The pollution? Nope.
The scorching heat? Nah ah.
The first thing they observed was the way Filipinos drive. They are simply amazed at how we find “order in chaos”. They likened our highways (notably EDSA) to a main waterway where there are no lanes to follow and you are free to switch lanes from left to right just like boats and that lanes painted on the road are only there just so we know how to measure how wide our highway is since they observed that we normally can fit six cars (with buses and trucks included) in a three-lane road.
Other observations include:
- We blink our headlights first to oncoming traffic before crossing an intersection.
- We can honk our car horns as often as we want (beeping your car horn is considered rude in other countries).
- Everyone has the “right of way”.
- Instead of defensive driving, we practice offensive driving.
Pinoys (Slang for Filipino) interpret the stoplight as green = go, yellow = go faster, and red = go at your own risk
Typical Pinoy Jeepney
They are also impressed with the pinoy jeepneys and how the individual arts represent the personality of the owners and drivers. The sky high antennas, the colorful body stickers usually images of saints and/or family members, the sarimanoks at the front of the hood etch. It’s a good thing they didn’t ask me the meaning of one of the signs that we saw hanging at the foot rail of one of the jeepneys when we were crossing Ortigas. It read – “Anak ako ng tatay kong baog!” READ: I am the son of my infertile (sterile?) father. I am not sure if I have translated it correctly. Perhaps you can help me translate it in a more appropriate term?
that's so funny ate.. anak ako ng tatay kong baog.. nyay!