I'm never forgetting July 5, 2013.
Due to my unbelievable randomness these days, I did a last minute plan with my sister for a movie out. Since it was Friday and Despicable Me 2 was already showing in theaters (I cannot, for the life of me, measure our love for minions) we decided to watch the movie in Glorietta. Here's why that day became memorable in a very 'unique' way...
Stranded
To get to Glorietta, or any place in that area of Makati, a person coming from Katipunan (lol QC student perspective here) will have to take the LRT from Katipunan Station to Cubao Terminal. And then take the MRT from Cubao to Ayala Station.
Or, you can just take a cab.
But if you're tight on the budget and want to be adventurous. I dare you to take the road commonly traveled (see what I did there? Makes total sense though). Anyway, just a word of precaution, if you're commuting at around 5 pm onward and ESPECIALLY on a Friday, be ready for some squishy salmon can-like train ride. For daily MRT commuters though, this is just a typical day for Superman.
So what's with the bold "Stranded" heading? Well, this happened...
I was in LRT Katipunan Station at around 4 pm, since I knew very well that if I went later, I would be dealing with the rush of commuters going home or going out. There was a moderate line of people buying 'tickets' in the station, which was bearable enough. From Katipunan, the train made the usual stop at the next station, Anonas. This is the station before Cubao.
Anonas Station, this is where I got stranded.
When the driver (is he even called a driver? whatever) announced that there was a minor technical issue and that the trip would be delayed for five minutes, I thought, "Okay, I can wait for five minutes." but then the same announcement was made after five minutes and I was getting impatient already...and scared! During the whole time, I was imagining the following scenarios: (I made them into bullet points just because.)
- There was a bomb in the train.
- There was a terrorist in the train.
- There was a bomb AND a terrorist in the train.
Also, I was scared because a major accident might happen. Again, bullet points:
- A fast moving train might hit our train from the front.
- A fast moving train might hit our train from the back. (I was hoping this won't happen since I was at the far end of the train.)
Thank God none of these happened, and after ten minutes of waiting, they asked everyone to step out since service was temporarily available.
And I was like, How am I getting to Cubao? Again, my options were the following (with cons this time):
- Take a cab. CON: The driver might take me somewhere far and salvage me.
- Ride a jeepney. CON: I don't know which jeepney to choose and I might end up in a faraway place.
- Walk to Cubao: CON: I might get nabbed on the way. OR WORSE, it rains. (I didn't bring my umbrella.)
Considering all these, I decided to take a leap of faith (A BIG leap of faith) and prayed to God for guidance.
I ended up riding a jeepney.
It was a nitty-gritty process of choosing the right jeepney, I had to choose the one with a vacant seat behind the driver's seat so I can ask for help. Yes, it was an arduous task but I was able to perform. I befriended the driver and asked him to drop me to the area nearest to Gateway Mall (to Cubao Station). Good thing he was kind enough to help me and he even gave me instructions on how to get to the mall from my drop-off point.
Thank you, Manong!
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| Memorabilia from that mishap |
Whew! That was long, but my adventure wasn't over yet.
Squished
Since I got delayed by that mishap, I got to the MRT Cubao Station half past 5. There was a steady amount of commuters already. I'm not saying it's a good thing. MRT steady is not equal to LRT steady. To cut the long story of my MRT trip short, I was literally 'sardine can' squished the whole duration of the trip (there were 6 stations from Cubao to Ayala, a 'good' 20 minutes). I finally got to Ayala Station, passed through SM Makati and then went into Glorietta where my sister was waiting.
We went to the cinema booth only to find out that Despicable Me 2 was already sold out even up to the last film showing of the night. Just. Perfect. We tried to check in Greenbelt, but the same story. There was just no way we were gonna see the minions on that day.
Stuffed
To appease our hearts and more importantly our stomachs, we went to this gelato place in Greenbelt called Gelatissimo Cafe. They offer a wide range of gelatos to choose from. And swear, the gelatos really pay off the price!
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You can combine two flavors.
I had Forest Berries and Panna Cotta. Perfect combo.
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And finally, capping off the experience was a dinner at Cabalen, an all-pinoy cuisine buffet restaurant. Two words: bulalo, longanissa.
from Google
That is all.
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