Commuting again after 2 years

I don't know about you guys but with the government declaring full work capacity here in my country... It's affected us in the lab a lot. Well, not just us, almost everyone because those who are already happy and well adjusted with a work from home set up are now forced to commute either for the entire week or for a few days of the week. It's kind of stupid, if you ask me. Their excuse is that it will help the economy recover. And I don't think they're thinking right. You barely get taxes from jeepneys and buses, toll gates are usually private entities and the train system here isn't fully owned by the government. Sure, there's the gas being consumed but then, what else? You're just bringing back old problems that were given solutions to already. I don't know what's up with these people, I swear.

And I have no idea why the company shuttle services was needed to be removed. We already asked the company higher ups about this, and the reply we got back was that it was part of the full Deployment mandate.

It was extremely unfair though since a large number of us never learned to commute to work. Especially us newbies who got used to the shuttle service.

On April 4, my commute adventure started. I actually overheard one of the bus drivers talk over the phone that they need more buses because of the increase in commuters

Since April 4, and until yesterday, this was the scene I had to face every morning. That really long line basically makes my 45 minute trip turn into 1 hour and 15 minutes.

And sometimes they don't accept cash payments for the fares so I was forced to buy this yellow bus card and it's kept with my blue train card. And now I'm just wishing they make something like a centralised transportation card because having way too many cards in my wallet is confusing at times, especially since I just keep all my cards in one booklet.

So after the bus, I can just walk to work or I ride a jeepney if I'm in a rush. But at least the walk to work includes a park that I can admire for a few minutes before I speed walk to the lab 😅

The park is also where I wait for the bus home

And it's kind of prettier at night since the lights are on and there's less people at 6 or 7 pm.

I'm still wishing they bring back the shuttle system because since they removed it, I've been getting out of the lab at like 6pm or 7pm and although it counts as overtime, it feels like my work-life balance just disappeared. And for a worker of my generation, that's an important part of why we accept a job offer. Because we want that work-life balance.

I was thinking that maybe next month, I'll start taking driving classes and by the following months, I'll save up for a motorcycle. I swear, this week has left me so tired that I think my energy for next week got used up too. Especially when we I tried out the trains near my office. That one was hell!

I know it doesn't compare to how crowded trains in other countries can get but I'm just not someone who knows how to squeeze myself into these kinds of crowds. It was cheap, sure but you seriously don't get any comfort and someone might Rob you or you might encounter a pick pocket on one of your trips so it's definitely not a good idea.

As of now, I worked out an agreement with my coworker 😂 since Monday, I've been begging him to let me ride home with him on his motorcycle. On Friday, I finally convinced him but we split gas expenses. I have no complaints because he offered to drive me to work too 🤣🤣🤣 plus if I'm gonna spend like $2-$3 a day on commuting, I might as well split the gas fees since I'll have the comfort of traveling plus I won't have to wait 2 hours just to get home 😭😭😭

Like last night, when he drove me home, the entire trip was just 45 minutes!!!

Anyways, I talked about this with him and his wife and she agreed that this is gonna be our set up until I learn how to drive and until I buy my own motorcycle. So hopefully by June or July, I can travel on my own UwU