Of course I knew jeepneys existed, but only as a name so I always thought they were something like Thailand's tuktuks, thus, as I mentioned before, as soon as I arrived in Manila, I was practically screeching "That's a homemade car. And there's another. And another."
I love homemade cars. There's a tiny island someplace in the world - and I won't tell you where because I've just told an old friend who is looking for a subject to photograph for a book, so you'll have to wait for that to come out - where the salt winds blow so strongly car bodies rust out within six months of arriving ... and so locals replace those bodies with fibreglass ... and they're getting increasingly original in their designs. No one warned me about this either, so when I visited the island back in the early 80s, I found these cars mind-boggling, the concept so new to me that cars didn't have to look like your average and boring factory-built cars found everyplace else on earth, that it took me long minutes of staring at them with my mind ticking over before deciding "Dammit, these are fabulous!"
And thus began my love of homemade cars. I'd even be willing to go to Mogadishu to see theirs.
But there's no need to visit war-torn Somalia to see homemade cars because a visit to the very pleasant and charming Philippine Islands will also give you a large dose.
Let me tell you again what I've already told you about them:
"You may recall my passion for tuktuks when I first visited Thailand, but that only lasted a day ...
Philippines doesn't have tuktuks,
but they do have these, called "Tricycles"
or Trik for short.
... and although Triks can get pretty fancy ...
Police Trik!
These are specifically for Tourist Police.
Yup, they have Tourist Police.
... they paled into insignificance while my passion for jeepneys only increased the more of them I saw.
They tootle up and down Manila - as well as everywhere else - all day and night, each with their own route, and I got to know the Makati Avenue ones very well - Homeboy, Firebird, Frances, Christ Almighty, and The Almighty Saves.
Man, they were so incredibly cool. First I loved the slick new ones ...
... and then I fell in love with the old ones ...
... and then I couldn't get enough of the ones covered in gorgeous paintings ...
The delay on my camera meant
I missed the shot I was after:
the pink one in front.
Another two!
... and then I fell in love with their wonderful names ...
However, all transport in Manila appear to have wonderful names:
... like this one which is actually called "Safe".
... but then I fell in love with the private jeepneys ...
These are called "Owners"
which I learned stood for
"Privately Owned Jeepneys".
... and I became so increasingly enamored I began having lively thoughts about how wonderful it would be if Fiji had jeepneys too and wondered how I could go about organising internships for Fijians at the various private backyard jeepney-building workshops scattered throughout the Filipino provinces.
It's a good idea, you realise! And finished jeepneys only cost about US$1000 each so ... well, it's such a good idea, Fiji really should do this!"
OK, that's what I've already told you, so let's now tell you more.
Jeepneys are what the Philippines did with the Willy jeeps the Americans left behind after WWII. The incredibly brutal Battle for Manila ...
Tribute to the 100,000s of civilians
who died in this battle.
But the Americans had left behind their jeeps and so the locals took them to make-shift mechanic workshops and lengthened them and made them over into their new version of public transport.
I've already told you how I actually saw for myself, in Tagaytay Province, one of the original WWII jeepneys, and how excited I was that it was still on the road and still transporting people after ... mmmm, is it 70 years?
And I've already told you how I saw two old jeepneys on the side of the road with big "For Sale" signs and it was all I could do not to immediately jump out of the still-moving car to inquire after them.
And I've already told you how Naldo and Shirl got me my own little jeepney ...
Silver version!
With "Denise" on the front
and "Makati Avenue - Landmark"
on the destination panel as
a tribute to my first ever jeepney ride.
... which was so moving, I cried.
Naldo and Shirl love jeepneys too, and Naldo actually proposed to Shirl on one, as did this fellow:
She said yes!
And here's a shot from that actual Makati Avenue - Landmark - ride.
Anyway, our entire week in Manila, jeepneys, unlike tuktuks, never got old because there was always more to see and love. Oh, and JUDGE! Talei and I decided we'd find THE JEEPNEY; the one we loved above any others, and I decided "Oscar" was the coolest jeepney I saw in Manila... although, as we've since seen in photographs that there are much much cooler ones in all the provinces, where the jeepney is celebrated to the nth degree ... and Talei, since she's still there, is waiting until she's seen alot of them before making her own choice.
And the best jeepney name we saw was "Vince of Peace." and ... "Wack with Christ."
On large so you can read that name!
Jeepney photographs? I have hundreds of them!
Want to see a few?
So there you go, the most amazingly incredible endemic Filipino invention EVER ... although I still have to show you Filipino chandeliers which are also amazing and endemic versions of the ones the Spanish put in their churches ... and they have to rank as pretty cool too. But NOTHING comes close to being as cool as the Philippines very own symbol of their creativity, ingenuity and ability to survive anything thrown at them:
Long live JEEPNEYS!!!
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2 comments:
You'll definitely love the jeepneys in Cagayan de oro City (that's in Mindanao). Even the interior is well decorated. Oh did Talei tell you that she already experience floods here?
No! Haven't heard from Talei at all! Little ratfink! Tell her I'm going to post photos of her eating durian on my blog.
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