Been noticing lately that I have developed a really negative streak in my thinking and writing.  Not easy to understand why.  Things are going well for me, I just passed a comprehensive health exam … at a cost of a tiny fraction of what all the tests would have cost in

the US.

Got a few regular prescriptions to take, probably for life now, but that’s not uncommon in the 60th decade and they;re pretty cheap, either at my personal favorite, Mercury Drug or at the Generics Pharmacy chain where the selection is more limited but the prices are really, really cheap.  (and there’s anew Generic store in easy walking distance from the house, so I don’t even have to open the gate and drive the short distance to Mercury.

And driving, did I mention driving?  driving here is a bit strange as it always has been, nothing different there … but I was just reflecting on how the roads have changed in the 3 plus years I have been here.
photo credit: barrera_marquez2003

The NLEX (Northern Luzon Expressway) which runs near my house is a good road and it’s not only being continually maintained, but substantially improved.  There’s a new spur almost complete that will route away from the congestion at the intersection with EDSA (Manila’s “main drag”) and let me zip direct onto Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City, one of my frequent destinations.  And that will be at no extra cost .. in fact tolls have been reduced since we first moved here … anybody know of any major US tollways that have reduced tolls lately?

And how about my cool little toll transponder on the dash .. pre load it like a cell phone and when you come to a toll booth, go in the special Easy Trip lanes and breeze right through.  Want to know how much your load is .. go online to their modern website or text them for instant answers.  The other day there was a planned maintenance outage for their recharge lanes on the highway.  because I’m a subscriber they texted me in advance to let me know.  Ehen’s the last time your toll taking authority let you know anything in advance?

And then there is EDSA itself.  When you have a major artery in a huge city that is already pretty much completely built up, you don’t have much option for widening the road.  But you can still make big time improvements, and I really should give credit where credit is due.
photo credit: Sir Mervs

The MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) has worked wonders with EDSA in the past 4 years.  First, they did away with all left runs … a major source of congestion.  They also barricaded the cross streets at all crossing points so that traffic wanting to cross EDSA has to turn right, make a U-turn onto EDSA the opposite direction and then turn right onto their original route.

Sounds like a big pain, and it does of course take time, but compared with the old way of being gridlocked at every cross street, this is really heaven … at virtually no cost.  Just some traffic signs and holes cut in the barriers at U-turn points.

Another major change has been effected with nothing more than paint.  The two lanes closest to the curb are set off with a yellow stripe.  Only vehicles with commercial (yellow) license plates are supposed to drive in those lanes.  The other (usually) three lanes have white strips for the rest of us.  Keeping the buses confined from their ld practice of clogging all five or six lanes, and then stopping anywhere to pick up a passenger has worked wonders.

The second “paint miracle” is a pink line on the sidewalk.  All squatters, sidewalk vendors and other hawkers are required behind the pick line, leaving the rest of the sidewalk free for the purpose it was built for … people walking.  May sound like a small thing, but if one lane or more of the street isn’t clogged by people forced across the curb by blocked sidewalks, it has the same effect as adding a lane, all for the cost of a bucket of paint.

Then of course, let’s not forget the trains.  The MRT light rail system which ran part of the length of EDSA is now connected directly with the LRT rail system which starts at the northern end of EDSA, Monumento .  So many buses, and taxis out of the way now that people can take fast, dirt-cheap, air conditioned, clean electric trains to get where they need to be.  And the part I like best?  The project is one hundred percent funded from existing line profits .. investing profit back into the infrastructure … no increase in expensive government loans and other debt instruments that come back to haunt our grandchildren.

And I can’t forget to mention the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway up north.  Smooth, cheap, American standard roads .. lopped an hour off my usual trip to Subic and north into Zambales.  This year construction starts on the extension of the next northern segment, slated to run from Tarlac to San Fernando la Union, a “”gateway” town for Baguio City.  That will easily lop an hour or more off a trip to Baguio.

And to get things wound up here, let’s not forget my favorite full-service bank, BDO.  I now can use a world-class online banking system to not only track my balances but schedule and pay my electric bill, Internet/phone bill, our BDO credit cards and more … works exactly like my online banking back in the States … sends me an email every time it pays a bill so I know the scheduled events are happening as planned.

Now I don’t need the services of my trusty PhilPost mailman to deliver bills … as he has, reliably, ever since I complained to the bank more than a year back.

So is it “all peaches and cream” living here?  Oh hell no!  But thinking why I was feeling ‘down” the other day made me take stock and I have to say, a huge number of things have shown big improvement in daily living here in just the past three years.

Each day may seem very much like the day before, but overall I see a lot of things changing here in the Philippines, definitely for the better.

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