I lived and worked in Manila for 2 years. Living in the Philippines (or anywhere) is very different to just visiting. Sure, a tourist will also experience the culture and atmosphere but living… I mean, doing everyday things in a foreign culture, well… that takes you to a much deeper level of understanding and awe.
Everyday things like commuting to the office provided a fascinating window into a way of life so different from what I’d known. This journey was a slow, convulsive and nauseating grind down the EDSA highway as I experienced some of the worst traffic on planet Earth.
In an almost amusing attempt to outsmart the rush hour, Uber drivers would take a slightly different route each day. These frustrated and sudden decisions to ignore the GPS took us through many small local streets, cutting through bulging neighbourhoods and markets.
Our small Toyota would bounce and shake through flurries of bright embers fanned from smokey charcoal grills and local markets with vendors under dangling incandescent lamps illuminating seafood in a scaly glisten and exaggerating the pink hues of freshly chopped meat.
We’d stop dead in our tracks, gridlocked beside men sitting silently in the fluorescent light of street-side barbershops getting a snip and trim next to rattling Jeepneys gurgling plumes of diesel. All in all a beautiful medley of absolute colourful chaos which provided many evening commutes that I’ll never forget.
