My LTO experience

If you're following me on Instagram, then you might have already seen this post.

Let me tell you about my day.

For a good while now, my whole family has been persuading me to take driving lessons. They said I'm gonna need the skill one day and that it's better for a woman to be independent and not expect her husband to drive her around all the time.  While I completely agree with their point, I just couldn't bring myself to overcome my fear of driving, which is unfounded really because it's not like I've had any bad experiences. To concretize all the persuading, my dad took me up on an offer that is too good to pass up. Long story short, I now have a student's permit under my belt.

Now onto the focus of this story. 

Earlier today when I had just finished preparing all the requirements in securing a student's permit, Mon texted me to ask what time I shall be going to LTO. This was our conversation.

But looks like fate was not on my side today. I rode an FX going to LTO Manila West District Office. I've never been there so I just relied on Mon's instructions which were pretty clear. I paid the fare and specifically told Manong Driver that I'm getting off Espana across the LTO office. In Welcome Rotonda, Manong Driver suddenly turned right to Mayon Street. So "ok", I thought. Maybe he's going to take a shortcut where there's less traffic. But then we kept on going forward and forward and I started to think that something wasn't right. We weren't supposed to go straight for so long. Then I saw it. Blumentritt. Oh no! Lampas na ako! I confronted Manong Driver about it,  he apologized and even returned half of my fare. I was kinda irritated though because I didn't like the thought of having to walk under the scorching heat and wait for another FX. But what pissed me more is Manong Driver asking me in a tone that is a little too demanding, "Ano bang gagawin mo sa LTO???" Strike one.

When I finally got to the Espana office, I asked the Customer Service Counter where I can apply for a Student's Permit. She told me to proceed to Window 2 so that's where I went. In Window 2, there is a huge sign saying "Student Permits cannot be issued today due to system error." What the?! I went back to the Customer Service Counter to verify if Student Permits indeed cannot be issued today and she said, "Ay oo nga pala, walang Student Permit ngayon. Sa ibang branch na lang." Take note that I was already in a bad mood because of the incident with Manong Driver. And then this. Strike two.

So off I went to another LTO branch, which I have yet to locate by foot (again, under the scorching heat!) since the branch is in one of those not-so-accessible side streets. By the time I got to La Loma branch, I already looked like a basang sisiw. So much for being picture perfect. Strike three.

To make matters worse, picture taking was a complete disaster! Let me paint a visual for you. Imagine me not looking at the camera, my face frozen in an expression that seems to be saying "what?!", wide-eyed and surprised. And my hair...oh my hair (!!!), which I carefully straightened for the very purpose of this picture taking, is blue! Like the background! The result? I look like frikkin' Sadako! Strike four. And in the words of Venus Raj, "major, major!" talaga.

The funny thing is, when I finally got hold of my permit and saw my picture, I really felt like laughing out loud. Imbis na mainis ako, natawa talaga ako! 

Anyway, for those of you who are planning to learn how to drive, the process in securing a student's permit is really easy. Just fill out a form called Application for Driver's License (you can get this form from LTO), attach a photocopy of any government-issued ID (i.e. SSS, PRC, TIN, etc.) proving your date of birth, let them take a horrible picture of you, pay the corresponding fees to the cashier, and boom. Done. :)

I have to admit that as I replay in my head everything I went through today, the things I was irritated at earlier now I find amusing. Thanks to my son who is my ultimate stress reliever! 

And oh, the macchiato helped a lot too!

What about you? Tell me about your experiences with LTO in the comments section below. :)