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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

THE MANILA BUS BAN: From a Commuter’s Point of View

THE MANILA BUS BAN
From a Commuter’s Point of View

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It has been some time since I last wrong something on my blog. I am on temporary leave on blogging latest phones due to my fund shortage and my Buy and Sell experience has been from bad to worst. Lately, I witnessed a huge ‘game-changing’ ban, and it was the No Bus Van on Manila. The moment I heard of this I immediately knew and predicted this would create more traffic than it aims to alleviate. Let me enumerate to you some of the things which the ban did BASED ON THE 1 WEEK OBSERVATION I HAD. Again, this is based on MY OBSERVATION. I am a Reviewee student on Espana Manila, from PERC DC, Panginoong Dimal’s Turf. I have classes every MWF and go to school every Thursday to review. I have classes in the morning, and every Monday, I come from Taft Avenue and the rest I tackle the Quezon Avenue and Espana Combo. The Bus Van heavily affects two road, Taft Avenue and Espana, buses U-turn around at Welcome Rotonda  and buses from Gil Puyat are restricted from entering Taft unless they have bus terminal on Manila.

Figure 1
Probably the most annoying result of this ban was the drastic increase of greedy of Jeepney Drivers to the point all their disciplines, if any of them even have some, is blinded with the tons of commuters at the choke points. Figure 1 Shows Welcome Rotonda, The X Represents the choke points. You can observe that from Cubao, left side of Welcome, there is a choke point, this is where MOST, if not all, bus drivers stop. How annoying can this be? Not only is this the wrong place to load passengers, it is also on the middle of the Rotonda which causes not only stoppage on travelers from Cubao but also from Espana. In addition to the frustration, on the circle you can see MMDA officers, I don’t know if blind, stupid, or bribed by bus companies, just standing there, DOING NOTHING TO ALLEVIATE THE TRAFFIC.

Also from Figure 1, you can see two choke points from the right, as you can see there is a U-Turn spot nearby, how many Jeepney drivers have I seen forcing their way to the side just to get passengers from Unloading Buses. The first choke point is where buses unload and the second is for the greedy selfish jeepney drivers. The aforementioned U-turn slot occupies one lane, the second lane is where jeeps pushes their way to the third lane and the third lane is the choking point. The result is the clusterfuck of a traffic that spans up to Banawe, sometimes even to Santo Domingo. I know Jeepney drivers are just trying to maximize profit but for the Love of God, please don’t be inconsiderate greedy jerks.

Figure 2

Moving on from Espana, we come to the simple Figure 2, last Friday was the only time I had the chance to experience a bus free taft, and it was one of the fastest rides I had, though I did leave at noon so traffic maybe much lighter by then. Quiapo was still an undeniable choke point but it did not take me as long as before. The problem I had with Taft was this Monday, July 29. Normally, the buses I rode reach up to Park and Ride Lawton, it was no biggie for me to leave the bus from Gil Puyat but that was where I was wrong. The FX Terminal was now swarmed with passengers and Gil Puyat was very crowded. As seen from Figure 2, there is an unutilized part of the road which is also the choke point, caused by whom you ask? JEEPNEY DRIVERS. JEEPNEY DRIVERS WHO COULD NOT STOP AT DESIGNATED STOPS TO FILL THEIR JEEPNEYS. Ok ok I’m being too harsh on Jeepney drivers I will put the blame on the passengers also. Some passengers insist on riding even if it is not an optimal place to load and unload. I will go back to Jeepney drivers, if you are not so greedy and tell the passengers that this is not the right spot to ride or unload passengers will not be as keen to ride at those points. I can give you two examples as to where passengers are disclined. MAKATI and BINAN. I live in Laguna and I ride Jeepneys at Binan, Jeepney drivers there shout at passengers to go to designated Loading/Unloading areas. Makati is the best example for Loading and Unloading, try to unload on a loading spot and face the humiliation from the conductor, driver and the passengers. HEAVEN.

