Horror Story: Taxi Number 45 (In Tagalog/English)

    It was a dark night when Julie and Chris are walking by the Bayside Road. It has been a cold night and having only a few vehicles passing through this road made it even colder.
    “Sabi ko na sayo! Dapat hinintay natin si Gary doon sa party para may masakyan tayo pauwi. Eh nahihirapan tuloy tayong makahanap ng taxi sa lugar na ‘to. Wala atang dumadaan na taxi dito eh!” complains Julie to his boyfriend. Chris then replies “Jul, it’s getting late na and the party was getting a little boring already. Tapos parang ayaw pa umalis ni Gary eh. Hintay ka lang, may taxi din jan maya-maya.”

    Chris then notices a light from afar behind him. He thought to himself that it could finally be a taxi and that they can finally go home. And as he thought, it appeared to be a taxi after all. Chris then hurriedly waves his hand to signal the vehicle to stop and give them a ride. As the taxi was a few feet away from them, Julie cries out “Ngek! May pasahero na Chris! Puno pa nga ang sasakyan eh.” As Chris heard this from his girlfriend, he took a close look to make sure that the public vehicle is indeed occupied and sure enough, what he saw was exactly what Julie told him; the taxi is packed with its passengers. But to the couple’s surprise, the taxi stopped a few meters away from them. “Grabe naman tong driver na to. Puno na nga, magpapasakay pa.” Julie exclaimed. Chris then started to walk towards the vehicle and as he was doing so, he says to his girlfriend, “Baka dito na bababa ang mga pasahero niya.” Julie then responds, “Ano? Eh wala namang bahay dito sa paligid ah. Tingnan mo nga. We’re practically in the middle of  nowhere.” As Chris heard this, he looked around and only saw an empty field on one side and a gloomy forest on the other.
    Right then and there, Chris thought that things started to get suspicious. He slowly approached the taxi. When he was near enough, he leaned down to take a look inside. To his shock, he saw no one on the passenger seat or on the backseat. There are no passengers in sight. He couldn’t believe it. There was no way both he and his girlfriend were just seeing things. His girlfriend confirmed it twice already. Even though he started to feel light-headed, he struggled to walk further forward to talk to the driver and possibly shed some light on what they’ve seen earlier. As he was about to open the passenger door to speak to the driver, he took a look inside and to his horror, neither driver could be seen inside the vehicle. At this point, Chris already felt like his head had already swollen. It was like he is in a trance due to what he is experiencing at that moment. “Ano daw Chris?! Bababa na ba ang mga pasahero niya?” screamed Julie. Somehow, his girlfriend’s voice snapped Chris out of his shock for a while and he was able to give Julie a look. Yet, Chris couldn’t gather enough strength to speak up. He could only take a deep breath and gulp through his throat. He is already thinking that this is too much for him to handle. Trying to convince himself that all of this are just illusions, he slowly took another look inside the taxi. This time, what he saw was even more horrific. The vehicle is once again filled with people. What’s more bizarre about is that all of them are just looking blankly forward and seemingly oblivious to Chris’ presence. Chris’ eyes started to bulge out in disbelief and as he started to walk backwards, all the people inside the vehicle slowly turned their heads toward Chris. Their eyes are so white; they look like they are glowing. That’s the moment when Chris started to walk anxiously towards his girlfriend. He then grabbed her by the hand and hurriedly walked away from the taxi.
    Chris and Julie were only meters away from where the taxi was parked when he decided to look back. The vehicle was no longer there. Now he feels even less safe and all he wants to do is run away but as he turned back to look forward, a very familiar set of headlights pulled over right in front of them. Chris is terrified over the fact that the taxi might have followed them and now he has to confront it again. He can’t bear to see more of those horrific images he has seen earlier. As Chris was about to run towards the opposite direction, he heard something that made him feel safe again, “Chris! Julie! Get in, I’ll take you guys home.” It was Gary’s car, which pulled over after all. Without any hesitations, Chris took his girlfriend and got in the car.

