Philippines during the Pandemic

The pandemic experience is different from one person to another. I know its weird but I have been feeling that something is about to happen whenever I was in Makati. The company I work for is in Makati, the business capital of the Philippines. I am just a regular employee who works the 8-6 grind.

I pass this place on my way to work, this is far from my workplace though

I can't explain it but I have shared this "weird feeling"  with some officemates during lunch outs. That Makati have this"apocalypse vibe" for months from 2019 to the week before the lockdown that closed majority of business in Metro Manila. I laughed with my officemates while we talked about the "apocalypse vibe" I've been having then. But that feeling did not go away. So when the news about the Wuhan virus infection broke out, I was thinking that some tourist may bring it here. Which happened.

I took this picture inside the P2P bus that I usually take to go home before the quarantine period. The fare was increased so it took them longer to fill the bus, and only a few did not wear a mask.

And now people are suffering from the economic hardships brought on by the pandemic. 

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Korean tourists, students?

Going home is such a pain *@#!*;!
I had to take a bus, fall in line for more than an hour, and wait for my chance to board the bus (sometimes decrepit looking, probably bought from Taiwan, Japan, or Korea's junks, where cockroaches can be seen darting to and fro) and endure an almost 2 hours traffic inside a stiffling bus.

My nerves were wracked from trying to think of reasons why @*%$!?! bus owners in Cavite torture passengers who are loyal to their decrepit buses. The Dasmariñas passengers (Makati area) have to fall in line parallel to the Ayala Parking Area near MRT-Ayala. We have to endure the thick black smoke belched by vehicles plying EDSA. Whenever I have to take the bus, I always feel as if my skin is pasted with black dust and my lungs have had a smoker's fill equivalent to 10 packs of cigarette! My clothes and hair smell different. The bad air conditioning system of the old buses further aggravates the "EDSA feel." To think that passengers of the said buses pay the same amount as those who take the better and more "modern" Dasma buses.

I noticed that Korean residents (not sure if they are students) also ride on those decrepit buses. I noticed them laughing, lucky teens. What with the Korean stickers still adorning the buses, it must be related to routes that the bus took while it still ply Korean roads. You won't see such old decrepit buses plying Korea's streets! Even those buses used by the actors of Shining Inheritance were a lot better!

Even in shopping malls, it seems that more and more Koreans frequent the malls. This shows that a lot of them reside in Dasma. A lot of them hang out or shop in SM, Waltermart, and Robinson's. In SM, I was surprised to notice teen Koreans eating and shopping on their own. They seem to be that adapted to the place, no older Koreans clucking over them. When we were still new (8 years ago) in Dasma, Korean students were already a usual sight, more so at De La Salle. There are other nationalities but the Koreans stand out due to their number.

I did not bring my camera so I can't post a shot of our Asian neighbors in Dasma, maybe next time...And maybe some Korean food in Dasma? hmmm...


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decent food

The bus I took to work this morning passed by the bus terminal at Baclaran. And as the bus waited for the conductor (who was paying for something at the MMDA depot) I saw a woman scrounging for something among the trash on the sidewalk. Scenes like that abound around the metro.

sorry for the blurred pics, typhoon Frank just passed Metro Manila when it was taken

Though I’ve seen people picking through garbage and I’ve even watched them on TV, I was not prepared for what I saw.

It just rained all over the metro and the nearby provinces (typhoon Frank had a visit) and the pavement is wet, so whatever trash there was were really rain soaked. I thought that the woman was looking for plastics that can be sold at junk shops or whatever that can be sold. I noticed that she was putting whatever she picked inside a transparent bag. But I just can’t see what the contents of her plastic bag was, because the bus’ window was a bit hazy. Then I saw her examine something...I recognized it as a chicken leg with a lot of meat still on the bone. The woman dropped it inside her plastic bag. I realized that the bag was where she kept the food she picked up among the trash...

here's the woman picking "something"

I was heartbroken...I was at a loss. I am like that everytime I see people who are in dire need and yet I can't do a thing.