cracking codes

-
It was a damper, I have to admit. I opted to stay in the hotel instead of exploring Tokyo again because my laptop bag's lock combination changed without me knowing how it happened! Suffice it to say that I basically had to puncture a hole through the zipper of my bag to get my phone (which contains my schedule for the day and instructions on where I was supposed to go); I couldn't get my business cards out; and I was very lucky to be staying in a hotel a few minutes' walk away from where I was supposed to go and be intelligent (I didn't have to pay train fare).

Cracking codes... I thought that this should be easy. A three-number lock has 1000 combinations. All I had to do was try all of them and finally get my bag properly opened. Right? I mean, this has happened before when I was traveling (but on my checked-in luggage) and it's the most straightforward solution. I have opened my previous bag in half an hour. No biggie. So thought that my carry-on's bag would be a piece of cake.

But no. It was definitely not a piece of cake. Apparently, my carry-on's bag's lock was a bit more sophisticated than my checked-in bag's lock. I couldn't unlock my bag throughout the day! Oh well, I thought, I'd have all evening to work on it... after dinner.

Back in the hotel, after dinner, I finally had a chance to crack the code in earnest. In the worst case scenario, I'd just bring the bag to the repair shop and have a locksmith jimmy it open. But I thought I should be able to do this. Or at least give it my best shot before taking it to the locksmith. I mean, I've solved three Mystery Manila games with teammates previously. Code-breaking should be easy. Or not. Yeah... I did mess up on a combination lock during my first successful game because I'm left-handed and I processed the instructions differently from how a right-handed person would do so.


Anyway, as I was trying to figure out how to get the right combination, I felt like I was (again) Charlize Theron's character in the Italian Job. This time, it's not because I was driving a car; rather, it was because I was in a hotel room, trying to coax a lock open, listening to the clicks of the combination lock while the telly was on... for ambient noise. Also, I tried to channel MacGyver. But the only thing I have in his repertoire of tools is a Swiss knife and a piece of thin plastic (from my phone's magnetic holder). I don't have chewing gum... haven't eaten one in decades. 

What a time to be a damsel in distress, right? But it was a puzzle to solve and I was determined to crack it.

An hour later, I finally got the combination! I still don't get the clicking because my ears aren't attuned to it. But I learned that it's all about figuring out the feel of a dial turning into the right number. 

Another life (lock-picking) skill unlocked. I wish I don't have to use it any time soon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

Skyflakes

-
One of the more famous Philippine exports is Skyflakes , a wheat-based, salty cracker. It is one of my emergency food items: I typically have some stocked at home and in my handbag in case I become hungry (like in traffic jams). When there's no electricity and it's impractical to cook rice (because the leftover would spoil), I'd open a pack of Skyflakes and generously coat each cracker with Cheez Whiz... if I had a bottle of it within reach. Anyway, each time I spent more than two weeks outside the Philippines, I'd be elated to see boxes of Skyflakes inside Asian stores (particularly when in I was Australia and in the USA). Back then, I took it as a sign of homesickness. When I moved to California, I didn't miss Skyflakes because Mommy made sure that there's a steady supply in the house. Skyflakes is embedded in Filipino gastronomy as a snack, a panawid-gutom , that anyone who reacts positively upon seeing Skyflakes outside the Philippines must have spe
Read more

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

-
I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in Bagu
Read more

Surat Mangyan

-
Image
In high school, part of the Filipino curriculum was learning about one of the country's ancient native scripts called Baybayin . I learned back then that this script was eventually abandoned because the Spanish, and eventually the Americans, encouraged the use of the Latin script for written communications. But that's in the lowlands; the rules were different up in the mountains. In the lush mountains of Mindoro, groups of indigenous people called Mangyans  live largely in isolation away from the Christianised Filipinos. This isolation has led to the continuous development of the Mangyans' old script, Surat Mangyan . As I walked inside the Ayala Museum , I saw this bamboo tube (I'm not sure if it's an instrument) with Mangyan script written all over it. I suppose that this was equivalent to a book or a song. But I haven't figured out what's written yet, despite the translation guide provided. What I can do, however, is write my name in Ma
Read more