A Series of Unfortunate Car Accidents

Do I have a sign that says, "Bump me"?

Really.

Only a year since I got my license and I've already been in four major car-related accidents. Emphasize on the 'major' since I will exclude the occasional jeepney-closing-in-on-me-that-my-side-mirror-gets-folded incidents, yea.

First one was probably just a week or two after I got my license. I accompanied my aunt and uncle to the hospital for a check-up. I left the car (Crosswind) in the parking lot.
There was this Vios that refused to start. The owner called a towing company to tow her car. Unfortunately, the hook that was attached to the car broke, and guess what was behind it? Yes, my poor car. I was paged from the hospital and I rushed to the parking lot because I thought my car was blocking the way. Imagine how shocked I was when I saw the BIG dent on the right passenger doors. 

I was shocked and I didn't know what to do. I called my mum, because it is her car, but she was unreachable. I called my dad instead and he gave me instructions.  Fortunately, my aunt and uncle were there to accompany me. We prepared the necessary documents and went to the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM) office. In the end, the towing company shouldered the expenses to have my car fixed.

I can't remember when the second one happened. It was most probably between January to March of this year. This time, it was my boyfriend's car. We  had just halted to a stop light at an intersection near school. We were talking, when suddenly this Starex rammed into the back of the car! 

We got out of the car and saw what a wreck his car had become. The sad part was that we also rammed into another car, an SUV (I can't remember if it was a Montero or a Fortuner). My boyfriend called his dad. I didn't want to leave him but he told me to go since I had class then. With my jaw and my knee aching, I went to class. Later on, he told me that the Starex had lost its brakes.

Third one was May 2013. I went to Lapu-Lapu because I was tasked to bring my sister and her friends to a beach resort during their outing. Before going to the resort, one of the stops was PTT Gas Station across Gaisano Grand Mall Mactan because they bought food somewhere near there. I was, once again, harmlessly parking at the back part of the gas station, near its convenience store, when this Vios, again, recklessly backed up to the car. It was like the driver wasn't even looking!

Having the right passenger doors damaged AGAIN, I was devastated. I called my mum and I received a scolding. She told me to get the Vios driver's information and to go home right away after I drop off my sister since I was getting into a lot of accidents already. The driver turned out to be a foreigner. He agreed to meet me the following day to pay for damages after I get an estimate of how much it would cost to fix it.

The fourth one, and hopefully my last, happened just last Friday. This time, it was closer to home. First pane below will show you where I and the jeepney were. We were running at approximately the same speed, when the white 62C jeepney suddenly turned left because of another jeepney that was stopping in front of it.

The front right side of my car was damaged, specifically misaligned signal light and slightly cracked bumper. The more unfortunate part of it was that the jeepney did not stop to talk about the accident. It just drove on. I went home and talked to my dad. He was so mad because of the hit-and-run incident. He called his policeman friend and reported the incident. I talked to him, gave him the jeepney's plate number, and he said that they would put an alert for that jeepney.

~

Now, friends, I am not proud of the accidents I've been involved in. It has gotten me thinking about my driving, but recalling everything (except case 2), I can't say it was my fault.  I feel sorry for my mum and her car, and sometimes I think about not driving anymore. However, if I stop driving, all the driving lessons will be put to waste. I guess I just am unlucky.

So, my driver friends, please be careful. Follow traffic rules diligently, and put your seatbelt on. Also, just give way to public utility vehicles because the drivers will just scratch their heads or run if they do bump you.

Keep safe, everyone!

Review: Wraps

Enticed yet?

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Grilled Chicken Wrap brought to us by a student enterprise from the University of San Carlos called Wraps.

I was intrigued by their neat stall so I decided to check it out.

It turned out to be one of the best decisions I made, because these wraps are heaven!

Made up of sumptuous grilled chicken, a variety of vegetables, plus (will you believe this?) mangoes (!!) all wrapped in a soft yet crunchy tortilla wrap, these babies will surely make you come back for more.

I actually forgot the price of one grilled chicken wrap since I always order their combo, which is one order of the wrap plus a large iced tea. All that yummy AND healthy goodness only for P75. :D

Besides their iced tea, they also have Four Seasons as well as Mountain Dew and Mug Root beer.

Keep up the good work, people from Wraps!
Perhaps a bigger version of your original grilled chicken wrap or more varieties in the near future? Methinks. ;D

So what are you waiting for? Visit them at the University of San Carlos - Downtown Campus, under Kolk's Nook. They are open from Monday to Friday, 9am - 6pm.

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Fun (weird?) fact:
I collect the Wraps sticker that comes with the chicken wrap whenever I order one, just because. Not much of a fangirl, no not really. :)))


P.S. I am in no way affiliated with this enterprise. I'm just an avid fan, really. :)

Almost Hold-up

Realized I'm still camera-shy so I'm going to write about it instead.

From Escario, I took a 14D to Ayala. It stopped at the jeepney terminal so I decided to ride a 62B/C instead of walking to where the 13C were. And besides, it was drizzling. So I lined up while waiting for a jeepney.

A while later, the jeepney arrived and we started filing in. There were two guys, one across (A) and one who was supposed to sit beside me (B). Luckily, I guess, the man who was already seated to my left (M) moved closer so B wasn't able to sit beside me. Instead, he was seated a person away to my left. Even before the jeepney left the terminal, B was acting all drowsy, leaning on his arm closing in on Mister M. Mister M immediately noticed something was creepy with the guy so when the jeepney started to go, he moved forward from his seat. This exposed me to B. I noticed A because he was trying to keep eye contact with B without being too noticeable. I wanted to go down from the jeep (BIR), but I was scared that maybe they'd go down as well and go after me instead. So I decided to go down somewhere with more light and more people. I picked Shell in Banilad. However, when the jeepney went up the flyover (before Shell, after BIR), traffic was kind of heavy and I just knew that I wouldn't be able to reach Shell. I hurriedly paid my fare just as A mini-nodded, signaling B to do whatever. Immediately, I stood up and went to the back of the jeep. The other passengers were worried because they thought I was out of my mind. They thought I was going to jump. They repeatedly told me to go back to my seat and to get off only after we were off the flyover. At that time, I didn't care what they or the people from the other vehicles thought. I didn't want to go back inside. I begged them not to let me go back inside and I promised I wasn't going to jump. Took a while to convince them, and I hoped there wasn't any accomplice at the back part of the jeep. So after the flyover, I went down and thankfully, the snatchers didn't follow. The other passengers were left wondering what on earth happened to me, but I do hope they felt something was up and I really wish they are safe. I was so scared, I wanted to be home immediately. I considered getting a cab but none was vacant. I rode a 13C instead and told the passengers there what happened to me. I don't normally chat with strangers but I was damn scared.

I got home safe, thank God.

Ever since I experienced a hold-up in a 13C jeepney seven months ago, I became more cautious. Some people would call me praning most times because I think I get too suspicious about things and people, but it's better to be safe than sorry.


Note:
These guys were ordinary-looking people. One was dressed in a normal t-shirt, one was in a jersey. They were, I think, in their late 20s. They weren't bringing any bag. B was bringing a face towel. They must've done drugs or something, but I swear they looked normal.