“The slow and steady wins the race”. We’re sure you have heard of this proverb from the popular story of “The Hare and the Tortoise”. Sadly, when it comes to collecting frequent travel miles, this does not apply. What if you are planning to take a long trip and need to accumulate enough points to get a free flight? What if you are planning to travel free “now” but do not have enough points to cover the cost?
Wait! Even though you don’t have enough points, you can still travel for free by doing something quite simple. Following are three ways that will allow you to collect points fast over time or in just 15 minutes:
These two questions are crucial in buying additional frequent flyers points. To earn more points and a bonus, you need to be loyal to a program. Yes, in some cases, you can get your points transferred, but there are some airlines that are not partnered. So, in order to accumulate more points in one account, choose the same airline and stay in the same hotel, as recommended by the travelling agent. This will allow you to earn more points in a short time.
2. Sign Up for Bonus Miles Credit Card
You don’t need to fly to earn travel points. You can earn them by making ordinary purchases too. A credit card company that has paired with an airline allows you to earn points even when you are not travelling. However, when making purchases, do not go overboard so much that by the end of the month, you are unable to pay the bill. If this happens, then your points will be lost.
3. Buying Additional Frequent Flyers Points
Say the next flight you are taking costs 47,000 points. However, you have only 43,000 points in your card. If you are thinking of paying for your flight with cash, then wait a minute because there’s another way. You can buy points to get a total of 47,000 points to travel free. The extra 4,000 points will not cost you much and will still be less as compared to paying for the flight with cash. When buying additional frequent flyer points, you need to remember that it’s always better to cover a small margin of points rather than buying a huge number. The goal here is to spend no money at all.
While signing up for multiple loyalty programs is a great way to earn more points, the same cannot be said for bonus points in credit cards. Do not buy more than two credit cards or you will find difficulty in managing the accounts and making the payments on time.
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To say that Japan was #JaFun is a gross understatement, plus it’s cliché. Been to very few countries really such as Philippines, Singapore (2x), Malaysia (KL and Legoland), Hong Kong then Japan. Japan is by far our favorite country, my charitable Ilocana and I.
I know you might say, of course, with the short roster of countries I’ve been, Japan is definitely the richest and most developed. I know, I know, but still, for us, Japan is very far in terms of beauty, development, culture and atmosphere possibly even versus countries I’ve never been. I’m imagining and expecting I will like it more than Europe or US (perhaps). Or maybe I’m just still on a high.
Japan is beautiful, efficient, elegant, clean, cool, hi-tech, very advanced, thoughtful, intelligent, culturally-rich, organized. The Japanese are very polite, respectful, helpful, law-abiding, beautiful. We only saw a few Filipinos in Japan maybe that’s why there were very few pasaway, if any. Sad to say, Pinoys are among the pasaways in some countries, jaywalking, littering, noisy, blocking the way in escalators etc. (together with some other Asian countries).
Random restaurant.
We were mesmerized by the beautiful and clean surroundings, the efficient mass transport, the timely shinkansen and other trains (if there are few delays, they are still accurate on how long the delay will be). The snow, the mix of both urban and rural, beautiful buildings, timeless temples, people obeying traffic signs, people lining up in train stations, remote controlled lights, orderly road constructions, warm toilet seats, various bidet options, microwaves with no rotating plates, the one press washing machine that adds its own water, the rosy cheeks of kawaii (cute) kids, the various winter apparel, the lack of traffic jams, cute school girls wearing skirts in the freezing weather (not as short as Sailor Moon’s though), the many vending machines, and of course the yummy food. Ramen, sushi, rice, katsu, bento boxes, seafood, KOBE BEEF! OMG KOBE BEEF. Melts in your mouth. Not overrated. Plus the relatively weird ones too (from a Pinoy perspective) like octopus, eels, scallops, and JPY1,000 slice of melon.
Baby octopus with a surprise. It’s yummy!
Anyway…
Let me share some travel tips and pics for those who also want to see the Land of the Rising Sun! Note that I will also be providing a summary of our itinerary but since this is Japan, there are countless destinations to choose from and countless resources from Google.
Takoyaki. Octopus balls. No apostrophe after octopus.
ESSENTIAL 1: JAPAN RAIL PASS
We really wanted to try the bullet trains (shinkansen) in Japan, and since our flights are to and from Osaka (Kansai airport via Cebu Pacific), we built our itinerary around using the trains and the shinkansen. We also wanted to make a brief stop in Tokyo, and possibly Kyoto, Nara and Kobe.
