Makati is a part of Manila that is located adjacent to Bonifacio where Payton's place is located. Maybe about 10-13 km away. That is a 45 minute ride in rush hour my friends. To say that Manila's has a traffic issue is a massive understatement.
Driving rules in Manila are not exactly strict. It is nothing compared to harrowing taxi rides of Shanghai, Wuhan, and China in general but they certainly give one pause. Left hand turns happen anytime and from any lane. I would NOT want to drive here at all.
How to get around you ask? Buses are decent, Jeepneys are a mainstay(more on this adventure later) and taxis are easily accessible. If you cross the nexus of rush hour and rain then you should be prepared to negotiate and wait.
The good news is that taxis are cheap. One time I had a 1 and 1/2 hour cab ride. You read that correctly, distance traveled seven miles, time 1:30. That trip cost me 650 phps (Philippine pesos) or about $15 US. That was a VERY expensive for Manila, but when you consider that we were driving in knee high water and the guys fan belt was about to go out, I consider it money well spent.
Über is joining my google (alaphabet) overloads as must have technology. Even though my phone is on airplane mode I can order Über when I have wifi and it works fine 90% of the time. It's cheaper than cabs (even during most surges) and there is no haggling.
Sometimes the tech fails and you end up with images like below from the other night after trivia. It seems that our driver will be making the Filipino version of the "Kessle Run" in one minute.
Btw, the two person team of Payton and I took on teams of 6-10 people and help our own. Favorite category, "Google Doodles". They showed ten of them which included ones with international origins that aren't seen in the US. Very cool.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment