i have to eat outside, most of the time i go to McD ;p not only because to save money, but also for the sake of time efficiency. sometimes if i don't have enough time, i just take away and eat the cheeseburger or Burger McDo along the way.
but still, eating burgers without Indonesian chili sauce is like dancing without music ;p so thanks to my friend for their effort to send some Indonesian chili sauce to Manila during my staying there.#4 - Riding an LRT/MRT
well MRT also exist in some country in the world, such as in Japan or Singapore. but somehow i miss the moment when i ride this LRT or MRT in Manila especially during the evening after i finish my meeting.
exhausted, tired, so i just plug my ear and listen to Coldplay or Keane, completing the situation when i sit or stand in the LRT or MRT and seeing the entire city with its lights through the window. my favorite scene from the window is when the train pass Quiapo, i can see the bridge with its beautiful and colorful lights accompanying the cars and the jeepney down there.#5 - Getting Lost
no one like to get lost, especially in the foreign country or in the city which they never been before. but somehow i enjoy my getting-lost-experience.
in the first two months, each volunteer task' is to locate and make a contact with the parishes which we assigned to. for me, i have around 40 parishes which i have to visit and make a contact. some of them i can locate quite easily because their parish is quite near with the LRT/MRT station. but most of the parishes, i have to do more effort to locate them. and most of the time it took time to locate it. each volunteers have a City Map which is really helpful during this moment. but sometimes there are some small streets which is not exist in the map. and even some of my parishes is not exist in the map because the map is not updated yet!
asking the local people sometimes can help me, but it means i have to ask more than two people to confirm their guide. because sometimes their information is not quite accurate ;p
