A Life of Letters

Nuggets of wisdom found here and so i grabbed it.

Maundy Thursday

I have to say that i love Holy Week not only for the spiritual respite that it brings but also for the peace and quite it brings to every family and the metro. Christmas holidays normally spent harassed by gift buying activities and parties, reunions but the Lenten Season just gives us that long anticipated relaxation be it in your own home or some other place.

Today, i woke up early and did a little work around the garden, cooked fried chicken for lunch and watched The Passion of The Christ by Mel Gibson. I watched it with my children who were teary-eyed at the brutality with which Jesus was subjected to. In their young minds, they could not understand how the people of those times hurt Jesus. They cried actually. I explained to them why Jesus had to went through what He did and i hope that they understand it a little because, they didn't want a running commentary on the movie. They just want to watch the movie. We also cooked binignit, sweetened saba cooked in coconut milk, steamed corn and sweet potatoes.

Later in the afternoon, we went to Bonifacio HighStreet to check out The Way of The Cross. Afterwards, we went to S and R for groceries. In a word, it felt very relaxing despite the obvious heat.

Even When You Are Careful..

Some aren't. Last wednesday i went to SM Megamall to get our New Hyundai Grand Starex that was parked only to find that it had a dent on the front passenger side. Good thing that i make it a point to park near where a guard is usually stationed. It was so new it doesn't even have a plate number. So you can just imagine how angry and flabbergasted I was to find it dented and scratched. But more than the physical damage to the van is the hassle and the stress to be dragged into a vehicle incident. I refuse to call it an accident because the other driver should just find another parking slot if he found it difficult to maneuver the parking slot near mine. And for the record, I was parked correctly.

Anyway, there's no sense getting angry about it because it would just make me spend emotional resource which does not bring me any good. No matter how apologetic the other driver is, he can not compensate for the trouble i went just to have it repaired the soonest possible time. Even when i took a leave of absence from my work to follow up the police report and went to hyundai to have the damage evaluated, i still wasn't able to have it immediately repaired because of documentary requirements. Evidently, i can only bring the van in for repairs when the service center already received the Letter of Authority from the insurer of the other party, in this case, Prudential Guarantee.

When i called up the offending party for any requirements, he asked me for the following documents for insurance claims:
1. Original copy of the police report/security report.
2. Copy of Or/Cr for both vehicle
3. Copy of Drivers license with latest OR for both driver
4. Photos of the damaged vehicle showing the plate number for both vehicle
5. Repair estimate both vehicle
6. Stencil of engine and chassis numbee of both vehicle
7. Original copy of certificate of no claim from other party.

So many requirements right? How could it be fair when you have to secure all these things when you did nothing wrong? At any rate, i have to secure some if not all of it so i went to TMG-eastern Police District in order to follow up the police report which i thought was already ready since i was told that an incident report has been filed by the other party the day before. To my dismay, i still had to fill up some forms as statements needed for the police report, had photos taken on my van which i paid 200 pesos for the photos but even then, i still need to return the next day because the investigator assigned to my case is off duty that day. So i went to Hyundai-shaw and ask them what should i do. I'm just glad that they said they will take care of it, including the documentary requirements needed and that they will just call me when it they have secured the letter of authority already. But, they said that it's going to take longer what with the long weekend coming. So the hassle..

At any rate, i didn't go there empty handed. I already made copies of my driver's license and the sales invoice. As i said , there was no plate number yet and even though it was already registered, the orig cr/or was not yet with me since hyundai still needs it to process for the plate number. Insurer for the van was bpi/ms and when i called them over the phone for a copy of the policy, they immediately responded to my email. I also requested a certificate of no claim over the phone even though hyundai said they will take care of it, just so the paperworks starts moving and the sooner i can have the van repaired.

So nothing to do in the moment but wait.

Boracay Experience With The Family

One of the most memorable trip of 2012 was our sidetrip to Boracay. Our accomodation was affordable and clean, fronting the beach and right in the middle of station 2 where all the actions are and the goods. The airconditioned room costs 2,500 with 2 twin beds which was just enough for the five of us. We also took another room shared by my 2 sisters, aunt and Yaya Ann. It probably helped that it was off season so upon arrival, a local tourist guide helped us find accomodation we only paid the multi cab that brought us to station 2.

It was our first ever try at Paragliding which costs Php 1,500 per 15 minutes per person up there in the air. And it's also the first time that i realized, how fun it would be to own a speed boat how much more a yacht. Hah!

We went there with our SUV of choice, the Fortuner from Batangas then to Mindoro then left it at a parking lot in Caticlan. I was surprised that there were lots of vehicle there parked mostly SUVs. Like us, they must have come from far-flung places and islands.

Here are some of the photos i took from the New Ipad.