Death Trip

Car Wreck. 10.29.04. Tagaytay.

People often wonder what it's like to die. Some contemplate on it. Death brings about a lot of meanings. They attempt to capture what death would mean in poems, stories, quotes, and the like. Even some who think that they're living in a stagnant, immobile life, would think that they are on their way towards it. And so they sink into depression, contemplate suicide, without even knowing what their whole life is for.

BULLSHIT.

Death is certain. Death is powerful. Death can come when you least expect it. And I needed quite a few things to realize that:

1. A car.
2. A few friends along with me.
3. A roadtrip to Tagaytay.
4. A slippery road.
5. A maniac who had the guts to break the speed limit.

What started out as an innocent roadtrip to Tagaytay became the stage for a near encounter with the End. And I paid dearly for it. I’m still alive. I’m still in one piece. I’ve quite recovered from the shock I incurred from the accident. And so I find myself capable now of relating this story…

10:00 am. So there I was hanging out with Adi at the CTC benches last Friday during our registration for the 2nd semester. I had gone to Tagaytay just a few days back, 1st was with my Kuya Robert (who was supposed to go with his girlfriend at that time), 2nd with Fred, PJ and Doms, as an impromptu trip right in the middle of our inuman. When the four of us got there, we talked about SPAM the whole time. That was our pulutan, and so we basically had a laugh trip about it. This time, the other guys wanted to get a taste of some fresh air, so along with Adi, I called up the other UandMe boys for dinner at Leslie’s. So Mark, Taker, JP, Mochie, Fred (again) and JC joined us. JP brought his car along with mine, so there were four of us in each car.

06:30 pm The trip going down there was smooth, no hassles, no traffic. JC, Mark, Adi, Taker and I left Katipunan to meet up with the other 3 at the Shell SLT Station at around 7:30. JC moved to JP’s car, as he was to act as substitute driver for JP, who had been on the wheels all day.


The No. 1 cause of accidents on the South Luzon Tollway.


08:00 pm. We arrived at Leslie’s in Tagaytay to have a taste of their bulalo (later I found out that the soup was refillable), sisig (excellent dish) and crispy pata. All the boys were really hungry, as characterized by a silent and no-nonsense atmosphere over the dinner table! We ordered around 2 bowls of bulalo, 2 plates of sisig, and 1 crispy pata, which I wish we just traded for another bowl. Then I think we ordered around 25 cups of rice to go with that! Basically we had a great dinner, the wind was cold and fresh, and it had been a while since I hung out with the UandMe barkada. Apparently Adi had brought his video camera, and mochie his photo cam. I never thought it would come in handy later.


Happier times.


10:00 pm. After stuffing ourselves full at Leslie’s, we decided to grab a coffee at Bag-of-beans, a coffee shop 10 minutes away. And so we blasted there only to find out that it was closed. We then decided to go to Starbucks, which was beside Leslie’s and Dencio’s and just chat and smoke the night away there. Going back, I was feeling the need for speed, and so the minimum value on the speedometer was 120 kph! Man, the three guys, Mark, Taker and Adi were shouting the hell out as we swerved and sped by across some dangerous curves! I was driving like a maniac, laughing out hard as the three were begging me to slow down. At that time we had overtook the other car and left them behind the dust. So we then arrived at Starbucks for the coffee. Taker, Mark, and Adi got out of the car, exhilarated and thrilled. And so I felt good as well. You couldn’t drive that hard in the metropolis.

Adi: “Pucha saying hindi ko na-video! Astig pare!”
Taker: “Oo nga ano? Tara pare mamaya uli!”
Mark: “Tang ina! Ayoko na pare!Thrill ride yon gago!”

We were laughing our hearts out as Fred, Jp, Moch and JC arrived 2 minutes later. The view from Starbucks was great, we did have a great conversation. I particularly got to talk with Mochie more, and learn about his plans to leave home and search for greater independence (dorm life, as we all know). All of us had some serious fun at that place. From basketball, to QPI, to AMA, to Cindy Kurleto, The Addict Mobile Girls and a whole load of shit, typical guy talk. I haven’t been with the Claret guys in a while, and I was glad to be back.

01:00 am. Starbucks was about to close, and so we decided to go back to Manila. JP and Fred wanted to play Counter-strike or Warcraft at Blitzkrieg in Greenhills, or maybe just drink at my condo. I suggested that we could still hang out at the newly-opened Shell station (Northbound) at the South Luzon Tollway. We left Starbucks and made way for Manila. As usual, the Civic overtook the Corolla. Crazy Joe was on the wheel, feeling the adrenaline rush. As expected, Adi now had his videocam running.

I stepped hard on the gas. The speedometer went up to 140. Running hard. The guys were shouting, “Putang ina! Putang ina! Whoooooooo!” in excitement. At that moment, we could now see the circular rotunda straight ahead.

But it was too late.
I lost control of the brakes.
The road was turning into a curve.
The wheels were worn out. They couldn’t hold tight on the road.
Approaching the rotunda, the car skidded.
“Putang Ina!!! Putang Ina!! Putang Ina!!”
The screams of delight now turned into raw terror.
Losing control of the car, we slipped off the road and into a concrete barrier on the sidewalk.

WHAM!! BAAMMM!!!

“Putang Ina!!” Exclaimed Taker, as the car crashed into the concrete.
And then everything fell silent.

Passersby rushed to the scene as we got out of the car, dazed, and in complete shock. The four of us, especially me, were completely stunned by the incident. And then the cruel brunt of reality rushed with its torment.

No one was injured.
All of us were in one piece.
The car was fucked up.
It was stuck into a ravine, and we couldn’t get it out.
We were in Tagaytay, 3 hours away from home.
We were in big trouble.

