Helping Hand(brake)

I took this picture a few months ago. The jeepney I was on was still waiting for passengers. This other jeepney stopped a few meters away and the driver got off. He lifted up the hood to add water to the radiator and the vehicle started to roll backward and so he calls for help. Another driver walks up and gives him a hand.

Here you can see the driver (in blue) preparing to add water to the radiator while his friend (light shirt & denim shorts) takes on the role of emergency brake. Nice gesture, don't you think? It sure made my day.

Text In The City

December 6, 2007
8:51 AM

The jeepney that's taking me to Sta. Rosa, Laguna where I work is still waiting for passengers at the terminal. I can't help but noitice three other passengers sitting across from me - they're all texting.

The guy directly in front of me is lightly holding his celphone with both hands and is using his thumbs to type. What I find amusing is that he's been looking around casually at all the other passengers the whole time. Talk about multi-tasking.

The young girl to his right is speed texting. The staccato sound of clicking keys is quite amazing. She must be doing a hundred characters per second. Wow!

The lady on the other side is smiling sweetly to herself while sending & reading her own text messages.

A woman to my right is also using her mobile phone. She's typing and reading her messages, all while keeping the gadget inside her bag. Must be really top secret, for-your-eyes-only stuff.

Homebound Sardines

December 4, 2007
7:14 PM

I'm on my way home from work. My back is starting to hurt. The passenger van I'm on has forward-facing seats of 4 rows. It's designed so that 3 people could sit comfortably in each row - 2 on regular seats and 1 on the jump-(folding) seats.

To maximize revenue, the driver adds 1 more person per row so that there would now be 4 passengers in each row. The vehicle doesn't leave until all its seats are filled. I'm sitting uncomfortably because only one of my butt cheeks is properly supported on the jump-seat near the van's single sliding door.

A good number of vans plying this route are imported units from Japan. These are modified (i.e. converted from Right-Hand Drive to Left-Hand Drive) to be used as public shuttle vehicles. As if 2 people sitting on a factory-installed jump-seat wasn't punishment enough, try 2 people sharing a poorly-made jump-seat; poorly-made as in unstable contraptions with the backrest at an awkward-leaning angle. If you happen to be sitting in one of these seats, do be careful about leaning back because you might hit the knees of the person behind you.

With traffic and rising fuel costs, shuttle van drivers will do everything to make each of their trips count.

We're so squeezed in but I'm starting to forget about my aching back because now I think I'm getting a leg cramp ...

(Color) Blind?

The Filipino driver is a very unique breed.

They cross red lights, overtake and even start counterflows on streets with solid yellow centerlines, and public utility drivers pick up & drop off passengers at intersections when the light is green and they should already be moving.

In my opinion, the Land Transportation Office's licensure exam for drivers should include items to see if drivers are indeed oblivious of color.

Then again, that agency, and others like it, could do either or both of these things:

1. work more on really upholding the law;
2. impose higher fines for violators.

I think they should do both.

Twisted Pride

"NO LOADING / UNLOADING FROM 6:00 AM - 6:00 PM"

That's what the sign by the road says.

Cops or no cops and whatever time of day, drivers of public utility vehicles stop right in front of the sign and just do their thing. It's a very common sight in Manila.

What is it really with Filipinos and their nasty habit of defying even the most simplest of rules?

I guess, because most Filipinos feel they have nothing else but their pride, they "TAKE PRIDE" in the fact that they can pretty much do as they please in their own land.

Gas Chamber On Wheels

November 29, 2007
8:13 AM

It's raining again and I'm on my daily ride to work in a jeepney. We're cruising along on the South Luzon Tollway. The air is cool outside; but inside the vehicle, it's a bit warm.

Jeepneys are modified versions of the American workhorses used by soldiers in World War 2. Today they look nothing like their predecessors of almost a century ago. The frame and chassis have been modified, among other things, to accomodate 10 or more passengers. Jeepneys have become a major source of income for many Filipinos and are now considered icons of Philippine pop culture.

These public utility vehicles have several design flaws, though. One most glaring today is in its aerodynamics. When the jeepney is completely filled and moving forward, a vacuum is formed inside the passenger "cabin" so that there is a backdraft. Put simply, air flows into the cabin through the entrance/exit at the rear end; the greater the speed, the more air that flows into the cabin to fill up the vacuum.

So why is this bad?

Air rushing in from the jeepney's backend brings exhaust fumes along with it. As if this wasn't bad enough, on rainy days such as this one, see-through canvasses or "trapal" are lowered to cover the vehicle's windows and keep passengers from getting wet. The vacuum effect is magnified; plus all those fumes are entering through the back and, voila- we have a gas chamber on wheels.

Did I remember to bring my asthma medicine today?

Travel Buddy

I like my Nokia6230i mobile phone. It's a very handy little gadget. I use it to update my schedules, make reminders, take quick pictures of interesting stuff I see along the way, do simple computations, and, most importantly, write simple journal entries (like this one). The screen is just the right size for me and the keypad is fast and easy to use.

It doesn't look like much after more than 3 years of use (and abuse), which reminds me of another very important feature - my Nokia 6230i is tough & durable.