Now you can give others hell. This decal is only visible to "high-beam drivers". Serves them right. http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/ea...rce=Facebook&xtor=CS1-10#link_time=1479122804
^ apparently, also illegal. too bad. we have a lot of those high beam drivers who could care less the inconvenience & danger their are causing with their thoughtless behavior & definitely deserve some comeuppance from their victims or would be victims.
i was so in awe with Japan's train system when i went there a few weeks ago... i wonder how long it would take us to replicate that here. i'm thinking that could very well be the answer to alleviating our traffic woes.
Imagine how much money Filipinos would be saving if we had an efficient means of public transportation? Firstly, scratch off the cost of a car, maintenance, fuel, registration, parking, etc. Then you reduce density in the metro because now people have an option to live further out of the city where property is cheaper. Then you reduce medical bills because we would inhale less exhaust fumes. Plus there is also a social aspect to it. You learn to intermingle and not be isolated inside a vehicle. It's not bad to imagine right?
correct! and i need not imagine... i already saw it first hand in Japan. i wish there was like an Elseworlds reality wherein they'd trade places with us for at least a decade to fix stuff over here. problem is, we'll be left scratching our heads (as we usually do! hardehar!) once they ask: "what's in it for us?"
Me too. I was in Osaka a week ago and I was pondering the same thing as we were taking the incredibly efficient subways and trains. They are always a bit confusing at first, because their railway map looks like a plate of spaghetti. But eventually, anybody can figure them out. I wondered how long it would take until the Philippines has something remotely similar? My estimate is fifty years, and that's me being optimistic. Think of it this way, another city in Japan which I've gone to twice before, Fukuoka, is currently in the news. This is a provincial, industrial town, where apart from the factories, the pace is slower and cities don't have as much development as Tokyo or Osaka. And yet they were able to do this in less than a week : Blink and you'll miss it: Japanese sinkhole repaired at speed – video Now ask yourself, if that happened in the Philippines, how long would it have taken? The speedy response of the Japanese come as no surprise of course, when you see their ordinary citizens stopping to pick up trash in the streets. Which in turn explains their Evian-like flood waters in the rare instances when they have floods :
I was in awe when we tried the Osaka train system. But the Tokyo one is a whole new level. Before I could just get a map and count stations, with Tokyo you really need the smart phone apps to get the fastest route or route with less transfers. Marvelled at the speed, the precision, the promptness, exact times. Haven't been new york though
New York is notorious for delayed trains just because they have had that rail system for the longest time. It's not the cleanest or the most prompt but it is efficient. It moves people from point a to point b. Delays are tracked by apps anyway so you can really predict your ETAs (accuracy just depends if you walk like a new Yorker or not). Apps even tell you best train car location so that you can actually grab a seat.
probably a decade or more ago. i usually hang out in glorieta and rockwell because it only took 30 minutes to go there from my house. it still happens sometimes but only on sundays except when the christmas shopping season begins. that usually starts after all souls and all saints day. this year i stayed in BGC for 4 months since I dont want to go back to my house every time I need to be in BGC. going out to makati from BGC was also a pain and that's so near. did it just 5 times in 4 months. haha. that is why I always plan ahead if I need to go somewhere in metro manila and if it's really that important. I hate metro manila traffic because i feel like I'm growing old inside the car. LOL. it's kinda sad too that it limits me from going to places I want need and have to go to. i remember when I stayed in london for a month. i always take the tubes and I went everywhere. It works and I was good at it. I also would sit on the bench and wait for the next train to come if I really want to sit on the train. It doesn't take long. wasn't a fan of their busses because it was slow and as a kid I used to ride the bus in metro manila and it was always speeding. haha. also stayed in singapore for 2 weeks a few years back and I took advantage of their mrt. same thing. i could go anywhere. even went to the sentosa just to hang out on the beach. my only complaint is the weather. my technique in london didn't work because it was so hot. when your on the elevated platform I had no choice but to go on the mrt even if there was no seat. hehe. traffic means im growing old inside the car for me. our public transport system sucks. i only took the mrt once in my life and never again. as I always tell my mom. "wala namang forever. meron. forever third world tayo. so forever traffic din." sorry for uber long diary entry. hehe.
Compulsory Driver's exam retake What is your take on this? On one hand, I agree that there are A LOT of unqualified drivers on the road, and so I am for everybody retaking the Driver's Exam. Hassle as it may be. On the other hand, how realistic is this? Can this really be implemented by the LTO without avenues for corruption? The same LTO that can't even supply plastic cards or tin plates now? Hmmm... A couple of weeks ago, I renewed my LTOPF (License To Own and Possess Firearms). It was such a long and arduous process. But I reminded myself that in this country, owning a gun is a privilege, not a Second Amendment right like it is in the US. So I pain-stakingly complied with the drug test, psych test, and the 2-hour long multiple choice, then essay-writing and drawing contest that they call the written exam. The first time around, I also had to be educated and get a certificate from Gun Safety Seminar, although I've been shooting guns since I was 8 years old. All these requirements are apart from the NBI and Directorate of Intelligence clearances. As I was suffering through all that, I said to myself, how come it's not so difficult to renew my Driver's License? The automobile is a much deadlier weapon than a gun, and able to kill more people too. Lo and behold, a week later, some congressman or government guy came up with this idea of mandatory re-testing, so here we are. Personally I have mixed feelings. I think the idea is good, but I have zero faith in the implementing body that is the LTO. I'm beginning to lose faith in the DOTr for that matter. Whatcha guys think? P.S. Totally off topic. Are there any gun nuts here? How come we don't have a gun or shooting thread?
^ Well, they are the right dept to implement it so it would be inefficient to delegate this to, say, the LGUs. Maybe replace those officials in the LTO with competent and incorruptible ones. I think it's about time we tighten our rules on who gets to drive. It is also a privilege, just like owning a gun.
I remember my eldest daughter, who took up lessons from a driving school and who, by the way, was a valedictorian of STC in grade school, a salutatorian of Pisay, and belonged to the top 50 passers of UPCAT, failed the driving test being given by LTO by two points because we refused to shell out money for the answer sheet. This while crazy bus, jeepney,and motorcycle drivers, who do not know a thing about road rules and courtesy are lording it over the streets. So would having the retest help? I don't think so. Third party organizations to administer the test? Well, third party organizations are doing the emission tests and you still see smoke belching vehicles plying the streets. Everything in this country, and in a lot of countries for that matter, could be had for the right price.
And this is why, as much as we love the Philippines, my family is still planning to migrate. No change of administration will remove corruption in the government and the lack of discipline of our countrymen.
yeah, unless the current one lays the groundwork and obtains a solid assurance from the next of continued support for its accomplishment, if only for the common good of everyone who's kept the faith, even otherwise. going back, i read a news tidbit that they're expanding MRT routes? i really hope this is but one step towards improving our train system, maybe even bring it close or similar to Japan's Rail System in the next few years? a healthy combo of MRTs, subway trains, trams and bullet trains ought to steer us right back into economic contention! if only we can give everyone residing in the way of these future train routes a healthy relocation package, then just maybe, we can make this a reality. i'd be sobbing man tears aplenty.
What's up with the closure of Annapolis to vehicles entering from EDSA? Another one of their harebrained traffic solution?
For south-based folks, did you have the RFID installed? Is it worth the trouble of going to Bicutan? Is it true that there's no more e-pass and ECC and whatever else were used previously? Only RFID now allowed?
