ATM: Awesome Tubig Machine

A makeshift coin-operated water dispenser at a Cebu neighborhood. 

Drop 1 peso into the slot and you get to instantly fill out your 8-12oz water jug.

Photos by Fritzie Gumiran

My First Manila Cab Ride with the Receipt-Issuing Meter

Finally, rode my first Manila cab with the receipt-issuing meter. At first, I mistook it for the car radio. 

I politely asked Manong where the meter was and he proudly showed off the gizmo, he says he's one of the first cabs to have the meter. But it felt like a sucker punch for him to have one, he had to loan money from his OFW brother just to buy the mandatory meter which cost P13,500. All cabs must have one by December 2009 or else they can't hit the streets. They can get fined and the fines are huge.

Manong had a lot gripes. Instantly, I became his morning therapist. This was his cab, not owned by an operator or cab company who could afford to shell out the money for the meters. What are other cabbies to do when they can't make meet their daily boundary?

The Boundary is the earning quota Philippine cabs have to make per day to hand over to their operators. Once they reach the said quota, they can keep the rest of the money as their daily earnings. Manong Cabbie in this case would do double shifts and sleep at the gotohans so he can pay off his debts.

He's pissed that you can only buy the receipt-issuing meters at two shops right beside the LTO offices. Taga na nga sa presyo, lakas pa kumabig. These shop owners have the monopoly of the sales of the receipt-issuing meters. Imagine, the number of cabs in Manila required to buy from these shops. 

These are cheap in Korea, he says. He has had several Korean passengers telling him so. But the LTO doesn't allow Manila cabs to buy secondhand ones.

He thinks the government should at least subsidize part of the cost; it's not a realistic expectation that every cab could get one by December.

Manong Cabbie also dislikes Manny Pacquiao. Wow he's like the first Filipino I ever met who vehemently dislikes the Pacman. He says Pacman's cab company na sosyo with a certain politician has the monopoly of the airport. 

Bawal na kami sa NAIA. We're not allowed to pick up passengers at the airport, we can only bring them there. That single airport cab company now has exclusive monopoly of the terminals and they really have a hefty flagdown rate for OFWs. Yeah, I agree. My last airport cab from NAIA cost me P440 and my stop is just Pasong Tamo.

"Baket lahat ba ng umuuwi sa Pilipinas mayaman?" Manong gripes, "Maawa sila sa OFW"

Before I got off, he allowed me to take a picture of his meter. I'm not the first passenger, he says. People are so fascinated by it, they take pics with their cell phones to show to their friends.

I told him, "Manong,di bale sosyal na metro mo."

Oo nga eh, high-tetch na 'ito! He quips.

In Singapore, the taxi cab meter is a LCD screen. From Little India to Orchard Road with Yoshke it costs us $8 SG

In Berlin, a cab from Unter den Linden to the Hauptbahnhof station cost me around 15 euros (freakin' P900) but I love the rearview mirror taxi meter though, you can see the fare rate from any angle at the backseat.

Poi Goes Crochet Crazy

How are your fingers Poi? Can I say patience is your real virtue?

Poi is a visual artist and photographer, you can find her exhibition work all over Manila and the Cubao X quarters.

I love Poi's crochet hats. She is making me one soon in time for Christmas!

Well do ya, do ya, do ya want one?

Make somebody love you with a Crochet Cloche!

visit Poi's multiply shop

Curfew Hours in Manila

'Tay ayoko pang umuwi, gusto ko pang tumambay

So what are the kids up to lately?

Sari-Sari Store Junk Food

When was the last time you've been at the neighborhood Sari-sari store?

The kids have it better now with the illegit movie tie-in merchandise. I used to buy Sari-sari store postcards when I was a kid which had frame by frame stills of movies like Petrang Kabayo and Inday Bote. Now they have more freebies at stake. 
These are not condom packs. But if they were, these would be king-sized Magnums.  

Hindi bato ang laman. But rubber bands, sugar balls and these candy-colored rings!

Ang tunay na sikreto ni darna! I love these!  

Candies in pill blister packaging. Kids do start early with the uppers.

Sends the wrong message to the kids, don't you think? The tots might think all pill packs are the sweet deal.

An anemic version of Chocnut. Cheap and bland. It made my teeth hurt. 

Mad Hair

I love bed hair. I adore helmet hair.

I have hair envy for Helana Bonham Carter's untamed 'do.

So I really love this quick messy bun which I found on onehotchildinthecity which links to a YSL post

I gave it a try and I was a bit skeptic on how it would turn out after all Asian hair is mostly straight and not that poofy. Not bad, eh?

I've always wanted a hot hair bun 'do with layers like an ensaymada, but looks mad enough like 'sinabunutan ni Bella Flores'.  Yeah.

And this is it! 

Riding a Manila Cab with X-rays

Took a taxi from Glorietta and I found this lovely surprise waiting for me in the backseat.

Someone's X-rays used as sun shields, taped on the backseat windows of the taxi. How ingenious.

The moment called for 'Someday You Will Be Loved' by Death Cab for Cutie, luckily it was still on my playlist.

The Cab driver however didn't want me taking his picture. He probably found me really odd, ogling over his skull scans. He denies that the x-rays are his, but the cab operator's. 

There seems to be no obvious hematoma or contusions on the headscan, often seen on x-rays of drivers in vehicular accidents. The bones I can't say, but there is somewhat a remarkable break on them.

From the street I would notice pedestrians smiling at me, perhaps it would seem like a playful illusion from their end, a bit macabre seeing right through a passenger's head.

Hey Pitch!

i keep forgetting to water you on time.
Sorry Pitch! things could be better.

Film Stock and Memories

I'm sifting through years of family photos, there is so much to scan. I miss working with polarioids. I adore my Dad for getting this brown accordion-type polaroid cam (SX-70) when my brother was born. Too bad the polaroid film stock has been officially discontinued, it signals the end of a forerunner in instant photography. But the demand by enthusiasts has been strong lately, hopefully the Polaroid company would stay true to their word.

A Tale of Two Cemeteries in Pampanga

There are two cemeteries in my mother's town in Pampanga. A private one called a Memorial cemetery with its manicured lawns, drainage system and sprinklers. Here the funeral rites often have this cowboy and his horse-drawn carriage bringing out the dead.

The Memorial cemetery used to be a rice field and a nesting ground for migrating herons.

Now its too crowded out here on All Saints Day. You could hardly see the tombstones, it feels more like a park or some outdoor barbecue event.

The other one is the Public Cemetery, the one I am more familiar with. There is no planning or mapping involved in creating this sprawl. Here the sepulturero is King. He decides who comes and goes where and for how much. He knows the empty plots, the forgotten bones and the fresh ones still decomposing since what year. 

Pink is the color of the season

Some tombstones are handmade and handwritten with love

While some remain forgotten and nameless

Some remain grand, towering over others. These are spaces for people who once walked the earth. They are known as Condominiums.

Some do get evicted from their plot. 

Some are hidden by the laundry of the living.

A few are still swimming in some organic soup since the typhoon.

This small town public cemetery in Minalin is also a testament to centuries of inbreeding. I could map out the families and realized I am not far removed from their bloodlines. Kampampangans tend to intermarry into clans within the town.

I also find interesting what other people often put on the grave while visiting- food, shoes, letters, trinkets, toys, beer, photos and even pieces of clothing.

Excuse my tapophilia, my fascination for cemeteries stems from no underlying deathwish, but from a grave need to understand and archive the past in my own way. 

Oral Sex on the MRT

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.