Dissecting the Pedicab Drivers of Tagum

They dominate the streets of this city like no other. They treat it as their own kingdom. From sun up until sun down, they are there to save our day. For the commuting public of Tagum City, we cannot imagine how our life would be like without our pedicab drivers. Their green-painted tricycle units add weight to the statement that we are a city bleeding in green. The city mayor even noticed that all of the drivers/operators are really serious in making their units look good. Otherwise, no one will really care to ride because of it is karag-karag, to put it in our dialect. It can be recalled that it was through the directive of the local chief executive mandating that all tricycle units in this bustling city be painted green. I would understand if you feel awkward if you see one painted in red or blue in Tagum. I’ve been riding motorcycle units since elementary years and I have encountered many attitudes (and sometimes mood swings) portrayed by our beloved pedicab drivers. For the sake of entertainment, I am listing below some of the amusing and irritating attitudes of our drivers --- the king of the roads. To put it into the language of the internet craze last year, Dili ka Taga-Tagum kung wala ka ka-experience ani.

Orion's Belt

After a long and exhausting day and whenever I have free time, I would usually solace myself by sitting alone in one corner under a dark sky illuminated by twinkling, little stars. Whenever I get lucky, I would usually spot a falling star which will be gone long before I close my eyes to mumble a wish. Most of us would agree that the joy of childhood prompts us to believe in the beauty of wishes. But our childhood never taught us that the power of making our wishes a reality lies in our own hands, if only we are committed to dramatically turn it into a stunning reality. When I was a little, I remember myself wishing of things like “choco bread,” “brake grames,” or a “bicycle.” Later, these would be like “good grades,” “good health,” “a complete and happy family,” or even “knowledge,” following a hard-day struggle with algebra. Everybody in the class would agree that I have a hate-hate relationship with Mathematics, to the fact that I am cursing it to death. Looking back, it made me realized how simple dreams transformed into big ones. The star-gazing sessions stroked a chord in me to dream and to dream big time.

Just a little while ago after eating my self-prepared dinner, I stayed for about an hour looking up to the astronomical wonders twinkling in a backdrop of a black sky. Just like the old times, it elicited that sense of relaxation—finding yourself waiting for a star to fall then make a snappy wish. I never sighted one earlier but the sixty minutes I spent outside with pesky mosquitoes gave me the idea of the universality of making wishes and the elicit pursuit for happiness. All across the globe—may it be in Korea, in Europe, in the States or even in the forgotten corners of Africa—young and old ones alike would testify to the veracity of this claim.

2/366 ~ Fall of Dusk

2/366 ~ FALL OF DUSK

The second day of 2012 was wonderful. And what a great way to end with a very wonderful sunset at the Rotary Park.

1/366 ~ Epic Fail

1/366 ~ EPIC FAIL

The year 2012 seems so promising and I started it with work! Our job at the City Information Office requires us to be on call 24/7. On New Year’s Eve, while everybody is excited for the grand fireworks display set up by the City Government of Tagum, I had brought along with me a Sony FX HD Camera (for video recording) and a Canon DSLR (for still images). Unfortunately, the photos I took during the 30-minute fireworks display failed me. An epic fail failure for the new year. Good thing there's this video I edited: