Philippine Travel Notes

First I was somehow impatiently irritated that my driver could not overtake that truck. We were passing by this narrow twisting roads nearing Calbiga. I calmed myself with "we'd be able to do so in no time, when the road gets wider a few more bends ahead". Then, I was moving restlessly on my seat trying to get a good view of the contents of that truck with my phone ready to shoot. Driver told me casually "bananas sir". And so I said "oh okay". But why is that door open? Isn't that dangerous? He told me, "so that the fruits won't get ripe untimely". I asked why do they not use an open truck instead. Driver intimated there could be a number of reasons - mostly "economic". He says, if the suppliers are serious, they should use refrigerated vans. But those are expensive. Maybe too, this was the only truck available to them, and that they must already deliver, lest the fruits get ripe and rot. I wondered why were those in c...

On a rainy Wednesday afternoon commute, from Tacloban to Catbalogan, we were about 5 minutes into the trip when this thing on the dashboard caught my attention: I smiled at the grammar. Oh yes, drivers are fun 'when they English themselves' haha! But, my atrevida brain needed to ask the driver what it meant, in case I haven't heard of the latest marites and/or driver jokes circulating everywhere on social media. Da! So I asked, and OMG, as in oh my gino-o ko! It caused the dear driver into a serious story-telling for most of the two hour trip, as if his life was threatened to end. In a cracking voice, he even asked if I was a lawyer. The story goes something like this... Few days ago, a woman passenger ("Misis" as the driver refers to her) took this ride on Seat Number 2 (my seat). Without confrontation and without his knowledge, this woman allegedly made a complaint to his bosses at VS Grandtours. And the issue?! That this driver, allegedly kept ...