How to Survive an Extortion

I just experienced an extortion worthy of an aneurysm.

At 1700H I was heading back to school after buying some costumes for our organization from Divisoria. Vendors were all over the place, all rushing to meet their quota. Street children wandering around and about waiting for some charity from the purses of passers-by. The traffic-catalyst jeepneys’ machine buzzing all over the place. Ah, the typical scenery you'll expect from this part of Manila.

"Oy boss, sa UST ka ba?", a pedicab driver said from my side.

I gave the driver a glance. I was about to walk past him when I heard him say,

"Halika boss, bente lang sa Espana"

Thinking that 20 pesos would just be a little addition to my supposed fare, say, if I rode two jeepneys, I decided to ride the pedicab back to school.

And here's what I learned:

1. A super friendly attitude from the driver is one of the cardinal signs of impending extortion.
2. A driver who talks a lot, especially about his hardships in life (from the death of his grandfather to his leg pains), is the second cardinal sign of impending extortion.
3. A matter-of-fact attitude really helps when riding pedicabs. You don’t initiate conversations with the driver. He talks, you answer. One question, one response. Do not elaborate further. I hypothesize that the more you talk to them, the more prone that you will succumb to their manipulation
4. Let the driver drop you in front of the gates of your school. That way extortion could be minimized since you can always ask the guard  if there are any problems you need help with
5. Act that you don't have more money just in case the driver asks for a bigger payment. That way he can’t demand more and you prevent yourself from unreasonable prices.
6. Respecting older people is undoubtedly a good virtue. But if they already are abusive, they do not deserve the respect. Learn to be stubborn sometimes and fight for your rights.
7. Lastly, it doesn't always pay to be nice. Develop those canines and be ready to use them when needed.

I handed my fifty pesos to the driver upon arriving at school. 

“Boss, kulang pa yan…”

“Ha? Kala ko po ba bente lang?”

“Dos bente sabi ko ser.”

“Anong dos bente?”

“Two hundred twenty.”

“Grabe naman kuya, masyado namang mahal”, as I tried to argue further

“Hinde, masyadong malayo kasi tong UST eh, ang hirap nga eh”

*Insert more haggling here*

Finally, I handed over additional 200 pesos. He gave back my 50 peso bill and my change.

While I was entering the campus, I felt really, really bad. I felt that I didn’t have control over the situation I was in. I don’t usually give up my rights and let anything like this pass by without a proper argument but that moment, I succumbed to what the driver wanted.

Oh gullible me.

Minutes later, I had this song randomly played from the playlist on my phone. I couldn’t remember if I was even the one who placed that song in my playlist since I am not really a fan of that kind of music but for that moment, hearing it was sort of comforting. Maybe it was divine intervention.

I've learned my lesson and this extortion shall not happen again.

Divisoria Experience + Food review

This is actually a late post.

Last Saturday, we planned to go to Divisoria. I was quite pessimistic with the idea since the news did another sensational report which was quite overrated. Bagyo na nga lang nakikita ko sa TV ngayon eh. But still, it pushed through. We left home by 9am. Mom met with a business contact first to discuss a deal. They met at McDonalds Dau. The place was very nice. far from any McDonald outlet I've seen before since the fast food chain now sported a modern design with its trademark color red and yellow now a shade darker. In addition to that, it also had its own McCafe, a coffee shop similar to Starbucks but on a lower scale, both in price and menu. I ordered large cup of Capuccino. It looked like this (photo above). It looked delicious right? But I kinda regretted buying a big cup since I didn't apprieciate the taste very well. Maybe because it's bitter. I even added 4 sachets of white sugar, 2 sachets of Equal, 1 sachet of brown sugar and 4 sachets of creamer but to no avail, it still tasted the same.Sorry kay Ate waitress at kinulit kulit ko sya para sa mga yan.hehe In the end, I just finished the cup up and just ate a lot of that carrot-wallnut cupcake instead. Oh, we also ordered a Rocky Road bar and a slice of Brazo de Mercedes, nothing special about the taste. Yes, I am a person with a hard to please palate.

After that, we went to Pulilan, Bulacan for another business meeting. This time, we met at Jollibee Pulilan. We had our lunch there. I ordered the new Jollibee Chicken Barbecue. It was delicious, flavorful, smoky, and appropriate for the Filipino tongue.I liked it by the way, McDonald's  should also have something like this if they want to keep up with the competition. But still, McDo's still McDo, Jollibee is still Jollibee.

One thing I noticed with these two fast food giants is that it seems that their market focus is now the not-so-young population. No longer are they confined to kiddie group unlike during my childhood days.

And now.. We're finally of to...

  Tutuban Mall! This is also part of the mom's business trips but unlike the previous two, we didn't really eat here...at least, not much. We arrived there at around 5pm. It was kinda dark outside. Ang saya pala sa Divisoria pag gabi, may music, mga tao at higit sa lahat, mura ang mga bilihin! I bought two shirts, one pair of eyeglasses, belt, and shorts for about less than a thousand and the quality isn't too bad as well. I'll post my pics here wearing them soon. Nakaktuwa talaga, tapos may tindera pa na buntis tinanong ko, "Ate, ilang months na po ba iyan?" Sabi nya, "Ahh, kabuwanan ko na.". And then, being a student nurse, I somehow told her about the signs of true labor. At talagang nakapaghealth teaching pa ako sa Divisoria.Haha. At least, alam na nya ang difference ng true and false labor. Nakakaaliw din ung tindero sa isang stall kumakanta pa sya at andami sinasabi.

If I remember the lyrics right, it went like this:

"Hali-halika na, humalukay ka sa aming bulwagan

Sa aming bulwagan, murang mura diyan
Kaya halika na, wag nang mahiya"

Tapos may sinabi pa sya, "Oh wag nang mamoblema kay Santino! Wala na si Santino!" May sumagot, "Baka Santi po?". Ahaha. Si manong talaga oh, May Bukas Pa ata ang napanood hindi TV Patrol.hehe.

and then.. We ate again.

This time at Greenwich. We ordered that pizza from the left side. I think it was called Overloaded Roast Beef Pizza. Masarap din sya, kaso sobrang daming oil which spells a lot of calories for me to burn. Ayos lang, nagpapataba naman talaga ako eh. Did I already say that its delicious?

Upon finishing that sumptuous dinner, We went to the mall again. Upon going outside, there was this lesbian-looking person looking at me. Nag smile sya. Nagsmile rin ako. Tapos tinawag nya ung mga kasama nya and said, "Siya na yun! Siya na un!" while looking at me. Then, I realized, hindi pala sila lesbian. Bading pala sila.hehe Now, I learned a lesson na wag smile ng smile kung kani-kanino. Dapat ituro narin ung sa mga bata, "Anak, don't smile to strangers ah."

Then we went home. =)