CREDITS TO OWNER

Finally, probably the biggest drawback of this  Bus Van would have to be the burden of the commuters of SM Fairview. With buses especially coming from UST, the seats are scarce as buses from Taft are filled from Taft, Quiapo and Morayta, can you imagine how hard it is for Thomasians or Espana commuters to go home now? FXs will surely be filled by the time they get to Espana as well as Jeepneys forcing SM Fairview commuters to take alternate route. You suggest more FX and Jeepneys? Are you seriously too naïve to suggest this? Not only does it defeat the purpose of alleviating traffic but it adds to it. One scenario where the bus will surely be missed will be on rainy days. Jeeps are too scared to ride with the wave but I’m pretty sure bus can endure the flood. What I think of this ban is a high-risk low reward move.
With all the disappointment I have with this Ban, I have to applaud a person for doing such a bold move, Mayor Jospeh Estrada. Sure it was a ridiculous move but it was a game-changing move, this is what we need for our country, bold moves to try and help the country to improve, when was the last Ban/Law which made drastic changes? No Wang-Wang policy? You must be kidding me. I don’t think Erap made this law to punish commuters, I think it was an honest effort to help alleviate traffic. Sadly, it had more cons and created more cons than he anticipated. I am not an Erap fan but I am a fan of politicians brave enough to rattle the status quo. Kudos to Erap! Now if only, my ONLY TAX-PAYER CAN VOTE dream can come true how nice could that be :> Hihihihihi.


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

My History of Gaming! Video Game Console Forever!

My History of Gaming!
Video Game Console Forever!


Console Gaming



One of the most frequent question a gamer may hear maybe ‘PC or Gaming Console’. Both these platforms have pros and cons of their own which I will not discuss here. This is an entry on my blog based on personal experience and perspective to this age old question.

First I want to let the hate out and say why I’m not a PC Gamer. Sure PC offers better graphics and tons of add-ons to a game but you need to upgrade it every now and then to maximize a game’s potential. It might be cheaper but, if I’m not mistaken, PC Gamers actually know how to build their own PC, and they keep up with the latest technology. On a lazy man’s point of view, like me, that seems like a lot of work to research what you will put on your PC. I am willing to bet all my Griffin Bolt Headset that you customized your PC yourself, if you built it I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want anyone else touching your PC as much as possible. Going to my next reason why I never am a PC Gamer. PC has to be the most selfish platform ever, sure there are tons of Multi-player games out there but what I meant is the classic thrill of two players fighting each other, admit it trashtalking is much fun when you can ‘in-your-face’ your opponent. Sure you can play some fighting games on your PC but would you want your friends mindlessly button mashing your precious Razer Keyboard? Ok so yeah you can plug in a controller but hey, can you really enjoy multiplayer gaming cramped on your monitor? Not everyone has a 3 Screen monitor :D A 32 Inch TV is much cheaper. Lastly, this one I will probably get a lot of hate. The last reason why I hate PC Gaming is the undeniable shitloads of pirates. To all my friends how many of you have original PC games? Have you ever been to a computer shop? If I have to estimate I would have to say there are atleast a thousand computers around my school in Manila, I highly doubt any PC there has legit games. Hahahaha. I’m not going to be a hypocrite I do admit I download stuff from the internet and I do have some PC games, but at some point, I PERSONALLY believe that every now and then you ought to support the creators of the things you want. I don’t think one original PC Game a year won’t hurt. I’m sorry for those who got hit with that statement, I just don’t like the idea of boastful gamers telling you they finished tons of games, all pirated. Ohh yeah, just to share I do play PC Games, as of now I play Diablo 2, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Red Alert 2 and Warcraft 3 and DOTA 2. This is the article which made me very sorry for the developer.





Now it’s time to tell you why I love my Video Game Consoles! At about age four or five I had my very first Family Computer, and yes I play what most kids played back then. I was not much of an outside boy which resulted to me being fat, most times I was inside playing. I often summoned my friends to our house for playing games such as Super Mario, Gradius, Twin Bee, Legend of Kage, Urban Champion, Battle City, Lode Runner, Popeye, o the list goes on. Playing with friends was exciting back then, it still is now! I had my Family Computer up until about age six until it finally got broken, I forgot why, I was so devastated back then, I tried the usual twist and turn the cable to make it work but it just did not. Hey dpn’t blame me, I was just a kid, now that I’m a BS ECE I’m 100% confident that I still won’t be able to fix it =)))) I don’t know why but one day, my dad took me to a game shop in Waltermart and we purchased a PlayStation 1, that was year 2000. Yeah I’m 1 generation late but that did not stop me from having the time of my life. Being the first kid on the block to own a PS1 immediately makes you cool. Initially, I hogged the PS1 for myself, since my parents did not want to get me addicted I was limited to play the PS1 for only an hour a day and I can only play it every summer. After about a summer, I eventually called my friends again to play with me. Our favourite game? Tekken 3 of course. Along with Dragonball GT, Crash Team Racing, Marvel VS Capcom, Streetfighter and Metal Slug, and WWF SMackdown, those were the days. 







