Manila and Taxi Drivers

I am such a probinsyana at heart…and I’m not at all ashamed to declare that.

I am in Manila and earlier, I rode a taxi and the driver swore he doesn’t know where my destination was..I mentioned all the landmark I could imagine just to give him an idea where it was…That was almost always the case here. Of course I don’t want to generalize but I can’t help it. Was it my outfit? :) Or my intonation that gave me away? Tag-Bis, in short (Tagalog-Bisaya). Hehe. Or maybe it’s just "the way" here. Two or three months ago, I was also here on a 3-week training. So by then, I knew my way. From the hotel to the office and back. I even had to ask my brother upon my arrival which streets to take and how to get there. He’s been living here since he was 19.

So one afternoon, I hailed a taxi. Told him what route to take. The driver told me that he couldn’t possibly go that way because it was "one-way" only. I said that it wasn’t so and that I take the route everyday. He insisted that it was and said in a higher tone that there were scheduled days or something. Then finally said he wasn’t going to argue with me. I replied with,"you can drop me off on that corner, please. Upon hearing that, he immediately said we can try going my way.

Nearing my hotel, it was obvious he realized it wasn’t a one-way street as I said…

Another incident was a few years ago,rode a taxi from Libis. Mentioned where I was headed, ended up with my head spinning..because we WERE going around in circles. Inside a village, I believe. Back then, I didn’t have the guts to argue because I didn’t know how to get to where I was going. I kept mum and just endured being dizzy…….:)

Now, am I being paranoid or it is true that most drivers here really do take advantage of local tourists?

I do hate it when that happens. So this afternoon, I didn’t want to argue with the driver again so I got off the taxi this time, tried to make a visual map of where I was going and….WALKED.

Have to remind myself to bring flat shoes next time around…:)

Addie, Oct. 20, 2007, Manila