Last Friday, November 7, 2009, was the day of our courtesy call with DHL who is our partner for our JA-mini company.
Our original schedule was:
9am -------- leave CKSC premises .
9-10am --- travel time allotted for travel from CKSC to JAPI office in Makati
10-1pm --- meeting with Sir Krishna.
1-2pm ----- travel time allotted for travel from JAPI office in Makati to DHL HQ.
2-4/5pm -- meeting with DHL officers
5-7pm ----- travel time allotted for travel from Bicutan to Manila and home.
It all starts at the CKSC Narra campus where I'm in the middle of deciding if I will join the commute gals/guys or with Andrew Alianan and co. (Sarah Hatol, Benson Kotah, Annie Tio) for a joyride. I decided that I'll go join Andrew for a joyride for a change. We then rode off after saying goodbye to the other members of the team.
We enjoyed our trip from CKSC to the entrance of Makati. We listened and shared experiences, jokes, songs and whatnot. Sudenly, *BOOM*. -silence- *looks at the back of the car* -realize we've been hit by a *dun dun dun* BUS.- I mean WhAt ThE fUdGe?! It was a freagging speeding BUS. We could've died or something like that. You know what happened? The car just sustained a dent. A really not so big dent. Barely noticable when you're afar. The here comes the great traffic enforcer and the negotiations begin.
10 minutes pass..
We (who are not part of the negotiations) talk about Mayors and politics.
20 minutes pass..
We talk about vacations spots.
30 minutes pass..
The negotiations finish.
We are free to go after that. The other members who commuted have already reached the JAPI HQ and were calling us like crazy asking where we are. So we hurry and drive towards our destination and SUDDENLY AGAIN the car stops. It stops near an intersection. It just stopped. Pfft. Chug chug chug. Chug chug chug. Andrew turned to us and said: It won't start. Benson and I got down and started to push the car. Benson was wearing formal long sleeve polo and I was wearing our congressman style uniform and we were pushing a car in the middle of the road in the middle of Makati. Good thing Marc Logan wasn't there to video us and present us in some TV show or my mom would kill me. =D
While we were pushing our car, Sarah was inside the car laughing at us while Annie was stepping on the break occasionally. After 2 red lights, we made it across and continued to push to the nearest McDonald's. We parked the car at the parking lot and we had lunch.
(For Ricson and Mike O.) OH BOY! There were a lot of #7s and #8s (Hawk Eye & Heat Seeking reference) having lunch! Not only my stomach was full but also my eyes and brain. (End Transmission)
Andrew then said that the car would be left at McDonald's and we were to walk to the JAPI office at the end of the road. After walking for awhile, we decided to take a taxi. xD
We arrived at Trafalgar Building 12:00. 2 hours late. We shared part of our experience with the other members and we were told that the DHL HQ was in Bicutan. WTF.
We then split into groups as finding a vehicle to transport all of us would be impossible. Andrew and co went on a group and I went with Sir Krishna, Cristina Limcaco and Charles Adrian Dominique Ang. Our taxi was !@#$#$% and it didn't know where to go and kept on asking us. We rode a taxi because we didn't know the way and the taxi driver kept on asking us where. To make matters worse, our taxi was GAS powered and kept on stopping. F U inventor or GAS powered taxi. F U. So after 2 hours or so, we arrived at the DHL HQ.
After an introduction, tour, mirienda and talk, we were finally headed home. Or so we thought. It was almost 6pm and rush hour was already taking its toll. Tax lane was full, jeep lane was full too. Albert and the gang decided to wait at the jeep lane. I left the PSP on Andrew's car so I had to go with Andrew and co. to get it back. Sir Krishna and us decided to have dinner as the taxi line is a very long line. We ate at Cebu Lechon or something like that. Sir shared with us some of his weird experiences in JAPI. After which we decided to go home and what greeted us was a x2 longer taxi waiting dudes/dudettes. We walked and walked and walked till we got an Innova Taxi to ourselves and drove to Makati. Jokes were exchanged and so are stories that I won't type here anymore as this is getting long and I'm getting lazy typing.
When we reached McDonald's (where we left the car) we thanked the manager for letting us park the car for such a long time and took time pee-ing. Launched away! While driving, the car stopped AGAIN. D': but now we know why. It overheated. So we pushed the car (again) to the roadside while we were cooling it off, Annie and Sarah bought some bottled water. We showered the engine and steam came out. Now that's HOT. After 30 mins or so the car is semi-refreshed and we're good to go.
We talked about several issues that again, I won't type, while going to LRT2 bla bla bla. We got there rode to Recto and finally got home. I got home at 10PM. Tired, hungry but happy. This is one hell of a day I won't ever ever forget.