October 2, 2006 started just like any ordinary office day for me. Sunny sky… slightly traffic morning, doing the usual work and petiks. Morning at the office was filled with Milenyo stories and how some of my officemates still have no electricity and water.
October 2, 2006 ended with a twist. The rain in Makati was not that strong (honestly I wouldn’t have noticed it since I was busy and did not even bother looking at the window). 8:00 PM, time to go home. I always catch a ride at the Antipolo-Ayala FX terminal in front of LKG tower. On the way there, I already noticed the long queue on the Ayala-ValleyGolf terminal. I was about to reach the Antipolo-Ayala terminal, when I bumped into some Antipolonians (tama ba?) who told me that no more Antipolo bound vehicles will arrive due to the heavy flood in the Cainta area. With my previous adventure, I already know what that means – DO NOT GO INTO THAT AREA! Since my alternate route ValleyGolf still has that long queue, my officemates and me decided to eat at Jollibee first and waste some time.
True enough, after eating, the long line at the ValleyGolf terminal is gone and I was able catch a ride. The driver was listening to AM radio – on the news is a blow by blow update of the Cainta Flashflood and Antipolo Landslide. The news also told motorists to stay away from that area or suffer the wrath of… heavy non-moving traffic. I thought that our FX driver has the smarts and went through all these shortcuts avoiding traffic, thanks to the radio updates. But NOOOOOO… wasn’t he listening to the radio (tagalog naman yung balita, madaling maintindihan)? He went to the Ortigas extension in the last minute and got caught in superdupercalitraffic. STOOPID!!! He should’ve taken the Floodway route to avoid the flood and all.
After almost an hour inside the FX, I decided to call it quits, and I walked from EVER Ortigas to Brookside. I could’ve walked all the way to Antipolo – except for one problem… from Brookside going to Valleygolf is a waist deep ocean, impassable if you have an ordinary car, FX, or jeep. The buses (which saved me from the last time) are jam-packed, and there are more cars who just decided to camp near the flood and wait for it to subside. I grabbed myself 2 bottles of C2 at the nearest 7-11 – ready for another epic battle. I would’ve walked that flood, except that I’m wearing my funky white adidas shoes. My only hope lies on hitching a ride at the back of trucks. What truck should I choose? The SanMiguel Beer Truck? Cement truck? Hmmm… an Elf Truck without any gravel and a few hitchers at the back. 
My instincts tell me to go for the Elf Truck. The back of the truck is about 5 feet high, and I have no problems climbing over it (thank my athlete foot). Other people saw what I did, and decided to hop on the truck. Next thing I know, I was helping women, men, and children of all ages and sizes aboard the truck. Heck, I even saw one of my “morning motivations” who was stranded, but I still feel helpless because I’m already on top of the truck and it was full of people (+ I don’t know her name). Anong gagawin ko? Sisigaw ako ng ANTIPOLO GIIRLLL!!! Or MISS IMPERIAL FXXXX!!! The Elf truck (which now feels like Amistad) easily breezed through the waist deep flood. The experience of hitching a ride at the back of the truck is priceless. Once a vehicle goes past the flood – it’s a smooth ride from thereon. I was lucky that the truck was Antipolo bound. 
I love the rush of wind and soft drizzle running in my face – at the back of the truck, everything was so simple. There was power outage at some parts of my route and everything is quiet. I am shoulder to shoulder with people I don’t know, and I believe we have something in common – the feeling of coming home safe despite the odds. When the truck reached Antipolo, there are a few people onboard. I was able to get down from the truck easily… and found myself helping women of all ages and sizes get down. It was weird, I’m not that buff or tall, or strong – but at that moment, I can carry a 200+ pound woman with ease. Adrenaline? Or just that feeling again – that nothing is impossible.I got home 2:00 AM.
Kissed my wife and kid.
My adidas still white.
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