Driving Through Manila

[OnMyWay]

Today we took our longest driving trip yet, Subic to Laguna.

 

I have a theory.  They picked the top 10 worst and rudest drivers in Olongapo City, took them to Manila, multiplied them by 1 million, and let them loose on Edsa in Manila! :hystery:

  

I drive in Olongapo almost every day now, and I don't have any major issues.  Drivers are somewhat courteous, probably carryover from the strict Freeport driving.  I rarely have a reason to be upset about someone’s driving and I have learned to live with and anticipate all or most of the usual tricks.  Even in the bigger cities like Angeles and San Fernando, it is not that bad.

 

Edsa, on the other hand, is chaos most of the way.  It is a wide road, 3-5 lanes each way in many places, with additional side access lanes, which apparently contributes to the disease, "Idontneednostinkinglanes-itis"!  They have signs "Stay in your lane” which I think is interpreted by the locals as "All lanes are mine"!  The other wonderful driving skill I noted was when traffic is bumper to bumper, if one area of road seems to start moving faster than the others, you should immediately turn sharply, at close to a 90 degree angle, and get over to that area.  Potentially, this will:  A.  Get you killed by a speeding bus  or   B.  Save you 3 seconds on your trip.  Well worth the risk!  The worst one today was the idiot in the small truck who decided that making a U-turn starting from the 4th lane from the center (I was in the 3rd lane) was perfectly reasonable!   :bash:

 

Wish me luck on the Monday trip home!

 

 

[lyno 47]

makes my idea of using a tank or apc sound better every time I read about driving in the phils :cheersty:

[intrepid]

Edsa, on the other hand, is chaos most of the way. It is a wide road, 3-5 lanes each way in many places, with additional side access lanes, which apparently contributes to the disease, "Idontneednostinkinglanes-itis"!

 

Otherwise known as driving with a "rectum cranium insertion"! At least that is what we call it where I work.

 

danny

[lonewolf]

i like that rectal cranial inversion we us that quote often but you mean they haven t been issued the glass stomachs yet, so thet can see where there going, they should at least have hind site

[joeatmanila]

LOL!!!! I drive EVERY SINGLE day at Manila, EDSA is really ok in comparison to Commonwealth Avenue (or killer avenue as it is called since every month at least 4-5 people die on this road) and some other areas I cross DAILY such as Payatas road and not to mention the area I live at, montalban, with their notorious fast and furious jeepneys and all other things on the road.

I learned how to drive worst than them so there is no problem, no accidents.

Whenever I drive in a civilized country (Greece is included now), I have difficulties and I get pissed because I cannot drive as I do here.

ADOPT AND LIVE!!!!

[ozepete]

I have trouble returning to Oz after driving in Cebu. I find myself driving like crazy and need to 'de-tune' and mellow out! :bash:

[OnMyWay]

LOL!!!! I drive EVERY SINGLE day at Manila, EDSA is really ok in comparison to Commonwealth Avenue (or killer avenue as it is called since every month at least 4-5 people die on this road) and some other areas I cross DAILY such as Payatas road and not to mention the area I live at, montalban, with their notorious fast and furious jeepneys and all other things on the road.

I learned how to drive worst than them so there is no problem, no accidents.

Whenever I drive in a civilized country (Greece is included now), I have difficulties and I get pissed because I cannot drive as I do here.

ADOPT AND LIVE!!!!

 

Yes,I know what you are saying.  I was comparing mainly to Olongapo.  I'm sure Edsa is a walk in the park compared to other areas.

 

National Hwy down here in Laguna can be much worse than Edsa.  Hopefully it will be ok today, Sunday.

[gapotwo]

 

LOL!!!! I drive EVERY SINGLE day at Manila, EDSA is really ok in comparison to Commonwealth Avenue (or killer avenue as it is called since every month at least 4-5 people die on this road) and some other areas I cross DAILY such as Payatas road and not to mention the area I live at, montalban, with their notorious fast and furious jeepneys and all other things on the road.

I learned how to drive worst than them so there is no problem, no accidents.

Whenever I drive in a civilized country (Greece is included now), I have difficulties and I get pissed because I cannot drive as I do here.

ADOPT AND LIVE!!!!

 

Yes,I know what you are saying.  I was comparing mainly to Olongapo.  I'm sure Edsa is a walk in the park compared to other areas.

 

National Hwy down here in Laguna can be much worse than Edsa.  Hopefully it will be ok today, Sunday.

 

Thats why i leave the driving to the driver. It really is not that bad in Olongapo And barrio barretto, I feel safe in these roads. So i am almost finish rebuilding a Quad. for my running around town, and to the beach. 

[jon1]

OnMyWay,

 

I hate driving thru Manila so much, that I will hire a driver if ever I have to roll thru there. To best avoid the worst of the traffic, you have to time your trips like it's a tidal flow. Going from NLEX towards SLEX is best before 7am and 2-5pm. Going from SLEX towards NLEX is best 9am-11am and 2-5pm. 

 

If I hit Manila during those times, I can usually cross Manila in about 1 hour. Although the all time best time to travel thru is after midnite. Zero traffic and you can cross in less than 30 minutes.

 

I usually aim for those windows if doing a road trip south of Manila.

[OnMyWay]

Actually the trip from Subic to Laguna and back went quite well.  On Saturday, going south on Edsa, for some reason it seemed like all the crazy driver's were out, which triggered my original post.  Then on Monday, northbound, I really didn't see much craziness even though the mid-day Edsa traffic was worse in some sections.  Both south and north, I think our Edsa time was a bit over an hour, and our total trip time 3.5-4 hours including stops.

 

For a real challenge, Sunday night I followed our Filipino neighbor down national highway from Cabuyao to Los Banos, in pouring rain, at night.  That is another story for later!