Going Home
I had a surprisingly easy commute home from Sibuyan Island.
I’ve been somewhat inactive this month partly because of work, and partly because I’m working on a longform essay that I’m excited to share with you soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this short piece about my surprisingly easy commute home recently. Many, many thanks to the people at the Ingle Trust for the invitation to Sibuyan Island.
Yesterday I arrived home from a writing assignment with friends to Sibuyan Island. It was a long journey. The return trip Metro Manila involved an overnight 12-hour ferry ride across the Sibuyan Sea to Batangas, then a 2-hour bus trip from the Batangas International Port to the Paranaque Integrated Transport Exchange (PITX), followed by a short hop onto the LRT-1 train line, then a transfer to the MRT.
I suppose what I’m trying to say is that it took until the GMA-Kamuning station before I finally thought, “Wait a minute,” as the train approached an infamous skyscraper-tall footbridge called Mt. Kamuning. “Hold on. That was easy.”
I’m not trying to imply that I’m some kind of world-wise commuting expert, more that yesterday felt like an exception to a far more often stressful rule. For most of the way home, my brain could maintain itself on a comfortable half-conscious autopilot.
The sole exception to this karmic state would be when the sea began hammering our boat around midnight. The crashing waves sent thundering bass shocks through the cabin. I slid frightfully on my bed as the boat rolled heavily in the dark. In my mind the sea outside took on the proportions of huge Antarctic rollers.
But then Batangas appeared on the horizon beneath a low gray dawn and scudding cloud. We disembarked, walked through the drizzle, put our bags on the bus, and I played Multo on my earphones. I dozed off and when I woke up we were on the skyway. I dozed off again and then we were near Mall of Asia. By around 10:30 A.M., there was PITX.
(To my embarrassment, I must admit that today was also my first time stepping foot inside PITX. I guess I’ve never had a reason go south beyond UP Los Baños before, in which case you can take the early morning shuttle from Diliman, or barring that buy a ticket in Cubao.)
The shiny building rose up sandwiched between office buildings and condominiums. And as our bus went up the arrival ramp, I noticed another new thing peeking out from beyond the concrete ceiling: a new LRT-1 station. I must have forgotten the news announcement. (A November 16, 2024 press release from the rail corporation reads: “LRT-1 Cavite Extension Phase 1 ready to serve passengers.”)
I had been planning to book a Grab home. Instead, after a quick lunch and saying goodbye to my companions, who had to wait an ungodly amount of time for an evening flight back to Davao, there I was, pushing my suitcase and bag and jacket through the station turnstiles on a whim. By 1:00 p.m. I was messaging my sister telling her to open the gate and let me in.
A combination of things made my commute exceptionally bearable. First, it being noon on a Saturday, there wasn’t a lot of people. Second, the weather was nice and cool. The same stormy skies that made the ferry such a nightmare also ensured I could make the transfer between the LRT-1 and the MRT blissfully sweat-free.
Third and perhaps most important, my luggage was light enough that I could comfortably carry it up and down stairs. In other words, I didn’t need to use a ramp, there being far too few of them around, let alone elevators.
My point is this: the chance to commute home in ease and comfort, in a city like Metro Manila? It must have been my lucky day.