navigation differs significantly all around the world. i get that. in australia (as well as in the more developed countries), they have all these fancy technology that would get you from point A to point B with the precision of a surgeon making the first epidermal cut. a no-nonsense approach they call the global positioning system that drastically reduces travel time to save more time to have enough time to come home and make dinner.

here in the philippines, we don’t really have GPS. or even need one. asking bystanders for directions beats GPS each and every time  — with bull’s eye accuracy — whether you’re looking for a person, a place, or a person in a densely populated place. plus, if you’re charming enough, they might even escort you there themselves. even though it’s a little backward,  i guess i always had it good. thanks to filipino hospitality.

that being said, it didn’t exactly come as a shock to me that i was shocked with all the technical intricacies when i actually had to use one. see, the thing with GPS is that while it may be pretty accurate, it’s kind of useless when:

1. you type in the wrong destination; and

2. you can’t really read maps.

and by “you,” i mean me. which is basically what happened sometime last year. (yes, this is a super belated post. more of which are coming right up… within the next few years soon.)

anyway, on that particular day, i wanted to go to that place where all those quaint little shops are somewhere near the dandenong ranges. that was the intention.

so how the hell was i to know that when i typed in “dandenong ranges” as destination, it led us straight through it.

on the downside, it stressed jeff off having to deal with us getting lost and me not knowing how to read the freaking directions with the same ease as the early navigators who could decode location based on astral position to get us out of our predicament.

jeff: look at the map. are we almost there?

me: umm… i think so.

jeff: baby, i need you to be 100% sure!

on the bright side, it gave us a firsthand view of how big the area of the dandenong ranges actually is. which is very educational in itself, if you really think about it. right, jeff? makes you appreciate that little detour now, huh?

you’re welcome. lol.