Live in the Philippines

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Reversing Your Car in the R.P.

Transportation / by

At anytime while living in the Republic of the Philippines, I will guarantee you that just the simple act of placing your car into reverse will cause something to appear behind you right out of thin air. This fact I’ll promise you! The saga now begins…

The year was 1963, I was 16 years old and my Father took me to the Registry of Motor Vehicles in Boston the capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to take my driver’s license exam. Having passed the written exam, I stood outside by the door waiting for the scary dude with the clip board to take me on my road test.

Fifty one years ago this coming July, I had to navigate my way into and out of a Round-About (Rotary or traffic Circle) I still remember that the autos in the Round-About had the right of way. I also had to turn the car around using he 3 point turn, and the one maneuver that most people failed was parallel parking on a busy Boston street. This must be accomplished in only two movements of the steering wheel while reversing into the parking space.

It looked something like this
It looked something like this

Due to the extensive training my father gave me, I passed with flying colors the first time out. Next I got a job on Bluehill Avenue working for a Jewish guy driving a delivery van, moving wholesale kosher grocery deliveries all over the city. Boston being the oldest city in the US built during the 15 and 1600’s has very narrow one-way streets, which you will always find yourself at the wrong end of and never in the direction you need to be. Time always being a factor it would take too long to drive around the city to find the entrance to that street, so I learned to reverse down them with the front bumper of the 1953 Chevy delivery truck always pointing in the proper direction to cause a frustration on the face of Boston’s Finest waiting to ticket me.

So fifty years have passed and I still retain the ability to back up in a straight line for miles, which by the way came in very handy when driving on very narrow country lanes in England, Ireland and Scotland plus in the interior roads in Puerto Rico and of course here in the Philippines.

Then I buy a new car and technology rears its ugly head. My friend Tommy has two new Chevies’ a Pick-up and an SUV, both a far cry from Abe’s old panel truck I used to drive. Mayang took a ride with Tommy’s wife and discovered that the Chevy had four sensors on the rear bumper that talked to the driver while backing up, yes a female voice telling you how to drive, kinda like an extra wife in the car. But if that was not enough, a camera also mounted on the same bumper will display a picture of all that is behind you with a gauge on the screen to show you where you are relative to the Earth’s movement. My fifty one years of acquired knowledge and skill, are now tossed aside by new fangled high tech stuff.

Oh come on you know Mayang wanted this for her Mitsubishi G4 GLX. Was there even a doubt about that? Only because her friend has it in both her cars. Either lady will ever put a car into reverse unless it is an emergency or there is no other way to extradite them self from a bad parking situation. But have the camera unit she must have!

In the mall there is a store called Concord, which sells all things “CAR” up to and including back-up sensor systems and more. Mayang was canvassing all the items that were available to her, and leaning towards the talking sensor that also has a camera included but using my cagy brain, which most often works against me; I passed on the talking sensor and went straight for the camera unit explaining that I am hard of hearing caused by all those years riding ships.

Here was my logic, the camera cost more than the talking unit and the one that included both was off the charts. So the camera should please the lady more, second I added the caveat that if the camera was not good enough we would return and add the talking unit later. This was pleasing to her ears, and I received the very important nod of approval!

The young electronic wizard Juhn was tasked with the instillation of this gadget involving miles of wires, a monitor a control unit and the all important camera. The insulation is free, and remembering the Navy Barber’s pearls of wisdom; “Shipmate, would you like a good haircut, or the free one?”
I looked at Juhn and said there are two ways this can work out for you, we can drive to a nice cool shady area of the base or you can work in the boiling sun here in the mall parking lot? If you install this unit properly hiding all the wires and ending up with no extra parts, cause no damage to my car, you will also be awarded monetarily up and beyond what your boss is paying you. Juhn, do we have a deal? Yes Kuya!!!

