Sunday, April 24, 2005

got free time to spare (for the moment), feel like chattering about a 2-day trip a week ago that made quite an impression.

Just came back from Singapore... Yeah, the land of the spick n' span. Man, just before landing on the airport, i can already make out a spotless runway way down below. And upon landing you'll actually get blinded by lights emanating from the airport's spotless squeaky clean windows, solar. Yah and that's from an 800m radius outside the building structure. Mhm,... & right after stepping foot on the boarding area, from customs immigration down to the arrival hall, it's ALL carpeted. a good 200, say 300m length of floor, bristol carpets, man. And not a speck on one. Either that or floors you can totally see your reflection in.

Hindi naman ako manghang-mangha eh noh?... Can't blame me. This is actually my first real trip as a grown up, first tym na nagtravel akong may malay na. Last trip i can remember was 12 years ago... and i was about 7 or 8. Then, all i cared about was FUN... AND food... didn't care if it was a beautiful country or what. basta disneyland, Universal Studios, MGM Studios, atat. Didn't have the faintest idea what 'bargaining' was all about. Even if i did... would've been such a devilish concept to me. Have trashed it in a heartbeat. Nun waldas dito waldas dyan. Saya. Just after my dad's death and a six-year net loss from my mom's travel business was i confronted with something like that, and boy was i confronted with it harshly.. & to that concept i held on for life til now. "Sige na ate, bente na lang, dalawa naman kukunin ko e... "

Nyway back to Singapore... Streets? Clean clean clean. Even the tree planting on the roadside was uniform. Every fraction of a second i can anticipate a coconut tree, or a bush. And that was the length of a smooth 30-minute, traffic-free ride. Oh, and speaking of traffic? Non-existent. Even the word itself. The city? pretty quiet. I think they have a fine for that too. Just imagine being so restricted and regimented. Get caught a few meters away from a fresh cigarette butt, or a candy wrapper, and off you go to a 12-hour community service [if i'm right about that], wearing an orange T-shirt stamped with a CWO on the back that stands for Corrective Work Order... just to let people know you're serving punishment. Shockers, just the thought of carrying that stigma makes me shudder. But what's so funny is that, there aren't any police around. The shopping malls don't even HAVE security guards. They're all just so... DISCIPLINED. Enforcement is so STRICT that people are so assured of safety. Waaah! I want that for our country! Why can't we have that for our country?! Why, why, why?!

Nagtanong pa e noh... As if naman... Just compare a 63-island country with a 7000-island one, divided pa sa tatlong pulo. Better yet, a 4-million-citizen population with an 80-million one. Sige nga. Panu kaya yun. MAs madali talagang i-kontrol yung isa. But that's not an excuse, i know. THEIR GOVERNMENT? Passionate. Concerned. Living for the country. OURS? "hahaha!... Nananaginip ka yata! Anung passionate-passionate? Walang ganun-ganunan. Each to his own. Nanakawan ka pa." Ganda nga ng paradox eh. Pagpunta from manila to Kuala Lumpur: FULLY BOOKED; Kuala Lumpur to Singapore: FULLY BOOKED. Pagdating sa Singapore to manila & kuala to manila, lilima kami. ok fine, 10. haha. JL. Pero, konti tlaga, for a 737. tpos karamihan pa OFWs, hindi turista. Kung meron mang kano, aakalain mong turista, pero sila ung mga UN representatives na naatasang mag-assist sa mga third world countries dahil palubog na. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Sad. Real sad.

Okey, sige fine, pagod na mata ko, at nagyayaya na si freud matulog. Til then, i'll keep dreaming muna 'bout Singapore. Chow...

- Land of the spick n' span
by Schulerin 9:47 PM

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