Last Saturday, I biked to SM Sn Lazaro since the jeepneys plying the route after work were fully booked.
I was thinking that I could meet up with the wife and kids who left earlier with the car, and have a wonderful dinner together.
When I arrived, I asked the guards if I can bike up the carpark to load my bike into my car parked earlier by the wife.
They refused. I asked them where can I park my bike instead. They told me to proceed to Entrance#3.
Entrance#3 was parked by a lot of motorbikes but no bike racks or posts to chain my bike to.
There were 2 short sign posts and 2 bikes were chained on each one.
I decided to go back home since my wife was still in the middle of a party with the kids
and there was no way I could park my bike safely.
I called up my wife but she and the kids were still in the middle of a birthday party.
So I told them to have fun and I'm going back home instead.
On my way home, I thought about how I used to park my bike when I was working in Tokyo and didn't have to chain it.
I was thinking of how I could use a mall bike in Tokyo and get all the amenities accorded to a bike commuter.
I was thinking how backward our country can be vis-a-vis Japan when it comes to bike concerns (among other things).
A contradiction because here we have Japan, a very highly advanced country, with complex transportation systems,
with hi-tech cars, high tech businesses,
with high tech problems and high tech responsibilities,
will take the time to accommodate bike commuter issues,
and here we have nothing of the high tech concerns,
and still not come up with a solution to the low-tech issue as bike commuting!
Gee! Makes you think I want to go to Japan and eat sushi for the rest of my life?
But I love adobo, you see...