Hello September!

September has always been a beautiful month.  Although it's the end of summer in Canada and the U.S., it signals the start of Fall, the season of changing hues, of falling leaves, of cooler days and nights, of falling back into routine, of cheaper air fare, of football and hockey, of a new TV season, of seeing friends back in school, of reminiscing about summer vacation and of friends/love found during that brief time.

I'm flying back to Toronto in September for a visit. My flight stops over at HK, and I hope they'd be friendlier over there by the time I fly.

Last year, I was here in Manila from September to October, to see my late mother and to attend to very important matters.

Travel is cheaper from September.  People usually visit Europe or take a cruise of the Mediterranean in September or early October. 

Land travel is cheaper, too, either by bus or train.  If you're driving, take note of road construction and detours because road repairs done during summer may have extended into fall.

If you're using a GPS, download the latest updates from the internet.

I brought my GPS to Manila but I'm not sure whether it works here, since Manila may not have satellites in place and because of the confusing street configurations here. I maybe wrong.

For instance, in our hometown in Nueva Ecija, the streets have no names.  Our ancestral home is located in a Barrio called "Pulong Matong."  The old church was simply referred to as the "simbahan, or Plasa." The approach to my grandparents' house is called "Luwasan."  How would a GPS locate these streets?

Few days ago, I fetched a carpenter from Avenida Rizal.  My cousin gave directions from Santa Mesa. She said, "at the Rotonda, make a right on Lacson Avenue."  I said, "that's Legarda."  

"No," she said, "there's another first right. Don't go straight because that will take you to Malacanang."

So, I drove last Saturday. The old Sta. Mesa Rotonda was unrecognizable. There was a flyover, and there was street below with a sign to "Espana."  I went up the flyover which says Mendiola, and turned right. Oops, I ended up in Legarda.

Luckily there was a break where I was able to make a U-turn. I had to take the street below the flyover to make a left turn. I asked a "tambay," if I could make a left.  "Yes, you can, just follow me."  Like a cop, he went near the middle of the street and before the green light, he directed me to make a left on Lacson. But there was really no left turn in that intersection.  Whew.

The carpenter knew the side streets of Manila. He directed me to less traversed roads where there's no traffic. But going home in the afternoon, he confessed he didn't remember the streets in the subdivision. The household help had to accompany him to the marketplace where he took his ride home.

If the GPS were functioning, it would have been a breeze going from point to point, province to province. 

I remember years ago when we all drove to Nueva Ecija for the town fiesta. It was mid-afternoon just after a hearty lunch and we were playing black jack when an avid suitor of a sister came huffing after a long drive from Manila. We couldn't help but admired his guts for driving alone and for having found our house. He showed us a map - that's how he found my grandparents' house. We were thinking, map?Did Pinoys ever use a map?  Or maybe he just trailed a Baliwag Transit into our barrio.