5 Things to Prepare when riding the MRT for the Ladies

DISCLAIMER: First of all, i am absolutely no expert at this topic. I am just a normal commuter, like you, that rides the train almost everyday. All of these are just based ON MY OPINION. I am not affiliated with the Metro Rail Transit Corp.





1. MRT Stored Value Card
Admit it, no one likes lining up right? So to prepare yourself for this daily battle i suggest you buy a Stored Value Card. It saves you a lot of time and avoid long lines.

2. Yourself
During rush hours and you decide to take the MRT, you better ready yourself to be abused physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

If you are like me who prefers riding the female coach part of the train, you better ought to be mentally and emotionally prepared. You see, women are emotional predators. Especially when its 'going home' time. No one wants to start a world war 3 with a very tired or hungry person. They can also get feisty if they want. 

What I Suggest: Let us just be patient. No need to be mean around all of these people. Everyone, just like you, wants to go home.

3. Sense of Smell
I know it sounds insensitive and mean but trust me, there will be times that you just wish that there's an off button for your nose. I'm sure most of us ladies came from fully-air conditioned offices, but that doesn't mean we don't smell, sometimes. (i am not saying i don't sweat okay??)

Let us take Ortigas Station as an example. Let us say you work around Emerald Ave. and the only way to get to the Station is by walking. So you leave your AIR CONDITIONED office and walk your way to the MRT Station. As you are walking, you notice that a liquid matter- SWEAT- is already forming around your neck, face and worse- underarms. And imagine you are walking under the scorching heat of the sun. So when you get to the platform, you are already sweating like a pig or maybe just a bit. Then the train arrives and you ride it. Sometimes, just sometimes, aircon and sweat are not good combination.

What I Suggest: Maybe your two cents will be good here? :)

 4. Try to be Aware of your surroundings.
You'll probably say, "How can i do that, i cannot even move my head to scan the people behind or beside me"

If you can't scan, one of things you should do is make sure that your things are safe. There was a time i rode the train and suddenly the girl shouted "May nagnakaw ng telepono ko" and it was really sad for her, because she just got her Samsung S4 a week ago and she was en route to Trinoma to have it fixed because there was no signal (i sounded like a stalker but i was just trying to help her and she was telling me how it happened). Apparently, the robber was really trying to scooch her way in towards the bag of the lady.

What I Suggest: What i normally do is i just hold my phone, at least by that way, I can see and still feel it.


5. Wear Comfortable Clothing/Shoes
Before going home, you might want to change to a comfortable pair of shoes or slippers.

Sacrificing to wear that beautifully crafted shoe is a must. You don't want to walk towards the train station wearing heels. Why? First of all, RUSH HOUR. You don't want people to get ahead of you in walking because you are wearing your precious heels. Second, be sensitive. Wearing heels inside a sardine like train won't help the other passengers, there might be a time that you will step on them. Trust me, you don't want that person you stepped on go bitchy on you because of that. Lastly, Comfort. We want to be comfortable as much as possible because riding the train, especially in rush hours means more waiting while standing or more waiting while riding.

What I Suggest: Wear flats or slippers if you must. But if you can manage wearing heels,  you are freely to do so. 

If you have more suggestions feel free to do so. You and I will never be limited to these 5 things.

Till then,

Raissa