Yesterday was a tough commute. Stuck on Edsa for what felt like forever due to countless Payday Friday mall sales, and moronic drivers swerving left and right like snakes in the wild. So this leads me to shout, "This could be my worst traffic experience!"
It was horrible! The day practically stood still.
Prologue
I don't go to Makati City that often. I'm the type that worries about the lack of parking spaces and in there you can't always just like pull over and park. But what can I do? I have a very pressing commitment and I have to be there.
And there's the dreaded Edsa traffic jam.
To the uninitiated, Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (Edsa) and Makati City has the most epic road dramas. You’re forced to leave house when the sky is still on the dark side (say, 4.30am) to reach your office that seems so far, far away. Exit from your house any later and it's a trap – meet the hundreds of thousands of irate drivers who’ll always want to axe your head off. These hot-headed motorists have no interest in restoring peace and justice to Edsa and Makati.
If you’re new to driving (and if you use stick), don't be afraid. Once you’ve experienced Edsa, you’ll leave Edsa a learner, and venture into the streets of Makati City a true master driver!
When in Makati City.
In going to Makati City yesterday, I used the Manila route even when I was coming from Quezon City. Simply because I needed to stay away from Edsa as far as I can. But, alas, and to my dismay, traffic was equally bad in Manila and I reached my destination two and a half hours later! It's totally unacceptable, and the honking behind me when I parked for a while along Buendia is definitely not a form of obvious appreciation and encouragement. Buendia, aka Gil Puyat Avenue, transformed into a gridlocked parking lot – commuting now has become camping.
Ending? I parked inside a gasoline station, spoke with their lady manager and pretended to be lost. She was accommodating, allowed me to park, and offered me a cup of coffee (which I paid for, by the way.) It was only then that I had the chance to park and leave my car there, and proceeded to do my business with Makati City.
(NOTE: In case you're wondering why I didn't just parked in a pay parking area and save me the trouble of telling what I consider a white lie – ANSWER: I'm not in favor of paying the exorbitant parking fee. It's a rip-off and I don't want to be ripped off! And the fact that I only needed 30 minutes to finish my appointment there, so what's the point in paying.)
Going Home.
I decided to use Edsa on my way home. I thought, "What the heck! I was able to endure 2.5 hours of Manila traffic, I might as well use the shorter route along Edsa and endure another 2.5 hours!"
And so I did endure. That is to say, I can, in the comfort of my own car as my air-conditioning whips me into a sweet lull of inactivity, sit in that state of standstill traffic for hours as I contemplate my life and the evening’s dinner – I'm so lucky to only inch forward at 5 kilometers per hour. At its busiest stretch from Guadalupe to SM Megamall, where merging traffic from Pateros and Pasig enter the main motorway, you can compete with your fellow drivers for a chance at the fantastic, frenzied 5km/h experience of trying to get home. It’s the stuff of dreams.
SM Megamall.
The scourge, the whip and the instrument of punishment!
The Guadalupe to SM Megamall stretch is divided into three sections – Guadalupe, Pioneer-Boni Avenue and SM Megamall. When I was stuck in the flood of cars, I can only watch the sun and a sea of glittering red brake lights while rolling past Guadalupe and Boni Avenue. Alternatively, if you prefer something a little darker, there’s always the Crossing-Shaw Boulevard Tunnel. And herein lies one of Edsa's greatest traits. You get to make choices. Because whichever section you pick to get stuck in during a major traffic jam, they all lead to a common bottleneck – SM Megamall. And when you’re in front of SM Megamall, you even get to think why in the heck it was built there in the first place! Please, folks, let's remove SM Megamall from Edsa.
Epilogue
We all know that dreaded feeling of getting stuck in traffic jams during rush hours and it definitely isn’t fun as we are quite literally wasting our time.
So, what did I discover yesterday, December 20, 2019 in Edsa and Makati City? It's the best and worst place to be stuck on and think about life, because what is life in Metro Manila without traffic jams!
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