Mabuhay
So Mendy guns the gear shift and 15 horns blare indignantly behind him as he swoops through the one car-width to cut across 8 lanes of traffic, screeching to a halt amid the cacophony of blocked vehicles, because there is a concrete barrier in the way. He backs up 3 inches, waves cheerily at another mad driver, shoves his steering wheel mightily and squeezes the car past the barrier, and off he goes in the opposite direction. Time is on his side now, the roads are less congested and it looks like off-peak hours for the buses. One bus drifts right ahead of Mendy, the only signal being the right arm of the bus conductor stuck out a side window.
As he gets closer to the airport, the aircon is giving him goosebumps.
“International terminal?” asks his passenger.
He nods, says in Tagalog, “Yes, but I need to stop.”
Passenger shakes her head, she doesn't understand him. She sees him rubbing his arms, she says “Turn off the aircon, you're cold.”
He smiles helplessly - that's really not the problem after all.
He swerves around a jitney overloaded with fat white tourists, and hits the hazard lights. The car is stopped in the middle of 6 lanes of traffic, the same yet different group of indignant drivers banging on the horns.
Mendy says, “Sorry, Mum”, with a helpless weak little smile, and dashes from the car. The passenger sits in the car bemused - Does she stay in the car? Does she drive it?
Mendy runs into an abandoned estate off the side of the road, not hearing the horns and not caring about the passenger nor blocked traffic. This cannot wait, his body can't take it.
Welcome to Manila, where everyone is smilingly friendly, traffic is a nightmare and cab drivers stop at the side of the road when they need to take a piss.
I am in Singapore at the moment. There was a side-trip to Manila for 2 days and 1 night. Somehow this little moment with Mendy made up for the complete sterile corporate taste of this visit - I saw nothing more of Manila beyond the airport, roads, and a shopping mall. The hotel doesn't count - it looks just like the gazillion other ones I've stayed in on business travel, the same tired pre-fab mass-produced attempt at being the "unique place" the traveller calls "home". Ya right, don't hold your breath. Their pristine bathrooms and soft swanky sheets are cold to the touch regardless of ambient temperature, nothing compared to the well-used sheets and noisy mahjong sessions in Hong Kong or my Singapore part-time home.
As he gets closer to the airport, the aircon is giving him goosebumps.
“International terminal?” asks his passenger.
He nods, says in Tagalog, “Yes, but I need to stop.”
Passenger shakes her head, she doesn't understand him. She sees him rubbing his arms, she says “Turn off the aircon, you're cold.”
He smiles helplessly - that's really not the problem after all.
He swerves around a jitney overloaded with fat white tourists, and hits the hazard lights. The car is stopped in the middle of 6 lanes of traffic, the same yet different group of indignant drivers banging on the horns.
Mendy says, “Sorry, Mum”, with a helpless weak little smile, and dashes from the car. The passenger sits in the car bemused - Does she stay in the car? Does she drive it?
Mendy runs into an abandoned estate off the side of the road, not hearing the horns and not caring about the passenger nor blocked traffic. This cannot wait, his body can't take it.
Welcome to Manila, where everyone is smilingly friendly, traffic is a nightmare and cab drivers stop at the side of the road when they need to take a piss.
I am in Singapore at the moment. There was a side-trip to Manila for 2 days and 1 night. Somehow this little moment with Mendy made up for the complete sterile corporate taste of this visit - I saw nothing more of Manila beyond the airport, roads, and a shopping mall. The hotel doesn't count - it looks just like the gazillion other ones I've stayed in on business travel, the same tired pre-fab mass-produced attempt at being the "unique place" the traveller calls "home". Ya right, don't hold your breath. Their pristine bathrooms and soft swanky sheets are cold to the touch regardless of ambient temperature, nothing compared to the well-used sheets and noisy mahjong sessions in Hong Kong or my Singapore part-time home.
posted by tygertyger at 11:09 AM
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