    In the car, Chris tried to calm himself down. He can’t wait to get out of that place. “I told you guys na sabay na tayong umuwi. Bakit umalis kayo kaagad?” Gary scolded the couple. “Eh eto naman kasing kaibigan mo, Gar! Gustong-gusto nang umuwi. Kesyo bored na daw siya doon.”, explained Julie. Then Gary said, “Di nyo ba alam na delikado dito?” That statement caught Chris’ attention and he said “Di mo lang alam Gar! Hindi ka maniniwala sa nangyari sakin doon.” Gary looked at his friend with heed and said “Anung sinasabi mo?” “Pare minulto ako doon!” cried Chris. “Ano ano ano?” yelled Julie. Chris turned to look at his girlfriend and told her “Yung taxing pinara natin, paglapit ko, nawala ang mga tao sa loob pati ang driver. Tapos napalingon lang ako saglit, pagtingin ko uli, may mga tao na naman sa loob. Puro puti ang mga mata nila pero naramdaman kong nakatingin sila sa akin. Muntik na’kong himatayin dun sa takot!” Julie was shocked to hear this and could only hold her hand up to cover her mouth and utter the words “Oh my God…” and when she could finally gathered herself back together she screamed “Chris huwag mo’kong takutin ng ganyan! Ayoko ng ganyang biro!” After that, the couple simply heard “I believe you.”  Gary claimed to his friend. Even though he was certain with what he saw, Chris understood how the story could be so unbelievable so he stared at Gary and said “Talaga? How could you be sure?” “I know you, man. You don’t have the creativity to make this stuff up!” said Gary with a grin and proceeded to say “Plus you’re not the first one to experience that.”  “What do you mean?” asks Chris.

    “Some of my classmates back in college covered this story once so I pretty much have an idea of what you are talking about. Malamang ang nakita mo tonight ay ang kinakatakutang ‘Taxi #45 ng Malaya Company.’ About five years ago, nadisgrasya dito mismo sa Bayside Road ang Taxing yun. Ang driver pati na ang apat niyang pasahero, patay nang sumalpok ang sasakyan sa puno. Pagkatpos ng disgrasya, marami nang mga kwentong kumakalat na may mga nakakakita pa rin ng taxing yun. May iba sinasabing nakita nilang bumangga ang taxi pro nawawala naman pag nilapitan. May mga kwento rin na tulad sayo, humihinto ang taxi pag pinara tapos pag sasakay na ang pumara, magpapakita yung mga namatay na pasahero. At meron pa. Minsan pag pinapara ang taxi, pinapasakay mismo ang pumara. Tapos bago pa makalabas ng Bayside Road, hihinto ang taxi. Pag tatanungin na ng nakasakay kung ano ang problema, lilingon ang driver pero makikita ng sumakay na walang mukha ang driver. Sinubukan na ng mga classmates ko na tanungin ang Malaya Taxi Company about sa Unit #45 nila pero ang sabi ng kompanya eh nandoon lang daw sa garahe nila ang taxi at di na magamit dahil total wreck na.” tells Gary. “Kung yun nga ang taxing pinara mo Chris, passlamat ka na lang na yun lang ang dinaanan mo.” Chris took a deep breath and said, “ Diyos ko. Di talaga ako naniniwala sa mga ganitong bagay, Gar. Eh nanginginig pa nga ako hanggang ngayon. Ewan! Ngayon ‘pag iniisip ko yung nakita ko, parang bangungot ang pumapasok sa isip ko. Hindi ata ako makakatulog ng ilang araw nito. Yung mga mata nila, ‘di yun maaalis sa utak ko. Para silang umiilaw sa puti” Gary quickly responds to what he heard from Chris, “Sabi ng iba, kaya daw ganun angmga mata nila kasi huli nilang nakita sa daan bago namatay ay high beam headlights ng isa pang sasakyan. Sabi nila baka nasilaw dun ang driver kaya sila nadigrasya.” Julie then buts in, “Chris nahihilo ata ako sa kwento ninyo. Akala ko sa movies lang nagyayari ang mga ganun. Buti na lang hindi ako lumapit doon. Thank God things like those don’t happen to me pero Chris, nilalamig talaga ako ngayon. Nakakapangilabot talaga ang taxing yun.” “Julie, just relax and lean back. It’s gonna be ok. Malapit na tayong makalampas sa Bayside Road. Wala pakong naririning na sightings ng taxi outside this road.” says Gary as he glanced at Julie through the rear view mirror.

