Car Wash

Typhoon Juan brought some rainfall here in Puerto Princesa.  And the roads turning from the National Highway were slippery and muddy.  Nacho and I did a lot of errands before picking up Elise in the afternoons in those two days.  When the sun came out, all the mud caked on the road, and left trails of hardened soil everywhere - and especially under the car and around the hubcaps.

It was time to wash the car - top, sides and underneath.  We have our car washed weekly in a shop beside the KIA Showroom in Barangay San Manuel.  It's spacious and there are four young men, probably below 25 years old, who move so fast, that they can wash, wax, vacuum, and underwash the car in less than an hour.   

There is a television set that shows either Pinoy noontime shows or telenovelas and a long row of bamboo sofas which are very comfortable.

The last time we were there, I saw the sign saying that they could remove and install the seat covers for P100.  Since it would be impossible for me to wash the seat covers myself, I thought it was a good price. When I told them not to use bleach on them, they gave me a puzzled look.  Then I asked when I could get the covers back, they looked confused, talked a bit among themselves and agreed that the covers would be done in two days.  When we came back for them, they told me to add P10 for the soap and about P50 for the labor, as they hand-washed the covers. The price list only included removing it, and installing it, not washing it. Uh-okay. So, this time, their sign included "laba" or "wash" at P100 on top of the "tanggal/balik" or "remove/install" at P100 too.  On this particular day. I asked them to do the "underwash" in addition to the "body wash" that already includes interior vacuuming.  Took them a while to remove all the mud.

But Nacho and I did not mind. Across the bamboo sofa where we was sitting, we watched a couple of
horses grazing on the wet grass, and a few egrets flying back and forth.  Locally, they're called tagak.  They are usually perched on the back of carabaos too, just watching and waiting.  Apparently, carabaos are not bothered by these white birds, as the egrets eat the ticks and blood-sucking flies that bother the carabaos.  They also eat grasshoppers, beetles, and lizards in the grass.  We talked a lot about what we saw. And time flew by so fast.  Before we knew it, our car was clean, and we had to continue our egret conversation on the way to Elise's school.