The big time waster
Philippine traffic is probably one of the worst in the world. It is organize chaos as I call it. The main cause of traffics jams in the philippines vary from road works to accidents, but the main cause would be public transport vehicles.
The traffic is so bad that a 15min travel travel tim with no traffic will take you an hojr or more with traffic.
Lets take EDSA for example. EDSA is the main artery of metro manila, it is the main artery that vehicles use. Congestion is not that uncommon at any given time on different locations along its length. This is due to city buses that are operated by drivers that disregard traffic rules and utterly no consideration with the other vehicles on the road.
These city buses will occupy more than half of the road while trying to load and unload their passengers. One of the worst things about this is that they will take their sweet time doing so and most of the time ignore other cars blowing their horns at them. A bus would sometimes take 5-15 minutes waiting for passengers to load and this would cause a build up of other buses,thus causing the traffic.
A Filipino driver must not only be a defensive driver but an offensive one as well. Thinking atleast two steps ahead of the other cars around him. You see, filipino drivers are the worst when it comes to road etiquette and manners and the best because of their road awerness and alertness with their surroundings.
Even though there are no speedlimits in most Philippine roads, speeds are kept at a minimum (usually under between 50-80kmph) due to bad road conditions,traffic lights,U-turn slots,small roads,road hazards and overall bad vehicle conditions.
Some important tips when driving in the Philippines. -The speed limit is what everyone else is doing -Constantly check your mirrors for other vehicles,specially motorcycles..they will appear from nowhere! -Never tail gate buses and jeepneys, they sometimes suddenly stop to load or unload passengers. The best place to have them is on your right. -Use your horn a lot. Use it like a signal to otber drivers that your there, most drivers DO NOT check their side mirrors. -expect to be in tight situations if in a traffic jam. A 4 four lane road will become a 5-6 lane road. -never ever let your awerness and alertness down. Its just not cars your watching out for. Motorcycles,pedestrians,animals,pot holes and different types of road hazards are always a constant danger. - PATIENCE
Cuisine
Ahh…The Filipino Past time,eating. Filipinos love to eat, it is in our genes and culture. We love all types of food, may it be local or international.
Food for the typical Filipino (or Pinoy) is very simple, The more the better. Taste really is not a big factor for the typical pinoy, as long as the serving is big and the price is cheap, Filipinos will flock to that place. Even more so if the serving is big and the taste is good.
The serving size really matters to a lot of Filipinos,because not everyone can afford an expensive meal. A typical meal would usually cost around P40-P70 (Less than $2) per meal, anything above a hundred is usually considered expensive and are not for the masses.
A meal would consist of viand and rice. Rice is an integral part of Filipino cuisine, just like in other asian countries.
Filipino viand (Ulam) varies from something dry (usually fried) to something soupy (Masabaw). From sweet to bitter, Filipino cuisine offers it.
Getting Around
The jeepney is probably the most used and popular means of public transport in the Philippines. Millions of Filipinos use and depend on the jeepney. The jeepney design came from the WWII military jeeps used by the Americans. The Filipinos saw the simplicity and durability of the vehicle and created their own Flamboyant and bigger version of it.
The jeepney can be found in almost every public road in the Philippines, Going from one point to the other. The current minimum fair for a jeepney is P8.00 or $0.18 in american dollars for the 1st kilometer, the succeeding kilometers is an additional P1.00. So how do they drivers or the conductors know how much to charge you well, you can say its all about estimation. They can estimate by where you got on and where you will get off.
Jeepneys are one of the those things as I have mentioned a “nuisance” to other people. Im pretty sure that some where around 80-90% of jeepney drivers do not know the traffic rules/law. A typical jeepney driver will load and unload a passenger literally anywhere the passenger wants (as long as its en-route) and if there are no MMDA to pull them over. They are the outlaws and kings of the Philippine roads. They usually wait or illegally park on road sides waiting for passengers and are not bothered one bit if they cause as an obstruction to other vehicles.
Beware riding jeepneys though if your a bit claustrophobic, they fit as many passengers as they can squeeze on the seats regardless if the passengers are comfortable or not. Most jeepneys play really loud music (cheesy at that!),usually seen zigzagging their way on the road and belching smog.
Over-all they are a vital part of the Philippines. Without them, they can literally cripple the economy. They may be crude and a hazard to the environment but they are still 100% filipino.
Introduction
So, you want to know more about the Philippines,ey? well, you went to the right place. The Philippines in truth has a diverse culture, that is in a way easy to understand yet hard to apply.
Most of the literature that you often find about Filipino culture will usually tell you that we are a hospitable,friendly and fun loving people,This is true but not complete. We are only these if we choose to be. We are generally cautious with whom we are friendly with. In reality, you can say Filipinos are well, rude. We offer our hospitality to people that we either know, a friend of someone we know or if there’s an occation (like fiestas). We hardly greet or care about strangers. If we are smiled upon or greeted by a total stranger most of us find this weird and thus think your crazy for doing so.
We like being left alone to do our business out in the world and we dont really care about other peoples problems, we have more than enough, thank you very much.
Please dont get me wrong though. We are still a very friendly people, it just that we are very cautious about strangers and weird people. Its because of our social classes, It is a form of discrimination that is in our own way.
We have the rich, who most of the time tries to avoid the poor. They try to help the poor either to make themselves feel good, guilt or just plain feel sorry.
The poor, of whom majority of them will do whatever it takes to earn income. Im not talking about stealing or the likes. They will break the law though, like selling items that are pirated, unhealthy or dirty food, rejected items and a lot more. They will also cause great inconvinience to othe people, like jeepneys and buses will load and unload people almost anywhere.
Then we have the middle class. These are the people that really doesnt give much thought about anything as long as it will not affect them directly.
Hopefully, with this first post/article of mine gives you an idea about what I mean about the REAL Philippines. I will be explaining more about the things I have mentioned. So please do check from time to time as I’m sometimes lazy to do anything.
