Supergirl moment, an accident report

I’ve thought about flying but not like this.

On my way to (grad) school this morning I road a 26 seater (12 on each side and 2 in front beside driver) Cubao-Divisoria jeep with license plate number TXC106.  BIG MISTAKE!  It was one of those tricked out jeeps with (usually) loud music playing, but not today.

There were only 7 of us seated at the back of this king-sized jeep.  I started to feel apprehensive when the driver started weaving through light traffic at top speed, swerving left and right every few feet.  I didn’t think too much of it, though, because, well … we all know how reckless these jeepney drivers are, right?  I was seated at the end of the jeep on the right side near the exit with one hand holding the bar on my left (by the exit) and my feet braced against the floor.  My right arm was wrapped around my backpack holding it secure.

With no warning the driver suddenly swerved to the left then braked HARD!  One moment I was sitting braced at the end of the jeep next thing I knew I was sliding across the seat, my feet could get no traction, my hand got wrenched from the bar and I was flying across the jeep.  I got thrown forward to my knees then I turned to my left to protect my bag (my netbook was inside) and I landed hard on my left hip and thigh.  I finally stopped sliding when my head slammed into the back of the driver’s chair and my face smashed into the speakers.  And to put icing on the cake, all the other passengers (6 men and women of different sizes) all fell on top of me.

I (and the other passengers) complained at the driver for his driving and even mentioned our injuries.  You know what he said in reply?  He said that he was just avoiding a taxi that suddenly stopped in front of him.  If he hadn’t done that we would have been in a worse situation.  Hello!  In the first place, if he had not been driving so fast we would not be in that situation at all!  If he weren’t driving so fast there would not have been any need to brake so hard.  If he weren’t driving like a maniac and had not been tailgating the taxi, he would have had ample time to brake.  No one would have been injured, and we would all have just complained about the reckless TAXI driver, not the reckless JEEP driver.

Since I was almost at school I decided to just continue on. I texted my classmate, Mark, to find out if he was already in school and he told me that he was at Chowking having breakfast with Andrea and Rean.  So, shaking and all, I got off the jeep at Pureza to meet my classmates.  I won’t deny it, after I entered, greeted my friends, and sat down, I started crying quietly.  In the jeep my fellow passengers told me the left side of my face was swollen so when I greeted my friends it was just a few minutes from the accident.

After I’d calmed down I went to the grad school building to attend my class. Yes, I actually decided to still go to school!  I asked my classmates in that class if they knew where the clinic was so that I could get checked out.  I told the doctor and nurse what happened and they told me that it is a medico-legal issue and I should get x-rays if I plan to file a case against the driver.  Unfortunately, I was not able to get the driver’s name and driver’s license number, but since I was able to get the plate number of the jeep, it would be easy to trace the operator, at least.

Inventory of injuries:

• big bump on my head but my skin was not broken
• numbness on the entire left side of my head
• numbness on the entire left side of my face
• my teeth on the left side are sore
• my neck (left side) is sore but it seems to radiate to the other side as well
• my left shoulder is sore
• left side of my back is sore, lower back abraded
• left hip and butt cheek are sore, abraded and swollen
• both knees are abraded and bruised

I decided not to pursue the medico-legal case anymore, as the procedure is more of a headache than the bump on my head.  But that doesn’t mean I won’t tell MMDA to watch out for him anyway.  It pays to know someone who can do something about it.  And, of course, blogging about it also helps.  If only so I could blow off steam.

I got sent home early from school.  Even though I was sore I went to see my professors to let them know I why I had to leave.  I opted not to get the x-rays but went to our family doctor instead accompanied by my mom.  He said I did not need them anymore since I had no nausea, I could walk and talk straight, and I could move my arm.  I was just told to go home and rest.  The doctor in the school clinic told me not to sleep immediately in case I had a concussion.  I seem to be ok so I finally got to sleep at around 4pm and woke up at 7pm.  Our family doctor prescribed expensive painkillers (ouch!) worth P50.50 a pop.  It is supposed to be an anti-inflammatory, too.

The school doctor told me to take it easy and observe my injuries for 48 hours.  Our family doctor told me to take it easy for 3 to 5 days. Good thing I swapped class schedules with a co-faculty at Benilde so I don’t have to go to school until Thursday night.

