SM Bicutan Taxi Bay Still Sucks

Just when I thought SM Bicutan's Taxi Bay just got better, I had a now-becoming-familiar-taxi-experience late this afternoon on my way home from the said mall.

First of all, the driver of the first taxi in line was talking quite happily with the guard on the other side of the bay, when the Paalala in big bold letters clearly states that taxi drivers should be inside their cabs at all times.

So okay it was scorching hot, it's understandable that the driver would wanna get out of the car while waiting for a passenger with the engine off.

Immediately upon getting in and telling the driver my destination, I started rummaging inside my bag for my loots of the day. A few meters off, the driver asked me how much I usually pay to my destination. I got alarmed and immediately looked at the taxi meter. It was off.

"Hala, wala kang metro," I said, even smiling, but secretly fishing out the digicam from my bag.

"Wala nga sir, e, kasi pabalik-balik lang ako dito," the driver replied.

I told him I usually pay Php60. The meter would always be somewhere between 45-50, and I think I'm already generous enough to give an additional 10. So this driver, taxi meter or no, would only get 60 from me. I snapped a pic of the license number.

"100 sir, wala kasing pasahero pabalik."

100? I thought. Wala na ngang metro 100 pa? It irritated me so much also because (1) he had no right to wait for passengers in that bay in the first place because his taxi had no meter; and (2) he's over-charging.

He went down to 70 but I insisted on 60. The conversation was getting so heated and long already, my voice was already showing signs of anger, that I asked him a final, "Ayaw mo?"

He said ayaw so I stormed out of his cab. Sayang nga lang I forgot how irritated he'd be if I left the door open, but I banged it hard before walking back to the taxi bay.

Good thing about it was that I had my PLDT Landline Plus with me. And since I already had the Security Office's number from previous reklamos, I was able to talk to the head of security in an instant, through a cellphone, and with no extra charge. Okay it sounds like a paid ad but I’m just really happy I availed of this PLDT SIM card.

The security head arrived (in a motorbike) seconds after I reached the taxi bay on foot, and in no time I was complaining. The head, whose surname I always forget (it sounds like Fabian Ver, Fabinier, Fafabear... I'm sorry), promised me they'd ban that plate number at their bay.

I just hope so because I've already made it a vow to check on taxi plate numbers at that bay everytime I’d go there.

But be that as it may, I really wanna thank the security head. He's always been so accommodating every time I'd call or see him about something. And never did he show signs of anger. Laging mahinahon.

I know SM Bicutan sucks, but it doesn't mean the service couldn't be improved. All we have to do is tell them why they suck and hopefully they'd look into it.

But why do I always go to SM Bicutan? It's the accessibility. If only there's another mall as close from where I live.

I Don't Wanna Go To Cubao

While at the movies watching The Red Shoes, I received a text message from Danilo asking me to buy him a digital multimeter (whatevs) at Cd-r King. And since I'd pass by a Cd-r King branch on my way home, I gladly obliged.

But the Cd-r King sales assistant told me it's out-of-stock. She said it too quickly, it made me suspicious. You know these salesladies can sometimes be so tamad to check. So I told Danilo to check their inventory online.

While waiting for Danilo's message, I passed the time away at Booksale.

The paperbacks (especially the one in the middle) reminded me of high school. Our school library housed paperbacks like these but only the seniors were allowed to borrow them. So we were confined to Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley, and academic books up until third year.

Speaking of Joe, Frank, and Nancy, I didn't know they already had comic books:

Astig. I wanna collect. But I still want to own a complete collection of the hard bound mystery series. They're my first love.

After a while, Danilo texted:

A Cheap Way to Get Connected

I didn't realize Globe Tattoo is so matipid to use. I was waiting in line at the doctor this afternoon and decided to while away the time by Facebook-ing. I have used my Tattoo before but only once and for 4 minutes only. Besides, I didn't check how much that 4 minutes cost me. I mainly use the Globe dongle to text because texting on a computer is way easier than on a cellphone.

That's my cheap but powerful Lenovo S10-2, the main computer I use for blogging.


Anyway, so I checked my balance before I connected to the service and it said Php 220.

The connection was kinda fast I was actually able to tweet and check/update my 2 Facebook accounts all in 11 minutes.


And after 11 minutes of surfing, I checked my balance again and it said Php 215.

5 pesos was all I needed to get connected! Nice, no?

I Want More Battery Life

Saw Eric, my favorite Asianic salesman, at SM Bicutan’s Bldg A side entrance this afternoon. He’s in-charge of the Asus Eee PC booth.

I was impressed with the laptops' specs, especially with the battery life. All models can last up to 11 hours! But I’m not buying. Kasi 11 hours daw pag standby lang. LoL!

Anyway, I was actually looking for an extra battery for my Lenovo but Eric said it’s only available at the Lenovo store in SM Cubao. I don’t know where the heck is SM Cubao. But I think I’m going there before I go to Nasugbu on the 20th.

Alice in Wonderland

Just arrived from watching Alice in Wonderland at SM Bicutan. I wish I saw it somewhere else. One of the speakers keeps turning on and off and all of the speakers seem "sabog."

Buti na lang it was a great movie. I loved how the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) moved, este, flowed. And I have this feeling I'd be immitating her tonight when I'm alone. LoL! But yea, Johnny Depp was superb as the Mad Hatter. He's really one of a kind.

If there's one thing that the movie pointed out to me, it's how others would take so much effort to please and make you feel comfortable even to the point of humiliating themselves when you're in high power. The Red Queen's (with a bigger than normal head) entourage consisted of men and women with defects - one has the longest nose, the other big ears, big boobs, big tummy... And they did that just so the Red Queen would be fond of them.

But I hate it when they took away my digicam to the security office. As if naman I couldn't take pictures with my phone. Had they known that I had a netbook with me, would they also take it?

SM Bicutan Taxi Bay Just Got Better

Anyway, I’d like to commend SM Bicutan’s taxi bay for a job well done.

I was fourth in line this afternoon when the old lady ahead of me was silently cursing the guard. Yun pala the couple in front of the line was going to MOA and the taxis in line wouldn’t wanna go there. And what’s a guard should do? Paalisin ang mga taxi na tumatanggi!

It’s the first time I witnessed an SM Bicutan guard do that. Dati, they would let the next in line in, which was so unfair especially when you’re in front na.

So my constant calls to the Security Department, and my constant posts about how poor SM Bicutan’s taxi bay is, were finally heard!

I hope it  continues for the sake of the taxi-riding shoppers.

Cheap Wireless Mouse

Bought a wireless mouse for the net book. Sometimes it’s fun to use the scroll pad, but when you’re in a hurry and especially when editing pics, I really need to use a mouse.

I don’t need to say where it’s from cuz it’s already written on the mouse. It costs Php480 and it functions as a mouse naman kahit cheap compared to other leading brands. The default speed is way too fast than the regular A4Tech that I’m fond of using, but you can always adjust that to whatever speed satisfies you.

Now I have a problem with taking pictures of my loot and posting them here. Someone thinks I’m being mayabang. Hello Bam hehe. But no I’m not mayabang. First off, my purchases aren’t that expensive to be called mayabang. Look at all the other blogs out there and compare. Second, I post pics of stuff for reference. Like when and where I bought something and the likes, and of course, to share na rin what I think of them – if they’re good or not so good.

So there. And really I’m not mayabang. As if naman lotsa people are reading this blog. I get an average of 20 hits a day and I’m sure more than half of my daily visitors belong to my immediate family.