Category Archives: Metro Manila

Typography: Auto Supply Shop

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Before hand lettering became a fad and popularized over social media by ‘young creatives’, Philippine folks from the barrio to the city have been lettering for long time. Observe the folk signs all over the country. These folk letterers with no fancy implements were able craft beauty, albeit crude. Their typography are honest looking which makes it more charming.

Corn in Circular Stack

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Boiled corn arranged in a circular stack inside a giant clear plastic bag with visible 20 peso folded paper bill that serves as price tag for each corn

If a vendor sells one and the same merchandise only, day after day, it is highly likely that this vendor is sort of a subject matter expert on what he sells. For example, a boiled corn vendor is an expert on how to tell a good corn from a bad one even without removing its husk, and of course he knows how to boil it perfectly, and he has taught himself how to arrange the corn in an artful and optimal manner on his kariton.

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Not wanting to mess up his arranged corn, he gets corn from his stock underneath

Moreover it is wise to buy from specialized vendors than from a grocery store because they themselves would have carefully selected their stuff. A single bad corn is bad for a single merchandise retail business.

Jeepney Spare Tyre

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Jeepney drivers must be acrobatically inclined. Apart from the ability to drive defensively in one hand while the other hand is collecting fare, a jeepney driver can apparently go in and out with ease. One could see that the driver’s door is significantly blocked by a spare tyre. And yes, that’s the standard location for the spare.

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Driving tip: Distancia amigo, your side mirror will never be up against that spare tyre.

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Chicken Pedicure

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This lad chops off the nails from the chicken feet before selling it

A well-dressed adidas (chicken feet) is achieved by chopping off its nails one by one. And that’s what keeps this lad busy at the talipapa.

Optical Shop Signage

No U-Turn / No Left Turn

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No U-turn / no left turn combination sign at Paseo de Roxas, Makati

I think it’s fine to combine no U-turn and no left turn signs as long as it’s easy to perceive like in the mockup illustration (using my pink Stabilo Boss) where the sign may look uncomplicated, and thus making it more intelligible.

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Pagulong

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Pagulong is an outdoor play where you roll a piece of tyre using a stick from point A to point B as fast as you can while maintaining its upright position. Usually it’s a race among kids and Filipino kids used to play this a lot. Perhaps it’s still true in rural areas though I haven’t seen it nowadays in the barrio.

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Under the rain I watched my little girl play pagulong alone using a discarded bicycle tyre

Talinum

Everybody’s Inside

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It was a fine cloudy Saturday morning around 7 o’clock, perfect for running, walking, biking or playing. It was a fine morning to be outside. But where is every Juan, Maria and Pedro? When they finally wake up, most will go outside to get inside those air-conditioned towns known as “malls.”

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Plastic Bag as Raincoat

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Garbage bag as raincoat

Riders are donning plastic bag as rain cover in Metro Manila. The pictures I’ve posted here are just three of the many bicycle or motorcycle commuters I’ve seen wearing improvised raincoats.

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Clear plastic bag as raincoat

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Garbage bag as raincoat

Tea Egg

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This egg tastes like adobong itlog but infused with five spices. I got this from Ymart, a Taiwan specialty store somewhere in Makati. I think this will make a decent variation to my boiled egg snacking.

Moss Rose

Run for all Seasons

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Fire tree

The gated community where I reside in Metro Manila has plenty of matured trees. Running all year round, I unconsciously got into the habit of observing seasons for blooming or fruiting. One couldn’t possibly miss the duhat season once its fruits littered the roads. Even in those designated running lane at the parks, one has to be careful to run around its fallen fruits or else you’ll get stains on your shoes or worst you’ll trip. Seeing those abundant duhat fruits just for the birds to eat and for the overripe ones to litter the ground, makes me want to harvest them myself and eat. Duhat season usually starts at the end of school year, on March.

When the duhat season is almost over, the Indian mango trees will by then be filled with fruits, a signal of the height of summer season in the country. There are plenty of mango trees in the village and there’s this one house who wants the whole village know that no one is allowed to pick their mangoes. They put up a sign that reads “Bawal magpitas ng mangga.” Beside the mango trees, the bougainvillea bloomed and colored the gardens of residents in its most saturated look under the intense summer sun. By the end of summer and around this time, santol trees are beginning to bear fruits while the fire trees are blooming intensely.