Enter Japan Rail (JR) Pass, and we got the 7-day pass since most travel sites suggest this for those who will go to Tokyo from Osaka and vice versa. It is only meant for tourists traveling to Japan, and Juan can only buy it outside of Japan (that’s why we’re having second thoughts migrating to Japan since there is no JR Pass for locals). As if. The catch is you can only use it for JR Lines and not for private train lines or bus etc. Still, we decided to avail, knowing that the JR lines are extensive enough for our needs.
One of the many shinkansen.
We got ours through Flytpack (they have an office in BGC) for PHP12,567 per person. Yes, it’s quite expensive, but as you’ll see later on, we were able to maximize it and save a lot of money in the process, and besides this is Japan so almost everything is expensive relative to the Philippines. JTB Philippines is another option for you, and there are other accredited agencies who sell locally but we find Flytpack cheaper. Buy the voucher here locally (you need actual voucher, not something you print on your own online), and exchange it in select JR stations all over Japan.
Todaiji. The house of the Daibutsu.This picture does’t give justice to how big the Buddha really is.
Based on my computation, our total fare expense (excluding airfare) amounted to JPY57,260 per person! Of which, JPY55,640 was covered by our JR Pass (equivalent to PHP24,482). So we saved PHP11,915 per person (detailed in PDF file below).Sulit! Plus, you no longer have to line up and buy tickets every time. Juan can also avail of other day passes in various train loops (Tokyo Day Pass or in Osaka), or their ICOCA card, but for me, the JR Pass is something worth considering (especially if you have long distance travels like Tokyo to Osaka and v.v.
ESSENTIAL 2: MOBILE INTERNET
Juan will get lost somehow somewhere in Japan. The Japanese are very helpful and polite, but they love their own language that much that they prefer to use it more than English. Sure they can understand English, and the train signage / directions are translated in English from time to time, but most of time, Juan will have to deal with text written in Japanese. Your key when you get lost is mobile internet. Google maps, Google search, Hyperdia.com for train schedules and fares, etc, and of course, for your real time Facebook and Instagram posts and videos. There are many pocket WiFi for rent when you get to the airport, some AirBnB hosts also offer pocket WiFi, but since we bought our JR pass in Flytpack, we availed of their pocket Wi-Fi / powerbank as well. It’s PHP280 per day but we got 2 days free since we availed of the JR Pass from them so we only paid for 5 extra days. Connection is fast and very reliable, even in subways underground or in mountains filled with snow. No regrets.
Another benefit of mobile internet in hindsight, aside from navigation, is entertainment so that you don’t get bored or inip especially if you’re lining up in theme parks for entrance tickets or for rides.
Snow!!! Gala Yuzawa Snow Ski Resort. They have discounts for JP Rail Pass holders.
ESSENTIAL 3: TIMEZONE, LANGUAGE, PRICING AND WEATHER
Japan is ahead of the Philippine time by 1 hour, so people are already rushing (through trains or biking) by 6am in Japan while in the Philippines, it’s only 5am (but yeah we’re rushing too because of our lousy transport system, sorry for the negativity). There’s very few people on the streets (especially in Okubo, Tokyo and Shin-Osaka by 7pm whereas people are still out, commuting in the Philippines at the equivalent 6pm).
Learning a bit of Nihongo will help but not a must. Japan is so thoughtful and efficient that you can understand where you are, where you are going, and what they mean even if you don’t speak their language. But it will be an advantage and less stressful on your part. I had a chance for a 3-unit course in Nihongo while still in the best blue college so arigatou gozaimasu, ohayou gozaimasu, sumimasen, wakarimasen, shinkansen, konbanwa, konichiwa, moshi moshi, gohan, asagohan, itadikimasu, irasshaimase and ganbatte kudasai are all a bit familiar.
Oh so pretty Tokyo Tower. Yes, the Eiffel Tower is its inspiration.
Items in Japan are generally more expensive than in the Philippines. The sooner you get that straight the better. But in terms of food, the serving is much bigger. A typical meal in Japan will cost you JPY700 to JPY1000 but you get a bigger serving than possibly a PHP440 meal here in PH. The price is higher because the quality and serving is better. Besides, aside from tourist attractions, Juan goes to Japan for their food, so might as well enjoy their local food while you’re there right? #Takoyaki, #Okonimiyaki #KobeBeef #FTW
Kobe beef. Try it and you’ll forget your name.Katsu with unli sides.Okonimiyaki. The Japanese pizza according to Wikipedia.