    As they were exiting the Bayside Road, Gary adds one more story he remembers about the cursed taxi, “May isa pa. Hindi lang yung taxi mismo ang nagpaparamdam sa mga dumadaan doon sa Bayside. Pati na ang mga namatay na pasahero nito ay naghahasik din ng lagim. May nagsasabing nagpapakita daw ang mga pasehero sa mga drivers ng mga sasakyang dumadaan doon. Makikita mo daw sila sa tabi ng daan na parang pinapara ka. Tapos ‘pag nakalampas ka na, magugulat ka na lang pag lingon mo sa rear view mirror. Makikita mo na lang na nakasakay na sila sa likod.” “Anak ng… Eh anung gagawin ng driver?!” screams Chris. “Marami sa mga drivers, lumalabas sa sasakyan at tumatakbo. Kaya maraming nachochop-chop na sasakyan diyan sa Bayside kasi iniiwan na lang.” Gary glanced at Chris and looks at Julie through the rear view mirror as he continues, “Meron namang mga driver na malalakas ang loob at pinapabayaan na lang daw. Pero may nangyayari sa mga pasahero ‘pag pinabayaan mo lang silang sumakay. Nawawala daw sila isa-isa at nangyayari ito habang may dumadaan na sasakyan. Ang sabi ng iba, yung Taxi #45 ang nakakasalubong mo kaya’t nawawala yung mga multo sa likod ng sasakyan mo. Parang isa-isa silang sinusundo.” “Grabe! Gulong-gulo talaga siguro ang mga kaluluwa nung mga namatay kaya’t ganun na lang sila kung pagparamdam.” says Chris. Gary nods at his friend and says “Sa tingin ko kaya nila ginagawa yung dahil ‘di nila maalala kung ano ang nagyari sa kanila. Paulit-ulit silang bumabyahe sa Bayside para maalala at matanggap ang sinapit nila. Kaya kung pakikiramdaman o pakikitaan ka man, pabayaan mo na lang. Isipin mo na lang na para mo na silang tinutulungan.”

    Gary, Chris and Julie finally reached Julie’s house so the couple were dropped there. Gary escorts them to the door and bids them goodbye. Julie has entered the house and Chris shook Gary’s hand and said “Thanks man! Because of the things you’ve said, I kinda feel better about what happened tonight,” Gary smiles and tells Chris “Don’t worry. All three of us shared your ordeal tonight. By the way, nakita ko rin sila ngayong gabi…” Chris’ jaw dropped and whispered “What?!… How?! Where?!”  “Relax! I think I handled it pretty well. Just don’t tell Julie about it.” says Gary. Chris then asks, “Ha? Bakit?” Gary responded, “When I saw them, they were already inside.” Chris’ eyes widened and Gary continued “Yes. They were inside my car but just couldn’t scare the hell out of your girlfriend. Kaya alam ko kung bakit siya nilalamig kanina. And don’t worry. You’re here now in her house. You’re safe and secured. We’re kilometers away from the Bayside Road. You have nothing to be scared of anymore.” Chris then felt weakened with terror and sat on the porch steps where he and Gary were standing. Gary glances at his car and tells Chris “Yo I need to go! See you around.” As Gary was walking away, Chris screamed “Whoa, Gar! Ayaw mo mag-stay?” Gary continued walking to his car and just yelled “No! I still have to go back!” Chris quickly replied “Wh.. WHAT? Sa Bayside?! Bakit?! Naloloko ka na ba? Umuwi ka na kaya!” As Gary was entering the car, he looked at Chris with a serious look and said, “Trust me.” As Gary was driving away, Chris found the answer to why his friend needed to go back to the cursed road. A very familiar sight appeared before Chris. At Gary’s backseat, Chris saw that there was one more passenger that was left and looked at Chris with those same blinding, bright eyes. Gary needed to drop off one more passenger.

Written by: Ronald Gary B. Bautista 

If you like how I tell my story, then you’d probably want to see my films so go and press “Like” on:

http://www.facebook.com/StudioBeta 

Solution for the PayPal/EON Card problem

Recently I opened an account on paypal.com for this online job I had. Then I found out about the easiest way for residents in the Philippines to verify their paypal, and that’s the UnionBank EON Card. Basically it’s a Visa Electron Debit Card. At first it seemed to be a grat deal since you only need to pay an annual fee of PhP 350.00 and you can apply online and get it a week later. So I acquired it and I did get just one week later. When I got it, they told me to wait for one week for the card to be activated, so one week later, I tried to register my EON card on my paypal account. So after filling the necessary information, a horrific message appeared saying that the bank denied my card. So I went to the UnionBank branch where I got my card but the best response they could give me is "that doesn’t make sense!" No Sh#t it doesn’t make sense!! Considering that unionbank’s website is heavilly promoting their cards are honored by paypal, they should be the first to know why my card was denied. And it doesn’t stop there, an employee of the bank suggested that I call up their Customer Suppor Line, so I did. I dialed the number on my card and what I got was a recording saying "all our officers are occupied at the moment. Please hold until an agent becomes available." So I did hold. A couple of minutes later, the line was cut off. Turns out it ate up all the load on my cellphone. Good grief!!!!

