After naming endless Asian countries from the south east to the north he finally gave up. I answered matter-of-factly "I'm Filo…you know from the Philippines." He gave me a puzzled look and said I didn't look it. Ok, I get that quite often but just always shrugged it off. This time I actually questioned it. The stranger eyed me for a moment and responsed with a "I would never have guessed...you look different...." (Funny, I thought all asians "look alike"). He then asked me if I could still speak my native language. I told him I could speak tagalog fluently but that I struggle when it comes to reading and writing. This seemed to baffle him as he said, if I was fluent in speaking, I should be able to read and write just as fluently. Hmm….clearly this guy has never heard of dyslexia. However, as I made my long journey home on the train, the stranger's statement got me pondering that perhaps I really could read and write, albeit at a beginners level (possibly even mediocre), in tagalog. I mean, I always assumed I couldn't but that was because I haven't actually tried! If tagalog karaoke constitutes as "reading" well I'm certainly off to a good start! So....just to prove a point..I will write about "the commute to work this morning" in non other than tagalog....
* * * * *
Kanina umaga madimi talaga mainet na ulo na tao. Mayron matanda na babae na umupo sa katabi ko. Grabe ang lakas talaga nang perfume nya na Chanel No.5 alam ko kasi dati ako nag trabaho sa perfume shop. Tapos nag basa sha, den bigla na lang nya sinara yung book nya, tinangal nang glasses nya tapos tuminging sa babae sa katabi nya sa isang side na naka headphones, tapos sinabi nya na ibaba daw yung volume kasi malakas.... hinde nakineg yung babae. Tapos yung matanda nagalet tapos nag nudge sha sa babe naka headphones. Nagalet yung babae naka headphones tapos sinabi na wag daw sha mag elbow sa kanya. Sinabi naman nang matanda na dapat daw turn down yung volume nya kasi maingay. Sabi naman nang headphone lady na dapat hindi daw sha mag take nang public transport. Sabi naman ni matanda na rude daw sha tapos sabi naman nang headphones lady na sha daw yung rude kase sha yung nag elbow. Tapos nag sigawan lang sila. Tawa nalang kami nang lalake sa harap ko. LOL. Tapos yung nag die down na yung drama nang katabi ko....sa kabila naman. Yung nag stop yung train sa isang station tumayo yung indian sa other katabi ko. Tapos nag turn around sha kasi male pala yung stop...tapos may isang tao na nag push sha kanya kasi nasa way sha, kawawa naman yung indian bumalik sa seat nya tapos natulog or kunyari lang. Hehe. Mamaya mayron naman isang babae nag try magusap sa katabi nya na lalake. Tiningan lang sha tapos ignore sha. LOL. Yup, talagang try hard ako para hindi tumawa malakas. SIguro highlight yung isang mataba na mataba na babae nag board sa train. Mukang galet talaga. Nag stomp sha nag feet nya papunta sa seats parang nagdabog. THen sabi nya "Excuse me!" malakis tapos nag flip yung seat para mag face sa kabila talagang smash nya. Nag bang sha tapos nag upo na malakas then parang may usok lumalabas sa ears nya.....Oh the joys of public transport! I guess that's what makes the journey to and fro work just a tad bit interesting and bearable. It certainly takes the boredom out of the 40minute journey! On a serious note though, commuters really need to chill out and relax! As Rodney King famously once said "Can we all get along?!" I mean sure, we can blame City (dubbed Shitty by the majority) Rail for the poor service...always late, non-airconditioned, packed to capacity trains....but at the end of the day we all just have to suck it up and deal with it!
Anyways, to get back to the main topic of this blog. Well, it's quite apparent really. I can actually write in tagalog... :)
No comments:
Post a Comment