True to his word this young wizard snapped off interior panels and using existing wire tracks properly installing each part without the first use of black electoral tape. His work was on par with any factory installation that I’ve ever seen, So sitting under a shade tree close to the water next door was a Casino, I walked over to purchase two small bottles of cold water from the restaurant, at PNP 55.00 each, I held them up to the light and the waitress asked if the water was dirty, I explained that at that price I was looking for the gold flakes that should be there.

Juhn is done, we sit under the tree and kill time until it’s his lunch time and then head back to the mall. I present him with his promised reward, he smiled and said: “Kuya that is two days pay.” Juhn you preformed as I requested and you earned it as far as I’m concerned, and I thank you.

Mayang is enthralled with her new camera backing up device; it’s been two weeks and no mention of the talking back-up device so far, now for the bitter truth, remember that 51 years of experience, the guy that can back up from Bataan to Manila? He doesn’t live here anymore. Damn if I don’t love that camera now and I’m not ashamed to admit it. But I do wonder if the driving test guy in Boston would have allowed me to use it back then?

Paul’s Driving Tip

The “S” Method for parking (No Camera Involved)
Turn on your signal (Signals are not required in the RP) and pull up three feet away from the car you want to park behind. Make sure to align your back tires with the other car’s back bumper. Get out of your car and ask the Jeepney who pulled in behind you to please move Put your car into reverse and turn your wheels all the way to the right.
• Very slowly back up until you are at a 45-degree angle, then stop. Now ask the Trike Driver who pulled into the space to move.
• Turn the wheels all the way to the left.
• Back up very slowly until you are parallel with the curb.
• If done correctly, you should be less then twelve inches or at least 5 feet from the curb. Practice will improve your judgment. Or better yet, in the Philippines pay the kid the twp Pesos to help you park, he needs the money.
• Check your Smart Phone for a “Parking APP”. Happy motoring!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Paul,

    Great story! Enjoyed reading it. Thanks for the creative tips. Before I forget, Bob said it is Jaydens B-day! I wish to wish him a Happy B-day! You must be a proud Grandparent. God Bless!

    Bill

    • Bill;
      The Jay-mans birthday is the 13th with a party at MacDo’s, then this weekend a trip to see the Dolphins at Subic water park, on my second birthday I believe I was allowed to eat dirt for the first time.
      Have you got your back up camera yet? (LOL)

  3. Senior Chief, VERY much enjoyed your article. Now if I only could get asawa-ko to use her turn signals and pay attention to traffic lights…..backing up is another story entirely. LOL…..

    • Skip,
      Turn signals once (If ever) turned on, are left on until the completion of the trip, this was learned from the Snow Birds in Florida. Traffic lights are often confused with decorations on a Christmas tree (Are we still allowed to say Christmas?) and all stop signs are broken.
      And today my wife has only seen the back-up monitor

      • Skip, (Paul completing the thought)
        Turn signals once (If ever) turned on, are left on until the completion of the trip, this was learned from the Snow Birds in Florida. Traffic lights are often confused with decorations on a Christmas tree (Are we still allowed to say Christmas?) and all stop signs are broken.
        And as of today, my wife has only seen the back-up monitor come on while I’m driving.

    • Skip, traffic lights here are just a suggestion, and I’v heard that signals are optional. But it seems to me that they are prohibited!

      • John;
        Traffic lights do not really exist in Olongapo, albeit they did install one outside the Subic Free Port to take you to the Barrio and Iba. But it was turned off within a month due for non-use. The one on the base is a money trap for visitors from Mega Manila who choose to ignore it.

  5. A smart new gadget, no doubt, BUT..You are still one step behind: A lot of new cars have automatic parallel parking, push a button and it do the job perfectly.

    It won’t take long before we don’t have to take drivers test anymore, when it comes to that Pinoys are ahead. 😉

  6. Axel;
    What car can do that, and how much would it cost?
    I handed in a 4 year old expired Florida Drivers License here, and they issued me a R.P License without any testing at all. Well there was a PEE test.