The Solution

Good thing my friend figured out what was wrong. He said that I might need to deposit some money on my EON Card Account for it to be verified. So the next day, I depostied PhP 200.00 on my card and I tried verifying it on paypal afterwards. Viola! It worked! Turns out paypal won’t accept cardholders who are broke! Why couldn’t anyone from the UnionBank Branch tell me this?

Anyway, the moral of the story is you should always know who’s the right person to ask… and it isn’t always the people in authority.

My own WWE Experience

    I want to bring up this story since right now, I really miss watching WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) on TV. This is because Jack TV, the channel where we used to watch these wrestling programs, is now long gone from our cable provider, which is Sky Cable. Man you can only imagine my disgust  when on New Year’s Day, early in the morning, I turn to the channel where I used to find Jack TV and seeing shows that are quite unfamiliar to me. When I read the billing statement from Sky Cable only found out then that all the channels from Solar Entertainment can no longer be found on our cable. That was just so depressing considering that I have been a professional wrestling fan since childhood.

    Sometime soon, I will be switching to another cable provider soon where I could enjoy the great channels from Solar Entertainment. But for now allow me to be nostalgic about my one time experience on seeing a WWE show in person. It was on October 2006. The Smackdown! brand of the WWE paid the Philippines a visit and it was an opportunity that my brother and I were fortunate enough to capitalize on. But instead on babbling on about our experience on Smackdown! in Araneta Coliseum, why don’t I just show? 

Me and my bro right before we entered Araneta Coliseum for WWE Smackdown 

That’s my bro and behind him is the Smackdown Ring

Thelate Chris Benoit doing his famous Flying Headbutt

The Batista Bomb while the Undertaker looks on

Half-Pinoy Dave Batista carries the Philippine flag with pride. I believe he was in tears due to the warm welcome that the Filipino People gave him.

Angel Locsin Interview Video

This is my interview with Miss Angel Locsinmore than a year ago for our local Cable TV show here in Davao City, called Durian Jam. Just want to include this on my blog. She was very nice and yes, she is very pretty in person. Hot actually. Before we started rolling the cameras, she kept on apologizing to me for not being able to accomodate me earlier that day. Like a beautiful, popular celebrity like her needs to explain anything to me. She was just very polite. And personally, I think she was very genuine in her reactions during the interview. I mean, comparing her to some of the celebs I’ve interviewed, her kindness was far more natural. I consider myself very lucky to have had a conversation with her.

So I’m glad that she’s now in a network where her talent in acting is actually being utilized. She no longer need to flaunt her sexy body to get attention but instead she is allowed to display her natural "perkyness" to cast her charm. It’s just a good example of how female artists should be treated in the much politicized entertainment industry of the Philippines.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the video. 

Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao Anti-drug TV Ad

That’s me showing Pacman how I want him to punch

 This is the first Television ad that I’ve ever directed. It stars Boxing Champ Manny Pacquiao. This happened about a year ago. This was an unforgettable experience for me since all through out, it felt so unreal that I am directing an international celebrity like The Pacman. But I managed to keep myself calm, somehow. He was very easy to work with, It figures because when it comes to acting experience, he has plenty.  Plus he’s very down to earth, something that you won’t usually expect from a person as successful and popular as he is. He likes fooling around on the set. Always cracking up jokes.

The Picture I took with Pacman using my Macbook

One of the most unforgettable experience I had during this project was when I showed Manny my MacBook (laptop) and I took our picture using it. He said "Wow! Ganda ng computer mo ah! May friendster ka? Add mo ako ha!" (Wow! You have a nice computer. You have a friendster account? Add me up!) That’s just so funny coming from him.

Hope you like this video. Tell me what you think! 

Director, Editor, Cinematographer: Ronald Gary Bautista

Special Thanks goes to the Alchemy of Vision and Light studio of Davao City.

Ghost Sighting in Famous University

this was a photo that was given to me by my brother. He doesn’t know the origin of this photo but it sure is creepy. if you haven’t notice it yet, save this pic on your cpu and open the file. zoom in on the upper left corner. You can see a figure that resembles a young girl holding her head. but her lower half seems to be missing.

 I know where this place is. Its in a famous university in our city and I’ve even had class in this room before. So this is especially interesting for me. Not really sure if this is true or not but I like it anyway. hehe! 

