The Supreme Buses

* the long-running Supreme Bus, taken at Candelaria, Quezon not far from a place they call Sambat

The second word up there in the tile is not meant to be an adjective but it is in fact the name of the bus I wish to share here now. These buses may have been doing their trade now for many decades already. I did not bother myself to look up about it on the internet as it would defeat the purpose of traveling. They are mostly slow-moving vehicles, maybe because of their ages. A ride in an ordinary fare, in particular when going to San Juan, Batangas in the afternoon, is one hell-hot of a ride. A ride in an air-conditioned type certainly does not make any difference as they tend to heat up the interior rather than cool it.

This is not, in any way, intended to disparage the buses. This is a form of tribute to one such resilient company. I may never know their reasons for their continued existence (and in connection to that, for their apparent refusal to upgrade or to at least do some maintenance work of their buses). But these leaky buses in fact make me want to ride in them more. They give you that ride experience that one could not have experienced elsewhere. True to some extent, our arrival to a place is an end, but the means – the travels along the way – for me is as enjoyable as the trip to our destinations. These Supreme Buses may not live long enough anyway, and so I am quiet thankful that I am able to get the rough ride experience in this part of the Philippines.