Leafy Edibles from the Garden

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Siling labuyo

I have several plants with edible leaves from my container garden. Last night, I picked some talinum tops and made salad by adding chopped onions and tomatoes to the young leaves after blanching them. I then put a bit of sea salt as I mixed the three ingredients to come up with a deliciously nutritional salad accompaniment to my rice meal.

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Kulitis

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Kangkong I meant kamote

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Alugbati

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Talinum

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Talinum leaves with tomatoes and onion salad

Bicycle Commuting

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Pedaling is speedier in Manila’s rush hour

Here is an honest and spontaneous depiction of folks using bicycles for commuting on major roads of Metro Manila which I took from inside a vehicle while traveling to work. It appears that there are more bicycle commuters now than in the past but still the numbers are too insignificant for urban planners to provide lanes for bicycle commuting, and for private establishments to provide bicycle commuting-friendly provisions such as parking, shower rooms, or lockers. Also, bicycle commuters are still not that numerous enough for motorized vehicles to get used to them on the road.

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If ideal provisions are provided, then probably hundreds will pedal to work thus easing traffic congestion. Otherwise, if it will be seen that there are already significant number of bicycle commuters on the road, then probably Metro Manila will evolve to provide provisions. It’s a chicken and egg scenario.

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Cycling can be precarious in Edsa

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His preference is the center line

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Sharing the rightmost lane with motorized vehicles

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Stopping at the center of the road

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Some wear helmets, some do not

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Single file to lessen life threatening risks

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It’s better to pedal than ride an overloaded jeepney

Kibla

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Kibla sign inside the desk drawer in guest room of Intercontinental Hotel in Makati

It is praiseworthy for this particular hotel in Makati to provide kibla sign in its rooms. Truly lives up to its “international” standards when it comes to religious sensitivity. I noticed the sign when I opened the right side drawer of the desk, whereas the left side drawer holds the Holy Bible. Kibla or qibla is the direction facing Mecca, so in a predominantly Catholic country, kibla signs are rare unlike in the guest houses or hotels in Malaysia or Indonesia.

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Kibla sign (kiblat in Malay) on the ceiling of a guest house in Kota Bharu

EDSA John

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Makeshift pay urinal along EDSA near Malibay

People resort to inventing ‘work’ no matter how unnecessary their services may be just to survive in the city. You may see those folks calling out for passengers to ride the jeepney and they’ll receive few coins as fee from jeepney drivers. I’m sure some drivers find this unnecessary but they readily pay. They can relate, and so they recognize the effort of others trying to earn few pesos. You may also see those folks guiding drivers out from roadside parking, or those folks hailing taxis for other people hoping for tips. Some folks can be cunning where they capitalize on flash floods by providing makeshift raft for pedestrians who don’t want to walk on dirty water. Somebody also thought of capitalizing the lack of public toilets along EDSA by setting up makeshift pay urinal made from repurposed water container, and using scrap hose as drain to the sewer which has been secured to the ground by scrap wood.

Bamboo Carrying Pole

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Split bamboo pole is the most applicable equipment for this guy to manually carry as many huge bags of food stuff as possible. Though rudimentary, his effort in making sure that the load in both ends is of equal weight shouldn’t be discounted.

Queue Chairs

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Sitting queue at the COMELEC (Commission on Elections) voters registration in this precinct

Rows of chair are sometimes provided in queues for relief and comfort. The sequence is usually row by row (not column by column).  Specifically, row 1:column 1, then row 1:column 2, then row 1 column 3row 2:column 1, row 2:column 2, row 2:column 3… and so on.

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From the queue chair's point of view

This sitting queue method is quite common in the country. Either butts synchronously slide to the next chair for the line to move, or if the next chair is a bit far that sliding becomes precarious, you’ll see people stand up, step sideways, then sit down (repeat n times).

Terminal 1 Rolling Store

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Rolling store - only in Terminal 1

Hungry or thirsty while waiting by the check-in counters at NAIA Terminal 1? No problem. There are several rolling stores at your service.