WE WERE A FEW INCHES SHORT FROM FALLING INTO A PARKING LOT.
WE COULD HAVE CRASHED ON A FEW MORE CARS.
WE COULD HAVE FLIPPED OVER.
WE COULD HAVE BEEN DEAD.

JP, Moch, Fred and JC caught up with us. At first they thought we just pulled over. And then suddenly, they found out otherwise. And of course, the four of them exclaimed the great “P.I.”


Thrown off course in a matter of seconds.

Apparently, the car had smashed its front bumper, disaligned its wheels, and the rear right tire had been punctured by a steel bar coming from the barrier. And my right rear door bore a massive dent on it. If we had gone further, we could have crashed into either 3 cars, or went straight into a Chinese restaurant, destroying it, hitting the people in it, and killing ourselves in the process. Either that or the car was a total wreck.

As I got out of the car, I realized what a complete idiot I was. I was plain fucking stupid. I was wild and I paid the price. I was screwed up in a faraway place with no tools, no spare tire, and no cash for a towing service.

I COULD HAVE KILLED MY 3 FRIENDS.
OUR LIVES COULD HAVE BEEN WASTED.

I was stunned, speechless and lost. God had exacted his revenge. What’s worse, I thought we won’t be able to go home.

But lucky for me and the gang, so many people were there at the site. A police station was near, and the policemen helped us out. As we couldn’t get the car on its own, a good Samaritan came up, apparently the owner of the restaurant. He tied the car to his Tamaraw FX, and helped the 8 of us lift the car back onto the sidewalk. At first we thought the car was a goner. Luckily, JP had a spare tire. So we replaced the flat one. Some people stopping by the nearby 7-eleven were glad to lend us some tools for doing so. Unfortunately, while the tire was getting replaced, the rain decided to join in the fun. And so we got soaked. I was totally pissed off, yet at the same time, the 4 of us felt really lucky to have escaped death. It wasn’t our time.


Remnants of a short death trip.

2:00 am. After replacing the flat with JP’s spare, we took the car for a test drive. Suddenly, we were placed in a precarious situation: The wheel was wobbly. It looked as if the suspension was damaged. If you’ve seen some jeepneys or trucks with wobbly tires, those that did not run straight, you would know what I mean. After placing the smashed bumper inside the car, JP took over me for the drive home. Mochie accompanied him on the Civic, while JC handled the wheel for the corolla. Mark, Taker, Adi, and Fred were cramped up on the back side of JP’s car, while I took a breather in the front. I was smoking non-stop in tension and shock.

It was agreed that since the Civic’s rear right wheel was wobbling, we had to drive no faster than 40 kph. We took the coastal road back, passing by cavite and Roxas blvd, since we could not tempt the dark and winding roads of Sta. Rosa. There were so many turns there, although it was the shorter way. And as it led to the SLT, we could not take it because the minimum speed there was 80. It was a long and slow drive going back to Manila, stopping every now and then to check on the tires. At that time all of us were tired and exhausted. Yet we so thankful to have escaped certain death and injury. It could have been really worse had we ended up in the hospital. I could have been in a coma. I was given a wicked and fast taste of the end, and I lived because of a second chance. I was unscathed and so were the others. That was all I could think of.

Going back, Adi mentioned if whether our visions of our lives flashed back on us as we neared impact. No, it didn’t occur to us. All that was running in my head was the car crashing onto the concrete. I found out that that kind of panic was for real; people not being able to move as they watch something big fall onto them, at the most they could do is shout!


8 more inches to flipping over. We could have hit 3 more cars below us.

05:00 am. After three hours on the road, the 7 of us (we dropped Fred off at White Plains) crashed into my condo. Dead exhausted and too tired to think, we dozed off immediately on the sofa and in my bed. We were back in one piece. Except for my car of course.


Wasted.


The following morning I had my flat tire fixed. I was glad to find out that the cause of the wobbling was not because my car’s suspension was damaged. It was because JP’s spare was not perfectly round anymore. It was already in the shape of an oblong. So at most, the casualties were my front bumper (which saved us), my right rear door and my radiator, which got bent from the impact.

2 days later, after some recovery from the shock, and after braving the wrath of my parents, I still feel grateful to have escaped. What was initially an innocent getaway turned into a wee-hour death trip, something that I won’t forget for the rest of my life. While the impact of the accident is still fresh in my mind, it was something that brought 8 close friends even tighter. It was something that made us think about our lives. Death can come anytime it chooses to.

“Hindi pa talaga oras natin”, attested Adi. But we were given a taste of it, and I don’t think our lives will ever be the same.

“So many things went right for us”, exclaimed Fred. True enough. The policemen were friendly, there were people who helped us, we weren’t intoxicated, and the car was running smoothly. And the area in which we crashed was really an accident prone area. They even pointed out to a place near our crash site, where a guard house used to be.

It was destroyed by a previous accident.

After this, I’m truly grateful to be given a second chance on life. I’ll be taking some time off to figure things out. And I’m sure I’ll be able to rise up stronger and better. My life won’t be the same.

And I’m sure I won’t be driving for a long time.

To those who read this, I’m sure you know how guilty and repentant I feel. Unfortunately, I’m one of those idiots who won’t break a bad habit until they hit rock bottom.

So don’t be like me. And be careful when you’re on the road.

DON’T TEMPT FATE. I should have realized this long ago.

That’s it for now. I’m heading out.

A 2nd lease on life...

Car Wreck. 10.29.04. Tagaytay.

I could have died that night. I'm just glad I got out.