Just had dinner and now I think I have to sleep again. The medicine they gave me is sedating, but it helps with the soreness and bruising.

For those of you who travel the Cubao-Divisoria route, DO NOT RIDE A CUBAO-DIVISORIA JEEP WITH LICENSE PLATE NUMBER TXC106.  The driver will put your life at risk and won’t even apologize about it.

My shoes are so fab!

A few days before Christmas, my husband, Simon, asked me what I would want for Christmas. Whenever I am asked that question my mind always goes blank.  Asking for gifts is not something I am accustomed to doing.  This year the only thing I asked for from family and friends was votes to win a camera.   I didn’t win.  But I had to think of something.  Surely there was something I wanted or needed that would not be unreasonable to ask for, right?

I came up with one thing:  SHOES.

My godfather, Uncle Ed, used to give me shoes for my birthday and Christmas, but after I got married I figured I must be getting too old to receive them regularly.  And, as I said, I’m not one to ask so I wasn’t going to remind him.

I believe that every girl should have at least one pair of strappy heels among her shoes.  Aside from gold (or silver, can’t remember) formal strappy heels, all my other shoes are either too formal or too casual.  I have boots, and rubber shoes, aqua socks/shoes, flip flops, and office shoes.  But I realized that aside from hand-me-down Skechers heels I had nothing that would go with anything.  And so, when he asked me what I wanted for Christmas the only thing that popped into my head was “girlie shoes”.

I wasn’t expecting him to go out and buy them for me, though.  Just like underwear, shoes are personal, so more often than not it is better to go out and buy it yourself than have someone else buy it for you.  So … Simon just gave me the money for it.  Worked for me.  That way I was sure to get the style I want and in the correct size.  I;m a size 9-9.5 so it actually isn’t easy to get me shoes.  My feet are too big for regular sizes (which usually stop at and too small for big sizes (which usually start at 10).

Yesterday afternoon Erika went with me to Trinoma and to The Block for shoe shopping.  We ended up getting shoes from the store I wanted to get them from in the first place, So Fab! at The Block.

Aren’t these shoes pretty?  I love them!  Over the years I have bought and worn strappy sandals until they wear out from overuse.  I fell in love with this pair on site.

I showed them to my mom and dad when I got home and mom loved them.  Her only question to me was … am I not too tall already?  With these shoes on I reach a lofty 5′10″. Perfect!

Expect to see me in these shoes many, many times in the coming months.  Thank you, daddy, for giving me the money to buy them.

Twilight contest has a winner

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Guess what? I didn’t win in the Twilight contest on Fizzer.ph that I was making so much noise about for several weeks, hoping and begging for my family and friends to vote for me. Winning it really wasn’t easy. At times it felt like pulling out of quicksand would be easier than convincing people not only to sign up to Fizzer.ph but also to vote for me on the Twilight contest and give me 5 stars. People had different reasons for taking their time or not doing it at all.  For some it was security or privacy issues, for others it was either a very busy social or work schedule.  Which is why I am very, very thankful to all the people who did vote. Your combined votes was enabled me to reach the #2 spot in the photo contest.

Some of my friends told me they were waiting for the last minute to vote. Unfortunately, registration/login bugs prevented them from entering the site and therefore could not vote for me. I actually saw this for myself since one of my friends registered in my presence and was unable to login despite receiving the confirmation email. I guess that SNAFUs are one of the things to be expected when we wait until the last minute to do something.

With more than a 200 vote lead on me, I am not surprised that 24 year old Helga Weber went home with the Canon 450D Rebel DSLR Camera. Congratulations, Helga! 

Pre-Christmas with my in-laws

I am blessed.  You know all the things they say about how in-laws are supposed to be difficult to get along with?  They’re not true, at least, not for me.  Even though they are not the most affectionate of people, I think my in-laws are wonderful.

Whether or not I asked for their help, they have made sure I knew that they are there for me.

Last night was my niece, Marty’s birthday.  We celebrated at TGIF at The Fort.

Dinner itself wastn’t all that great because the food took too long to arrive and there was always something missing … missing sauce, one chicken fillet short, serving size was smaller than Chili’s, food was more expensive than was expected, etc.  Suffice it to say the dinner was a disaster!  We couldn’t help comparing it to when we ate at Chili’s where service was fast, food ordered was complete, and the items on the menu cost less.

But the evening did not end there.

