designer's desperate driving

the world is coming to an end, bambi is learning how to drive!!!

she has been going to driving school the past few days, and she's going around the southern metro from parañakyu to the fringes of cavite! and using manual transmission at that! pretty soon she'll be probably bringing the family car to work :D

i sat in the passenger seat yesterday tutoring her on driving and i got to review the following things i know take as instinct when driving:

• the gas & clutch pedals usually act in opposite manner (step on the gas, release the clutch to speed up; step on the clutch, release the gas to slow down/keep the engine running)
• a handbrake is good for keeping you from moving forward/backward from a full stop position
• driving in a cul-de-sac is not a good idea
• expect your left leg to ache after driving a manual
• wear an antiperspirant when learning how to drive....
• it's never a good idea to distract a driver w/ a fondness for babies & little kids while driving....

good luck bambi! and for everyone else, watch out!!! :D

unneccessary unfairness against untv

i just have to put this in before the weekend break.

of course we all know about the carnapping shootout thing & the coverage of UNTV of the shooting (i'm too much in a hurry to put in the link, just use your favorite search engine for a backgrounder). according to scuttlebutt, the casualties were really of the bad sort, but there was overkill on the part of Traffic Management Group (TMG) (don't think it was anything of the kuratong baleleng type though, just additional bullets used even when the guys expired).

after being suspended then reinstated, members of the TMG (don't know either if they were the ones in the shootout or not) were seen going around the UNTV premises doing what's called in military parlance as casing or for more western audiences, a sort of stakeout. thing is, they want to be seen by their targets, for the main purpose of harassing their target (in this case UNTV). TMG stopped when UNTV was able to call for help from the Eastern Police District (a location-based PNP unit, as opposed to a special unit like the TMG)

this thing is usually done to scare suspected criminals or other malcontents of society to force them to clean up their act. but in this case, UNTV's sin was to air something it has seen. the act could've been defended amply by the police; instead it had to resort to harassment. (i'm surprised no online version of this news came up, i saw it in the morning news of magandang umaga pilipinas)

my beef is this: why did the TMG have to go to that point of harassing a relatively unknown UHF station? because they were too lazy to go through the usual process? or because they felt emboldened that this increasingly unpopular government will not stop them? at the very least it won't chastise the TMG; but most probably it will champion the TMG's cause.

damn. the empress' paranoia has come to this.

do's & don't's @ dubya's domain

i'm back in the office, recovering from jetlag... here's an introduction of my future US entries (hopefully, i'll get around into posting it here... zzz...) :P

1. do not go to an asian immigration official at your port of entry; they know all the crazy things asians (esp. pinoys) will do just to gain the greencard/citizenship; they'll assume the worse.
2. do activate the roaming feature of your phone, but do not use it too much (i have yet to see my bill, i fear it...)
3. do make sure that you wear socks for your plane trip, other airlines might not be as extravagant as PAL to give out free socks.
4. do make sure you wear loose fitting or easy to wear shoes, for easier inspection in airports
5. do make sure your pants don't fall off when you take off your belt for metal inspection... hehehe!
6. do make sure you're dressed for the climate (i.e. it's almost always colder in the US than in the RP, so bring a sweatshirt, a jacket, or an extra layering shirt)
7. do make sure that your luggage has a distinctive mark or ribbon (make it a unique ribbon, since everyone else seems to be going for the red ribbon mark)
8. do not scatter your belongings out of your luggage, especially on a short trip; you might forget something on the way home
9. do rent a car online that will allow you to drive w/o the int'l license (hard to do...)
10. do make sure each day has an activity so you won't regret wasting your time
11. do not go to a restaurant where you can eat here in the RP!

well, keep tuned in for more stories!

random reminder

hmm, i dunno if i'll have some time later to blog fully, i'll put an initial outline to remind me of what happened on what day:

oct 28 - left for US, arrived @ SFO
oct 29 - arrived @ atlanta & indianapolis, went to dept store & hospital
oct 30 - went to mall & hospital
oct 31 - rode on '32 ford, went to LAX, arrived @ west covina
nov 1 - bambi san diego day one!
nov 2 - bambi san diego day two! went back to west covina
nov 3 - malling, went to walnut
nov 4 - will go to cedars later

will update my 2-3 readers later!!! :D