How to ride a taxi safely in Manila

One good reason to get a car of your own to drive in Manila, no matter what a rickety, old second-hand it is: it’ actually safer to drive on your own in the city’s crazy streets than depend on public transportation.

My own arguments against riding public transport are these – if you’re riding a taxi: you never know the driver’s temperament or if their meters are reliable. Some smell of LPG gas (because, well, they’re using it) and it’s really crazy hailing taxis during rush hours, the holiday season and when it rains.

As for FXs buses and jeepneys, I get claustrophobic and paranoid about holdup incidents. The only thing I favor are the LRT and MRT trains to easily get to Point Z from Point A, but the lines at the terminals can get really long too, and occasionally there are mechanical troubles which can stall your trip for hours.

I’ve had my commuter days and have my own horror stories to tell about riding public transport. One time, the taxi driver was really acting weird and appeared to be high on drugs. I leapt out of the taxi at the next stop light, but not without him shouting invectives at me. God knows where he could have led me then.

As a result, I’ve formulated some rules in riding a taxi in Manila:

1. Ride only on taxis ran by reputable companies. Never mind if you have to shell out extra pesos for it.

2. Practice precautionary measures like keeping the doors locked, carrying a self-defense spray and sitting at the back, instead of beside the driver.

3. Text the taxi’s plate number to a family member or friend as soon as you ride the car

4. Riding a taxi at 6 a.m. is safer than riding a taxi at 3 or 4 a.m. In the same way that riding a taxi in groups is safer than going it alone, at that hour!

On Facebook tonight, the horrific story of this young woman who was mugged by a taxi driver caught my attention:

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Help Haiti quake victims thru the power of technology

Through the powers of technology, the world is witnessing the unfolding drama that is the aftermath of the powerful Intensity 7 earthquake that hit the Caribbean nation of Haiti. Hundreds of thousands are believed to be still missing and trapped within the shattered buildings. For those of us in the Philippines, the quake in Haiti has some parallels, if you count the tragic July 1990 earthquake (magnitude 7.7) and more recently, Typhoon Ondoy. Three Filipino members of the UN peacekeeping contingent remain unaccounted for in the Haiti tragedy.

But unlike the 1991 Philippine earthquake where places like Baguio remained cut off from the rest of the world for several days, what happened in Haiti was immediately broadcast, tweeted and blogged to the rest of the world in a matter of minutes. Thanks to today’s technology, the world was made aware of the extent of the disaster. We expect the spirit of charity and volunteerism as well to rise as Help Haiti efforts have been made possible via Twitter, Facebook and the press of a cellphone button.

How to help Haiti? Here are high-tech ways to donate now:
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Google Nexus One superphone

That’s right. One of my 2010 New Year’s resolutions is to buy a new mobile phone, after having decided that the last Christmas season was a bad time to buy one (prices were high and thefts were on the rise). Unknown to friends, am only using a basic phone and have two other high-tech phones just hidden in the drawer, tee hee. The plan is to give the basic phone to my son (it’s time he has one since he’s on the verge of high school) while am gonna trade in the two others for a single phone with good video capability. Any suggestions out there?

Anyway, mobile phone fanatics are all agog about the just-launched Google Nexus One smartphone. I mean, whatta way to greet the beginning of 2010. The only caveat is that it’s not available in the Philippines. But nothing’s preventing our newspaper, the Manila Bulletin Technews lab from reviewing it. Watch out for the review soon!

In the meantime, here’s everything you need to know about the Google smartphone, in case you insist on buying it from abroad:

Processor: Qualcomm QSD 8250 1 GHz
(versus only 600 Mhz on the iPhone 3GS, Motorola Droid and Palm Pre)

Google GPS and wi-fi positioning

Bluetooth, wi-fi and HSDPA at 7.2Mbps

Voice-enabled keyboard so that you can just dictate your text message or Facebook update instead of typing it
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You know you’re a Facebook addict if ….

1. Your everyday conversations with friends are peppered with references to Facebook, as in: ” wow! Couple X broke up already? I saw it in her status update.”

2. Facebook is blocked in your office so you bring your own laptop with your own broadband connection.

3. You use Facebook Mobile. You surf Facebook even on your phone and when you feel the urge to, which is OFTEN.

4. You derive immense pleasure in showing off your old photos to everyone on your friends’ list, even if your ancestors will rise from the grave it takes 12 hours for you to scan them.

5. You think about your farm or your restaurant even when you’re at work or in a business meeting. You’re more worried that your plants will wilt and your food will be spoiled.

6. Even your friends are amazed at your level of prowess in Facebook games. You’re the Poker King, master farmer in Farmtown and gourmet queen in Restaurant City.

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The real Facebook home

It goes with the success. The queen of social networks, Facebook, has just moved to their new headquarters in Palo Alto, California and we can’t help but salivate. Dig the bike and the Eames chairs (via Dezeen.com)

The design, done by San Francisco-based Studio O+A, is cool, hip, and reminds almost everyone of the equally freewheeling atmosphere at Google. The walls have in fact been laid bare so the 700 or so employees housed in the building can freely post artworks and even write graffiti on them.

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Cafe World: my new favorite Facebook game

Cafe World, my new favorite Facebook game, is actually the first Facebook game I played. Sure I got friend requests for Restaurant City and Farm Town before, but never really got around to it. I never thought these FB games can be so addicting!

Now my life is not the same again because I always have to think of the cooking in my cafe when I wake up and before I sleep at night There is risk of food spoilage, you know. And the competitive spirit in me will always want to go to the next level. Which is bad since I can’t play the game for the most part when am in the office.

Cafe World basically empowers you to run your own cafe or restaurant. You can customize the design, hire employees, even have a say in the staff uniforms. You earn points with every dish you cook and every neighbor you visit. You have to think of a strategy because some dishes cook longer than others, like the homestyle pot roast which takes all of two days!
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