Stuck in traffic.

Again.

(When are you not stuck in traffic when you drive in Manila, anyway?)

I know these roads so well, but I never know what to expect each time I drive by. Speeding (!) buses. Cabs weaving in and out of lanes. The occasional street vendor taking advantage of the traffic jam. Random, crazy pedestrians with a death wish. Sudden motorbikes. Someone beeping in the distance. The car beside me trying to cut into my lane, inches away from my car.

Whatever happy/chill mood I’m in slowly starts to dissolve the longer I’m down this road. I can’t even count the number of curse words I’ve yelled by the time I get halfway to my destination.

Today, though, is a different story. I’ve been gone too long and I’ve missed driving. Yes, maybe even down these streets. I don’t miss the traffic, but the alone time. See, there’s one thing I can only do while driving: sing.

And I mean the loud, full-on Beyonce mode kinda singing. The fun kind. And I’m the opposite of a music snob, so I’m not too picky when it comes to music, as long as it’s fun to sing. Aaaand as long as I’m alone. And no one can see me. Safe in my little car. (I sing all I want here, but you’ll have to drag me to karaoke.)

A little Axl Rose. A Hanson song comes on. A Matchbox 20 tune or two. Some Michael Jackson. There may or may not have been a Tupac tune somewhere in there, with my playlist as random as the mixtapes I used to make in high school.

Happy singing while stuck in traffic. Makes driving in Manila bearable.

It’s only by the time I’ve parked my car—a good hour and a half later—that I realize how clear the car windows actually are, looking in from the outside.

Oops.

Let’s just hope, more for everyone else’s sake than mine, that these super clear car windows are soundproof.