As we stepped out of Friday’s our ears were greeted by the beautiful sound of several male voices blended in pure harmony.  And the first thing that entered my head was, “OMG, that has GOT to be Tux!”  And true enough, it was!

I haven’t heard them in YEARS and I’ve always enjoyed listening to choirs when they actually harmonize.  I rushed over to check and sure enough, it was!  I couldn’t mistake them for anyone else.

Their program was conducted in front of Krispy Kreme so we decided to have our dessert and there.  That way we could listen and sort of watch the show while we ate.  After a while, my nieces wandered off to do some window shopping but I chose to stay until the end of the show.  By the way, Tux is re-releasing their first and second album as well as a Christmas album but they are not yet available in stores.  You can only get them directly from the band.  I have the Road Manager’s card, in case anyone is interested.

At the end of the evening, Erika and I decided to take some lookbook worthy photos.

What? Fizzer is giving away more gadgets?!?

The first time I heard about Fizzer was when my daughter and I watched the blocked screening at Greenbelt 3 of New Moon, the second movie of the Twilight Saga, sponsored by Twilight Coven Philippines.  And before you ask, yes, it was MUCH better than the first one by leaps and bounds.

As we entered the movie theater we were warmly greeted with smiles and invitations to an after movie party at Capone’s by a group of uber-hot, well-muscled sexy men dressed in jeans and tank tops (dressed as the local version of the clean cut La Push wolf pack) and sexy, curvaceous women dressed in tiny black dresses with plunging necklines (“dressed to vamp”, so to speak in the stereotypical “look” of the female vampire). Turns out these guys and gals were representatives of Fizzer.ph (one of the sponsors of the screening).

When I asked them what Fizzer.ph was they said, “it is a  real social network”, and in response, of course I said, “oh, you mean like Facebook”.  Apparently the similarity ends at the words “social network”.  Fizzer is a “real” social network, they say, because:

• Fizzer.ph is a localized social network – this means that the target market are Filipinos from all over, but specifically those that reside in the Philippines
• Fizzer.ph not only connects people online but also creates opportunities for fellow Fizzer members to meet and interact (face to face) initially in Fizzer sponsored events and later in events sponsored by Fizzer members themselves
• Fizzer.ph gives really great prizes in their contests which I hear they will have every month!

Speaking of contests, they have an easy contest running right now with wonderful prizes in store for those who join.

Like with any other website, the gauge of its success is measured by its popularity.   In social networking terms this can be measured by simply looking at its total membership.  Fizzer.ph is a very new player and to get their numbers up and in conjunction with the season of giving, they came up with a new contest called “The New Year Blowout” which starts on December 15, 2009 and will end on Valentine’s  Day, February 14, 2010.

Joining is so easy to do:  

• Sign up on the website.  There are 2 ways of doing that.
• If you received an invite code to join the Fizzer.ph website, such as this one: http://www.fizzer.ph/signup/8ad1435363.html (This is my daughter, Erika’s code.  Please use it to help her get the numbers she needs, too.) then click or visit the link and then fill up the registration form it leads you to
• If you did not receive an invitation code you can just go straight to the homepage of Fizzer.ph and click on the word REGISTRATION found at the bottom
• Once logged in go to http://www.fizzer.ph/competitions/christmasGiveaway.html
• Click on the “join competition” button

It’s that simple.  But what are the rules?

• Participants have to be Filipino and residing in the Philippines.
• The user with the highest number of confirmed invited users wins.  The confirmed invite must upload at least one photo of themselves and add at least one school in  their personal information for the invitee to be counted as a confirmed invite.
• Your friends must use the invitation link to register for the invites to be counted.
• Fraudulent accounts will not be tolerated. The number of confirmed registrations through your invites will be tracked by Fizzer.
• Note: Fizzer.ph reserves the right to disqualify contest participants.

The prizes they are giving away to the people who place in  the top 5 make it totally worth it to invite people to sign up.

• 1st place receives a Macbook
• 2nd place receives a PS3
• 3rd place receives an HP Mini
• 4th place receives a PSP
• 5th place receives an iPod

I myself find all the prizes drool worthy and certainly worth the effort of inviting people to sign up.  My daughter takes after me.  She loves gadgets, too, and she would love to  finally own a Macbook.  How about you? Care to try for the Macbook, too?