Manila: First impressions...

Manila is different to anywhere I had ever been before. From the air you can immediately see some of the shantys people live in. Tito Ed and Sheryn kindly came to pick us up from the airport and I had my first taste of Manila traffic. Within the first 10 minutes we picked up a traffic fine for not being in the correct lane. I couldnt really make out any lanes to be honest but the fine was about P150 or about $4 so I guess it isnt too bad.

I guess you would describe traffic here as more or less a free for all. Just drive where ever you fit really. Of course there are two sides to a street and lanes but as for how much you decide to obey these "guidelines" is your call. Its not such a bad system actually. People drive carefully expecting the worst so they are quite skilled at avoiding cars, bikes, tricycles and pedestrians. Noone really gets too annoyed at eachother since most people are cutting at some point.