Went there during winter so we wore layers and layers of clothers. Temperatures dropped to 1 degrees in Osaka and Tokyo, especially at night. Better if you can wear jackets with hoods, and you might want to wear facemasks too to prevent windburn.
ESSENTIAL 4: WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER and TOKYO DISNEY SEA
Chances are you want to go to WWHP too right? You decide whether you want the Universal Studios Japan (USJ) Express Pass or if you are willing to wait. One can enter WWHP if you have a USJ day pass (JPY7,600) but during peak times, one will need a timed entry ticket for WWHP since it is only small but there are many people even during rainy winter days (such as when we were there). The trick is once you enter USJ, go straight to WWHP either to get a timed entry ticket or to enjoy the area outright. We got there around 10am on a rainy winter morning and there were no timed entry needed yet but the line to Forbidden Journey was so long already, waiting time was said to be 3 hours (for a 5-minute 4D ride). Try to smuggle some candies or rice balls if you can so you don’t get hungry. Besides food inside the theme parks is expectedly more expensive. WWHP only has 2 rides, the Flight of the Hippogriff being the other. Aside from that, the place is for sightseeing already, for wands, butterbeer, the train etc.
WWHP on a gloomy rainy winter day.
If you have extra cash on top of the USJ entrance ticket, and you like rides, and you have very limited time, consider getting an Express Pass for an extra cost. This also entitles you to 2 to 3 rides in the other USJ attractions.
Tokyo Disney Sea (TDS) is the only Disney Sea in the world so do consider going there too. By the way, the rides and dialogues in WHHP, USJ and TDS are all in Japanese so you might feel a bit O-P from time to time.
Tokyo Disney Sea.Itadakimasu!Akihabara at dusk.
ITINERARY
Again, we wanted to see Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe. We went there first week of Feb so it was still winter. The weather was friendly to us though. Yes it was cold but generally bright and sunny. It only rained once. Plus we got to experience our first snow, first in Gala Yuzawa Snow Ski Resort, and second, a milder snowfall while temple hopping in Kyoto. So aside from seeing many places at cheaper fares, we also accomplished our mission to experience snow. Below link will lead you to a summary of what we did for the 7D7N tour, the fares and the trains stations were we boarded / alighted to get to various destinations:
There are many places to see and go in Japan, and you can Google many resources to help you out. Our itinerary was built on the JR train system, plus the places we wanted to see.
We did not want to see all places or temples, just select ones, and we did not want to ride all the rides in the amusement parks either. My charitable Ilocana only wanted to see snow, Harry Potter and Hachiko. Mine was food trip, the Golden Temple (Kinakakuji), Gundam (before it gets removed by March), snow, and Harry Potter, plus experience the culture. It was a DIY trip for us, did not avail of any tours etc.
Our itinerary might not be friendly for those with babies or toddlers as it involved a lot of station exchanges (which means train fare) plus a lot of walking (like 21k steps daily average). At the office, they call it the Amazing Race trip, not the one where you rest and relax and sleep for long hours. But for us it was well worth it, we were able to maximize our time and our limited budget.
Kimono CosplayThe food displays make you hungry, but makes ordering easier. Just turo-turo.Shibuya crossing.Sake offerings at Meiji ShrineKinkakuji (Golden Pavilion). My dream rest house found an inspiration.Went to see Gundam before it gets removed.Pagoda near Kyoto TempleSushi suhiFushimi-Inari Temple
I hope you found my long post about Japan useful. We hope to go back there, maybe in another season (spring perhaps?) but there might be more people. Winter ain’t so bad though. Arigatou gozaimasu!
2016 was challenging but we still managed to grow our finances, savings, passive income and of course our net worth. Hope you were able to do the same. 😀😀😀
For 2017, let us all aim to have more sound investments, better money management, more sources of passive income, and of course profitable businesses.
I pray for God’s abundant blessings, may He shower you with His love and prosperity, with good health and genuine concern for others. This year may we bring more Filipinos many steps towards a richer life.
Thank you for being with us through the years. Together, let’s journey for an even richer life this 2017 and the years beyond.
Have a blessed, prosperous, abundant and overflowing 2017 every Juan! 👊👊👊
Sharing with you a condensed and combined version of Jed Velarde’s and Marvin Fausto’s talk during the COL Financial Smart Investing 2016 Summit. Plus some of my additional inputs.
Why Invest?
