Wednesday, July 28, 2010

No Car? No Problem!

It's been months now since I've had a car. Lost old reliable to Ondoy last year and decided to commute part-time (I still drive when I'm with the wife.) to work. Sometimes, I am able to get a ride from officemates to our subdivision's gate but that doesn't happen often considering my work hours.

One night, I decided to walk home from SM Marikina partly out of necessity and partly out of choice. Of course, it can be argued that I made the choice out of necessity or that it was a necessary choice given the circumstances but these are just semantics. The choice to walk and the choice to commute is something that was essential to re-establish a routine I came to know and appreciate when I was still a student both here and in Japan - but mostly in Japan where I lived for some time.

I used to walk a lot during my stays in Japan. It's always a delight to take long walks as long as the environment is conducive. I started walking when I stayed in the University dormitory that was a kilometer away from my laboratory. I also walked when I got off the train station to get to the church. This was no easy task considering that Sacred Heart in Yamate was located atop a hill. I could tell then that I was healthy as I didn't have to make stops as I negotiated the steps to the cathedral.

When I transferred to an apartment (or mansion as the Japanese called it), I walked more from the nearest train station to my laboratory. Again, since the university was essentially on top of a mountain, the walk to school was a workout of sorts. I usually covered the distance without any stops but aided apparently by a piece or two of candy that I consumed while trekking. At times, the candies would be replaced by cold drinks during the summer and hot chocolate during the winter. I remember the hot can turning cold even before I reached the comfortable warmth of my laboratory. Of course, the walks back to my homes away from home was always the easier, mainly downhill and usually with the company of friends who were similarly heading home and using the same train station.

I enjoyed my walks in Japan mainly because the environment was conducive to walking (and commuting). The design of the steps, the pedestrian crossing facilities and the sidewalks, not to mention the driver discipline and courtesy in that country allowed for safe walks. Proof of this, I believe, is seeing a lot of children and elderly people walking (and commuting).

In contrast, it was both smoggy and noisy along Marcos Highway. I always had to watch out for vehicles that might sideswipe me as I walked near the carriageway when I ran out of sidewalk or foot path. I was lucky that it didn't rain that night. I can only imagine walking in the rain and most parts of the foot paths transformed into mud. If so, I could also imagine that people would have to walk on the carriageway, risking life and limb to speeding jeepneys and reckless trucks. And in Philippine streets, I know for a fact that private cars aren't that good either. You just assume that they won't be joyriding and looking for people to splash water from the puddles forming on the road.

People who are supposed to find solutions to our traffic problems should try walking and commuting to see how bad traffic and our transport systems are. People who walk would always be able to notice what facilities are needed to enhance the experience and to ensure that walking would be a safe, enjoyable and healthy activity. Road safety audits, after all, are not performed while riding a vehicle but while traversing the length of the road and making detailed observations of its features. Such details will allow the auditor(s) to recommend specific measures based on well-grounded assessment. It is a lesson I know from first-hand experience both as a pedestrian and a road auditor. Perhaps it is a lesson a lot of people would be better of learning and applying. It is a lesson that will probably make our lives better and our cities a nicer place to live in.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Sitcoms

I can't say its a guilty pleasure and it surely is not one that I've been hiding from anyone. I like sitcoms and I especially love those that deliver intelligent humor. There are maybe three or four sitcoms that I have been able to get copies of complete seasons and these are also favorites of the Clairvoyant - Frasier, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond and How I Met Your Mother. I hope to be able to write about each of these sitcoms in future blog entries. We have just finished screening the 11th and last season of Frasier and I honestly felt a little sad that we have finally finished the entire collection. I did remind myself that we could always review past seasons, past episodes especially those that gave us incredible laughter (i.e., speeches in Klingon anyone?).

I remember sitcoms in the 80's that I enjoyed watching with family. These included The Cosby Show, The Golden Girls, Benson, Three's Company and others that I seem to forget the titles at this time. The 90's brought in the likes of Seinfeld, Cheers, Third Rock From the Sun and Frasier. After the turn of the century, Everybody Loves Raymond, Will and Grace, How I Met Your Mother and 30 Rock have kept me laughing with fresh material.

Brilliant material by brilliant writers makes these sitcoms shine above the rest. Of course, the ones I mentioned are not necessarily an exhaustive recall of sitcoms I've enjoyed and there are many that were either not shown on Philippine TV or were shown too late in the night that I was not allowed to watch them (read: I had to rise early the next morning for school.). More in the next posts...

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Tinago Falls

I've always been fascinated with waterfalls. Here they are called "talon" in Tagalog. I learned from one sensei that the Japanese term was "taki." In fact, my first close encounters with waterfalls happen to be in Japan, at the Nikko National Park, where I and a close friend were fortunate to be taken for a tour by a very kind Japanese professor who visited UP in the 90's. I was practically a fresh graduate, one year removed from my masters' in UP and a new arrival in Japan for my doctoral studies.

As I haven't come around to scanning old photos showing our group as we trekked through the national park showing fine examples of waterfalls, I will pre-empt the full write-up until another blog (hopefully the next). For now, I will be featuring the Tinago Falls found in Iligan City, Lanao Del Norte.

Here are some photos from Tinago Falls: