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Floods, Makati, and Friday Night Traffic 12 September 2006

Posted by Sasha in Gallivanting Episodes, The Rambler, The Road Warrior.
7 comments

The Philippines. My country. Known for it’s amazing sands, surf and *aherm* beautiful women. Heeheehee. [Tell me if I’m wrong I dareya! ;)] But since it’s a tropical country, there’s always the monsoon season. Yes. Rains. Heavy Rains. So, the water ain’t limited to beaches or pools anymore. You can experience them on the streets, too. Heehee. Yea, I’m talking about major flooding of streets, man. Let’s give it up for the DPWH people for their great upkeep of the drainage system and for all the disciplined people for their generous cooperation in waste management. 😉

Makati. The city I consider my 2nd home. It sheltered me for a time and I can always rely on it being there to be a place that I can retreat to whenever I want to lose myself in the crowd.

However, it’d been more than a month since I was there and it was just last Friday did I decide to go back [cuz I’ve been spending a lot of time in Alabang or BF] since I was just picking my friend up at Salcedo Village and drive back to hang out at BF. Wrong move. Apparently.

Major Flooding. I should have heeded the obvious signs! Rain. Friday. Makati. It’s like a recipe for disaster! Grrrr. I’d like to kick myself for not having considered the possibility of floods in Mayapis and/or Buendia [my usual route going to Salcedo Village]. A 30-minute drive turned into a 2 and a quarter-hour torture! Gah!

The situation which I found myself in tried my driving skills. Picture me in a Revo [thank God for that, too] driving through floods, manouvering through the tight traffic, made a 3-point turn on a railroad, dismissed the fact that I’m passing in a one-way street, snaked my way along Ayala Avenue — all with corresponding bursts of speed on instances that had allowed me to. Heeheehee. It was exhaustingly stressful.

Note to self: If I’m planning to go to Makati on a Friday night and it’s raining, brave the heavy Ayala traffic instead, at least it makes more sense than getting marooned [so to speak] on an elevated railroad.

Helpful Driving Tips – Manila 13 January 2006

Posted by Sasha in The Road Warrior.
3 comments

This was inspired by a post I read. Here’s my take on it, however, instead of providing you with rules for driving, I’m just going to give you some helpful tips that should be kept in mind if you find me driving alongside you, in Manila.

  • Don’t stop in the middle of the road

    • Pullover, dammit! I’m talking to all drivers of public utility vehicles, including cabs. Otherwise, your passengers and yourself will suffer the intensity of my blaring horn! Argh. That’s also to let the others know how much of a bad driver you all are.

  • Don’t try to cut in on me

    • Manila Traffic is hell. Word of advise: queue up and wait. All of us need to get to wherever we have to go. I hate drivers who think that the use of counter-flow will ease the congestion of the traffic. Duh. That’s downright stupid. So, don’t get frustrated if I don’t let you cut in. You can still try but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

  • Don’t try to overtake

    • Especially if I’m close to the car in front of me. You don’t stand a chance in cutting in. I’ll speed up and slow down accordingly just to get my point across and also, just to annoy the hell out of you.

  • Never underestimate a female driver

    • Particularly, me. I actually humiliated the driver of a Honda Hatchback along the stretch of the SLEX. Driving a dressed up 1.6 Toyota Corolla GLi, I wasn’t surprised when he provoked me to race him. He had a headstart but I still creamed him anyway. And that’s not just due to the car’s engine, mind you. Or you can ask my friends, Ram, Oliver or Jay. It was a fair race, right, Jay?

Anyway, I have yet to master the Aussie Road Rules, for that, I need a different set, I reckon.

You can read the source.