Last year, April 2012, my Playstation One was revived, as we had OJT I had to stay on our place in Mandaluyong, the PS1 provided me and my classmates something to kill the time instead of gaying out HAHAHHA. We played PS1 and then watched Spongebob every 9pm and 11pm. My PS1 is still stationed on Mandaluyong with the controller now almost 13 years old still working fine!

As the years passed, my neighbors eventually outgrew playing videogames. From about 6 friends I had only one friend to play with. After sometime, I grew tired of the PS1 and retired it for good. 2006 came, my aunts and relatives visited us from states and what did they bring ohh yes! A Nintendo Wii and a Playstation 2! My eyes opened wide when those two boxes came out I was drooling in my mind. Since I had two more brothers and I was going to college I had to pick one to take with me to Quezon City. I chose the PS2. Luckily for us both consoles had games Wii had Paper Mario, Wii Sports and Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and PS2 had WWE 2006 and Ultimate Alliance. I was a generation late again with Sony but back then PS2 had much much juice in its tank. I only had a brief time with Wii, and I used it to unlock DBZ characters and have fun with my friends again. This time, I invited my classmates. I have to say DBZ 3 on the Wii is one of the most exhilarating video games ever. It maybe the same thum thump Kamehameha cliché but actually moving the controller to gain edge over your opponent never gets old. SUPER CLASHES ARE AMAAAZIIIING!!! For the PS2, I bought only one original Game, Tekken 5, the rest were from quaipo. Yeah I’m such a hypocrite. The times I had with Ps2 were great, I only wished I did not play the best action adventure game before I played the preceeding titles as this particular game made other games look shit. Yes, I’m talking about the amazing world of God of War! It was the first action-adventure game I played and it was marvellous, the controls were silky smooth and the graphics were to die for. The nudity was a big plus and it had a captivating story. That was the day I became a Sony fan, vowing to get a PS3 after sometime. With the excitement of God of War, I tried playing other titles such as Devil May Cry and Prince of Persia but it was just not the same. As late 2010 arrived, I had nothing to play but NBA 2k11 which I just stopped playing last March 2013. I played Association extensively and I stopped halfway of season 2015-2016.





Why I stopped playing NBA 2k11, it was because after 7 years I finally got my hands on a Playstation 3. Immediately after I bought one I told myself I will be a solid ps3 supporter and only buy original games. The first game I bought? God of War Saga and God of War Origins. After finishing God of War 3 I decided to buy a different game, the one that got my attention was Assassin’s Creed Series, and it was one of the best series there is! How cool was it to assassinate and be on a time of Jesus Christ. How cool was it to beat the shit out of Pope Rodrigo Borgia. I knew some characters were real I just did not think the AC series would be brave enough to actually put Rodrigo Borgia there. I finished the game before I learned Rodrigo Borgia was a pope in real life. Hahahahaha! Now as I continue my search for Uncharted Series, AC Revelations and AC 3, I purchase fighting games. After about 5 years I summoned my classmates last summer and we played some Naruto 3, Tekken and WWE. Gamers never die I suppose, now I look forward to my next break and invite them over again, as of now I have the following multiplayer games to fill my needs:

·         Tekken 6
·         Tekken Hybrid
·         Streetfighter X Tekken
·         Streetfighter 4
·         Naruto Shipudden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3
·         Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi
·         WWE ‘12         
·         NBA 2k13


            It may not be that much but it can surely make hours into minutes! Today, I do not see myself cramped up infront of a PC to play games, I imagine myself playing PS4 a good 5 years from now. If you have some multiplayer games there why not sell one to me I will barat you so much hahahaha!  I also play handheld games but that’s a different story!

Writing this blog made me very nostalgic :’)

Family Computer:
·         1995-1999
·         Fave Game: Super Mario Brothers 3

Playstation One:

·         2000 – 2005(1st Retirement, Put on attic)
·         2012- Present (Revival in Mandaluyong)
·         Fave Games: Tekken 3, Monster Rancher 2, WWF Smackdown 2!


Playstation Two:

o    2006-Present (Used by my Brother)
o    Fave Games: Tekken 5, God of War 1 and 2, NBA 2k11, WWE 2006

Wii:

·         2006-2011 (Not functioning anymore)
·         Fave Games: Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3




Playstation Three:

·         2013-Present
·         Fave Games: GOW 3, AC Series, NBA 2k13