Each of us will have a more personal reason behind it. The more usual response will be:
To let money work for you. We only have a limited time to work for money, at some point, our money should also work for us to create more money (interest, dividends, capital appreciation etc). At some point, our money should work harder than us.
Whatever your motivation may be, all we know is that every Juan should invest, and every Juan can invest. Now here is the S.M.A.R.T way to invest:
Stay Invested
This means as much as possible, part of your savings (or assets) remains invested at any given time. From your first pay check up to past your retirement years. Which means you should not invest all of your money. You should not invest part of your money which you think you will need in the short to medium term. Hence, you start first with building your emergency funds and leave a certain amount in a liquid deposit account for your daily needs. Then invest the rest. Staying invested also means investing in the long run, for the long-term. Through the market ups and downs.
Manage Risk
Warren Buffet’s rule #1 is: “Do not lose money.” Don’t be reckless in investing. Since there is opportunity to gain in investing, there is also opportunity to lose. That’s why many people don’t like to invest because of fear of losing money. But if risk is properly managed, the chances of your investments growing outweigh the downside risks. Besides, not investing your money is a sure way to lose money (due to inflation). Here in investmentjuan01, we always ask you to pair each of your investments with O-H-A (Objectives, Horizon, Appetite). Invest according to your goal and objectives. You manage risks by educating yourself of the various investments (like which stocks you purchase), or letting experts do the investing or you (like buying various mutual funds or UITF, which suits your OHA). As others say, Aral muna bago invest. You manage risks by having the proper time horizon.
Asset Allocation
Part of managing risks of your investments is asset allocation. Diversification. Investments are governed with cycles just like in business, there will be good years and not-so-good years. Invest in various vehicles so that you minimize concentration risk, so that you allow good performing investments to compensate for not-so-good performing ones. Click here for various investment options we cover.
John Bogle, founder of Vanguard Group (among the largest fund houses in the world) says that you allocate your age in bonds, the rest in stocks. So if you’re 30 years old, he says 30% of your investable funds should be in bonds (or money markets / fixed income), 70% in stocks. Of course there are no hard and fast rules. Marvin Fausto recommends below asset allocation depending on your age and phase in life. Blue slice is stocks, gray slice is bonds.
Regular Investing
Aside from staying invested, a smart investing technique is to invest regularly, in fixed intervals. Not one time big time, but regularly, in comfortable amounts. This makes Juan disciplined in handling his monthly paycheck and later on he won’t even feel the amount he invests, the amount leaving his salary for a good cause. Through investing regularly, Juan is able to take advantage of cost-averaging, being able to buy in the highs and lows of the market, hopefully to end up with a lower average price than market value (hence a gain).
Seasoned traders and investors might have reservations with regards to this because they themselves are more familiar in timing the markets (position trading), and because they can outperform the returns of cost-averaging. But not everyone can be like them. For newbies (or those who neither have the time to monitor the markets nor the skills and confidence to frequently buy and sell), cost-averaging through regular investing is highly recommended. Personally I do this for my VUL and UITF, then I do position trading in stocks. Online brokers (COL Financial, among others), mutual funds, and banks (UITF) also have programs to cater to regular investing (easy investment plan, monthly investments plan, whatever they are called), some even through salary deduction. They want to make investing easier for every Juan so do take advantage of those.
As mentioned, your investments should be paired with objectives. As such, you must set aside a time each month or at least each year to assess whether your investments are trending according to your targets. Likewise, a re-allocation may also be done to adjust your asset allocation according to your age and changing needs. This is especially true if Juan is nearing retirement, then Juan must slowly bring down his exposure to stocks and shift these to lower risk bonds and money markets. Again, your age in bonds as Bogle says. It is also good to set aside specific times to assess other investment options as you grow your portfolio.
If you care about your future, if you want a richer life for you and your future family, invest. Invest the smart way.
For highlights and notes on the COL Financial SMart Investing 2016 summit, click here.
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The Manila leg of COL Financial’s SMart Investing 2016 was held last Saturday, September 3, at SMX Convention Hall in SM Aura Premier, in BGC. The place was so jampacked, which bodes well for our country, as there are many people who want to learn more about investing. The provincial legs held in Cebu, Davao and Cagayan De Oro were said to be jampacked too.
Yours truly was blessed enough to be given front-row seats, as part of bloggers and media group (naks! big thank you to organizers). Plus, I had the awesome opportunity to have lunch and rub elbows with COL Financial President Dino Bate, pique his mind for a few minutes among fellow invited bloggers. Enough about me. The day and the venue were full, there’s so much insights and learnings that I’d like to share with you, so it will probably take 2 to 3 posts to cover most of them. Here’s the first one: Highlights, Quotable Quotes and Notes.