Earn Online by Designing Logos

With all the development that Information technology has enjoyed, there are multiple ways to earn on the internet. And if you’re a graphic designer who has well enough skills and is sensitive to a clients need, then you have a big chance on earning a lot online. I’m talking about logo design.

Recently, while I was searching for a way to earn money online by graphic designs, I found this website that holds multiple contests everyday for different types of graphic designs but mostly logo designs. I said to myself "whoa! I think I can do this!" So I signed up and entered as many contests as I can. At first, there were a lot of dissapoinments. But eventually I’ve learned some lessons like always check if the contest holders have good reputation (like having held contests before and actually paid the winner), always be sensitive to the client’s needs (the best looking design doesn’t always win the contest, its the most appropriate one for the client) and only send a small jpeg file for the contest holder to preview. I hope you’ve taken those lessons into heart.

And it didn’t take long before I won my first contest. Man did I feel good, especially when the money was already in my hands. But after spending my winning that I realized that seeing my logo being used by an international company was just as sweet. Now, just 4 months after signing up, I’ve already won three contests (check it out here: http://contests.sitepoint.com/profile/204251) and there are still two contests where I am yet to be officially declared  as winner. And what’s best about it is I’ve also developed my skills in graphic designs while earning. 

 I am not the best logo designer that I know so I assure that if I can do it, you can to. so go to www.sitepoint.com and start joining in some contests.

And you know something else? Sitepoint is not even paying me to post this blog. I’m just that much happy with what the site has provided me so far.

Enjoy and I hope you’d win some prices, too. 

Brock Lesnar versus Frank Mir Result

UFC 81: Breaking Point

Former WWE professional wrestler Brock Lesnar was pretty much dominant through the beginning of the first round taking down Mir immediately. Lesnar started with ground-and-pound like crazy but the ref had to break the two out since Lesnar hit Mir on the back of the head. Lesnar is deducted a point. The two started again on their feet and Lesnar knocks Mir down with a huge punch in the face. Lesnar went insane again with punches. Mir snaps an armbar but Lesnar escapes. As Lesnar stood up, Mir grabbed a leg and locked a kneebar. Lesnar taps out.

Frank Mir defeated Brock Lesnar at 1:30in the first round

Still, it wasnt a disappointing match for a former professional wrestling superstar like Brock Lesnar since he totally brought it to Mir. But a loss is a loss and lets just hope Lesnar learned some lessons and next time, earn a victory.

John Rambo Review

Prior to watching this film, a lot of people were already telling me that the movie "John Rambo" (or just Rambo in some countries) was ethier a "just OK" movie or a Bad Movie. Yet I just couldn’t believe them. I mean, even if I had not seen the gory trailer, I’ve always known that a combination of 80s style action sequences and touch, action movie Icon could never go wrong. So even after hearing all those bad reviewd, I went to see "John Rambo" with great anticipation.

TOUGHNESS

Its been a while since we’ve seen an action hero who shows that he’s tough as nails and oh so believable that he actually is. John Rambo is that hero. He doesn’t even have to kill somebody for you to know that he’s one tough badass. I know that the "I don’t give a f#ck" attitude has been overused in action movies already but when a 60 year old veteran presents that attitude, its scary! and I love it. What makes the character of Rambo so successful is that the situations you encounter with him in the movie makes you so tensed, that you’re gonna be thankful that John Rambo is there because you know for sure he’s your way out. Now I am conviced that whatever your greatest fear is, if John Rmabo is with you, you will fear nothing.

 ACTION

It is always a good thing in a  action movie if the audience feels every impact during a action sequence and John Rambo is successful in that. Every strike he throws, every enemies he slashes, every body that the bullets hit and every explosion; you feel it. That is because of great visualization and sound mixing of the sequences.  And that makes Rambo’s brutality that much sweeter.

GORE

This movie will rival any gory films you’ve seen in cinemas lately. It is just insane. I’m talking about heads blowing off in multiple different fashions, bodies exploding all over the place, and everything from flesh, bones and oh so many blood, everything that looks painful, its there. Some people might think of all those decapitations and morbid injuries are just unnecessary but i would have to disagree. I mean, the film was set in Burma. It is well documented that the civil war there are pretty brutal. Genocide is very rampant, people finding creative ways of hurting and killing each other. So I think as far as realism is concerned, John Rambo has set up the appropriate mood.  

You might not agree with everything that I just said but it doen’t change the fact that I enjoyed the movie a lot and that’s whats important, right? So I say good for Sly Stallone for this vey deserving ending for such an iconic character. I suggest you all give John Rambo a try. 

3.5 stars out of 5!!