How to Get to MOA from San Pedro on a Payday Friday

Be on the National Highway in San Pedro at exactly 5:23 in the afternoon.

That is a good time to be sentimental if you like sunsets. Watch out for those green buses that snake their way through the road. If you are the kind that likes adventure, get on one of them and take a window seat. You will know why when you get to the skyway, where you'll see flashbacks of your life before you. That will just be for a few minutes before an old movie of the Action King shows the exciting part of story on the bus TV. He fights back to avenge the death of his mother. Say the lines with him. You know the script and the plot very well. All movies are the same.

If you are still in one piece, get off at Ayala station. Do this as the bus slows down, as it will never come to a complete stop, especially if it is competing with another bus for passengers. Go up to the MRT station and get a ticket. You will not use that, unless you would like to wait 4 hours in line. Go down the stairs to EDSA and wait for buses that either don't come or are so full the tires look like their going to burst.

Walk a few meters north. Join the crowd scattered on the road, waiting for their rides. Chase buses with them. Push doors and plead drivers to let you in. You will never get in. Don't worry about the traffic enforcers; they just stand there and think about life the universe and everything. They have no time for traffic.

So, walk a few more meters north. On to the next foot bridge. Chase some more buses. Elbow your way to the door of a bus that seems like its going to run you over if you get crazy and get in its way. Glare at other commuters to make them feel it's their fault you are not able to get on another bus. It's their fault the buses are so full some of the passengers are sharing the driver's seat and others have their faces pushed tightly to the door.

Walk further north, to Buendia. You must have walked a few kilometers by now. Know that the Philippines is a country of the faithful and there's nothing a religious can't have. Say a little prayer. Thank your government for the concrete roads. At least it is not dusty. Remain positive. Good things come to those who wait. Never mind what Lincoln said about that. You're a Filipino. You're patient. You don't mind if you're paying that much tax for almost nothing.

After an hour of chasing buses and sitting on the pavement, you are ready to do anything, even breaking ribs of fellow commuters. You get on a bus. You let out a sigh of relief. You don't mind if the person pressed against you on the aisle of the bus smells of fish for you're lucky to be finally on your way. Pay the fare even if the collector steps on your foot. Pagpasensyahan mo na, masikip kasi.

The already unforgiving traffic is made more ruthless by the day- a payday Friday. But you get to your stop after an hour of breathing in heads and armpits while standing in the middle of the bus. You see Mc Donald's, where your friends must be waiting for you now. Get off the god-forsaken bus and forget about what you just went through. There's no use wallowing in frustration. Remember that you are resilient.

Put on the classic smile. Laugh about the commute and enjoy shopping. MOA's got it all for you.