Highlights
The summit started with welcoming remarks from Sir Dino Bate, COL Financial President and CEO. Then Sir Edward Lee, COL Chairman and Founder talked about the importance of financial literacy, focusing on investing in the stock market and the FTSR model in choosing stocks.
FTSR stands for Fundamentals, Technicals, Sentiment, and Risk Management (the last being the most important). It’s not fully visible in the picture but I think the source of the model is Caylum Trading Institute. Next speaker was Jed Velarde, (COL Wealth Building Specialist) who talked about investing the smart way, with his own acronym on the word INVEST. He covered time value of money, why investing early (even with small amounts) is important, beating inflation, COL easy investment plan (which for sure is also offered by other brokers you prefer). Will expound on this in Part 2 so do watch out for it.
Marvin Fausto, COL Fund Expert and husband of the FQMom, Rose Fres Fausto, followed. Marvin talked about the mutual funds that may be bought using COL Financial platform, the growth story and prospects of the Philippines, the proper asset allocation according to one’s age, etc. He also had his own acronym, this time the “SMART” in smart investing, which again I will expound further in part 2.
He then lead a panel discussion with top fund houses, namely ATRAM, BPI Investment Management, First Metro Asset Management (FAMI), Philam Asset Management, PhilEquity Management Inc, and Sun Life Asset Management. Not to take away anything from the other fund houses, but I was just star struck to see Wilson Sy (PhilEquity) and Gus Cosio (FAMI). Too bad I was not able to get their autographs.
After lunch, COL investment goddess April Lee Tan (Head of Research) took the stage to talk about the fundamental outlook of the country and the stock market. She covered GDP forecasts, BPO contribution, OFW remittance, the favorable demographic window that might last until 2055, the socio-economic agenda of the new administration, etc. She also shared a thematic COL Stock picks based on the industries they foresee to benefit in the Du30 administration.
Afterwards, the major co-sponsor SM Investments Corporation (PSE: SM) also talked about their company prospects in general, their plans, as well as further details from their major companies: BDO, Chinabank, SM Retail and SM Prime. Despite being giants and market leaders in their own fields, they still see so much growth potential in the country, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao areas. They also expect to benefit from PPPs (funding), reclamation (once approved) and REIT (once approved).
Juanis Barredo, COL Financial Chief Technical Analyst presented last with his technical analysis on the PH market, major US indices, as well as select PSE stocks. A fun Q&A session (and raffle draw) capped the fully-loaded summit. Quotable Quotes, Random Notes
Believe in the power of investing. The stock market is the best place to make your money work for you.
Safeguard your capital against inflation. Inflation robs you of your money while you sleep.
Time, not timing, is our ally.
When you start making money in stocks trading, you feel good and confident, you may be tempted to gamble more, it becomes indirect gambling because you want to make more money.
Greed is the easiest thing to sell. (Geri: That’s why people fall for scams with outrageous too-good-to-be-true-returns.)
Volatility is the new normal.
Run your stock portfolio like a business; invest based on your goals.
If you don’t invest, you don’t care about your future.
Discouraged to invest? You’re actually depriving yourself.
Financial freedom is having enough to help other people without worrying for ourselves.
Rosy economic picture for PH, demographic window, OFW remittance, BPOs, increased infrastructure spending. Biggest risk they see is political risk. People are being too optimistic about the future, pricing in so much expectations and lofty valuations. What if the promises are not delivered? Failed expectations? Unpredictable policies? Misinterpreted / impulsive pronouncements?
But this risk, if it so happens, should be an opportunity for the young to participate in the market.
Retail investors are more sticky, more long term, not prone to fund pull-outs (Geri: Probably because they have little capital to begin with and less alternatives), unlike the experience in big funds.
COL has 190K customers and growing; less than 1% of Filipinos invest in the stock market.
70% of PH economy is consumer spending. (Geri: This is what SM is focusing on).
SMIC eyeing growth in provincial areas, SMEs, microfinancing, REIT.
Watch out for more details in the coming days (or weeks if I’m too busy).
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Was blessed enough to spend the past few days overseas, as a tourist, and was even more blessed to spend some time with some OFW groups. Hearing their stories further drove home the point that we have miles to go in terms of educating every Juan on financial literacy, especially our modern day heroes abroad.
But I do hope we’re on the right track.I’ve been to 3 Asian countries only, all of which are hands down more developed compared to the Philippines in terms of economies, transport system, financial system, etc. Life, as it seems, in worldly standards at least, is better and easier in these countries. And yes, being a tourist in these countries is a worthwhile experience. In Filipino, masarap maging turista paminsan-minsan.
But as the OFWs point out, relatives back home tend to see only the beautiful parts, the tourist attractions, theme parks, dazzling lights and shopping. What’s behind it all, the sacrifices, the loneliness, worse the discrimination and abuse, the higher costs of living, albeit very much real, are not highlighted and acknowledged. Being an OFW is not easy. They don’t lay golden eggs, and their time away from home to have a relatively higher income, also comes at a high price.
Not all OFWs suffer in other countries. Some, I hope majority, hit the jackpot in earning fortunes for their relatives here at home through good employment and employers. Especially if Juan is an overseas Filipino professional, engaged in white collar jobs. However, vast majority of our countrymen are actually in blue collar jobs, with less pay, less benefits, more demanding, and sometimes even less foreign friends and support groups that is why they tend to form smaller groups of their own, spending their limited “day-offs” huddled in parks, overpasses, sidewalks, malls, sharing stories of pain and hope. Of tears and laughter. Matiisin ang Pinoy.
I previously asked on Twitter whether Lotto winners are given a seminar on financial literacy so they can wisely invest their winnings. If there is, I hope it works, if there’s none, there should be.
OFWs and their dependents should also have the same. Their hard earned money should also work harder for them. And please, not in scams. With the right financial education, our modern day heroes should not only work hard, but they should also work smart. Dependents back home receiving remittances should make these seed moneys grow, and accelerate the time that loved ones abroad can once again go back home, this time for good.
We heard of moms who have been domestic helpers for years, travelling a number of countries and working for various nationalities. Mrs Internationals. For a tourist, being to many countries might have been pleasurable albeit expensive. For OFWs, I hope being to many countries has been pleasurable to them as well, because it is definitely expensive not just financially but psychologically.
I do hope that in all those years working for money, OFWs and their dependents have saved some money which can in turn work for them. Invest in financial instruments and businesses instead of spending on unnecessary luxuries. It is one thing to reward oneself but another to splurge now and deprive oneself of a better future. I hope that their dependents are equipped with the attitude, discipline and know-how to make these grow.
Lastly, I wanted to ask, whether they also wanted to bring their relatives and children abroad as tourists, so they can see for themselves what’s beautiful and what’s painful in living in a foreign land.
But I did not as most likely, they do, but in the meantime, they won’t, as they’ll find it expensive and counter-productive. I hope in time, they also go to other countries, not as employees, but as tourists, with their families.
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Eh yung eksenang may sumakay na babae sa bus na sinasakyan mo. Halatang mabango at bagong paligo. Samantalang ikaw sampung oras nang giniginaw at nakaupo. Puyat, gutom, masakit ang puwet, dugyot at kagabi pa ang huling sipilyo.
My delivery in Filipino is a lot better but here’s a best effort English rendition:
That moment when a young lady rides the same bus as yours. She looks fresh, wet hair indicates she just bathed awhile ago. While there you are, seated in the freezing bus for 10 hours now.
Barely slept, hungry, butt aching, smelly, and whose only chance to brush his teeth was last night.
My learning on that instant: Even if we happened to be on the same bus, we still have different journeys. Such as in life.
The scene actually happened to me a few nights ago as I once again went up north of Luzon, via a night trip bus ride. Such rides usually last for 6 to 12 hours and you spend your time sleeping (or trying), watching movies, listening to songs, staring a pitch black fields, forests, cliffs outside, and eating or peeing during stop overs.
So there I was with loved ones, aching to get the trip over and done with so we can finally get some peaceful sleep on an actual bed with actual blankets (and not just shawls or jackets). A good two hours away from our destination, some more people got on board, looking fresh. Maybe they are going to church or to the market as it was already dawn, that’s why they were up and travelling so early.
And then it reminded me. These people will have shorter trips than us, and will be a lot fresher looking than us. We may be on the same bus at that instant but we have different journeys. We have different baggage, travel times, and stop overs. We feel differently, think differently, seated in different seats (of course). It just happened that in the next few minutes or hours, we share the same bus.
Such as in life. People come and go. Some journey with us for long, some for just a few blocks. Life goes on, our journeys go on. We all have different purposes and different paths to take.
Investment Juan-01 