  7. Way to high tech Paul. My backing up device is a guy in flip flops, shorts and a wife beater shirt, tapping on my rear fender then hustling up to the drivers window for a peso tip. :). Always seems to be a low tech backing up device wherever I park heh heh.

  8. Ford Focus is 1 example – what it will cost here in Philippines, i don’t know

    Audi – Ford C – Mercedes – Nissan…i can go on. Ok – i admit, those cars are a little expensive though.
    As all other “new” things the price will go down very fast.

    I have seen it in action and must say it is very, very smart – – and funny.

    • Axel;
      Next will be an android in the drivers seat and then the countries will not make all the money off of the drunk drivers This was my first to hear of that BTW.

  9. Glad to see you’re keeping up with Tommy. SInce you never use the back-up device personally, maybe you can play DVD movies and display them on the monitor for your passengers while you are driving….like those big transport buses. Any way, I looked around town her in Calbayog, and the technology has not arrived in this part of the world yet. So I guess I will follow your advice and just pay the back-up guy his two pesos for now.

    • Randy;
      Tommy can in fact show movies on both of his, but mine only shows the car backing up. which still is a big hit with my grandson, who thinks it a cartoon show. But someday it will get to your area, but by then there will be no parking spaces so why bother?

  10. Good article Paul.

    It’s a bit worrying though as you have not called Axel Alex yet. Obviously it’s early in the day and the SMB’s have not sunk yet.

    Tagay

    AJ UK

    • Ha ha ha….I am used to English speaking people call me Alex, so i really don’t notice it. from now on i will look closely 😉

    • AJ UK and Axel (The man formerly known as Alex LOL)

      See what a forgiving guy Axel is? But I have learned the error of my ways, and besides he has never called me “RAUL”.

      • I worked with a Falopian guy in Saudi who’s name was Rodel. Unfortunately, the printer had made a mistake with his name badge, and it said “ROPEL RODRIGUEZ”. For two and a half years I called that guy Ropel, and only found out when I signed his final exit visa that his name was actually Rodel. Names don’t matter…as long as the “nameee” responds.

    • Paul
      Hope you had a nice mothers day with Mayang. Also happy b’day to young Jayden. He’s growing fast. Paul you should have gotten the car with the camera already installed because you knew eventually you would have to get it. Granted it would have cost alot more. You can also use it as a early mothers day gift lol. Remember your article a few weeks ago about no returns. Well Anne decided to test it last week. We bought some furniture about a month ago but the store held it until we found a rental house.Last week we found one. But it was furnished already. Anne had it in her mind shewas getting a refund. I just stayed home and let her handle it. She didn’t exactly get the refund but just as good. They had a buyer for it that paid exactly what we paid for it. How lucky is that.

      • Randy;
        No refund but a buy out, hey that works for me. As you said if the dealership installs anything you pay dearly for it. The camera is one such item. Great luck Anne had with the furniture, See we were right about the refund.

      • Randy – Regarding my visit to the SSA office here in Alexandria, VA, last Friday, I was told that I am already receiving credit for the 3 years of military service I put in, and didn’t realize it.

  11. I don’t think I would be pleased with any kind of video screen on the dash board or anywhere within the view of the driver. I know more and more new cars have some kind of video screen on the dash now, I hope I can avoid that the next time I need a new car. I think it is just too much of a distraction.

    Your description of taking a road test brought back memories of when I took mine. I think that is the only time I ever parallel parked in one try, smoothly and successfully LOL. I try to avoid parallel parking whenever possible.

    Thanks for the humor Paul, a great way to start out another week.

    • Bob New York;;
      If my screen lit up any other time then while in reverse I would cover it with duct tape (One more use for it) But parallel parking has always been my claim to fame (I get so few) I like to do it and then step out of the car with that self satisfied grin as if saying; “Really, you can’t do that?”

  12. Happy Birthday to Jayden ” Little Dude ” . How many more birthdays til he gets one of those pedal cars to drive himself around the house with ? Maybe that will have some kind of video screen in it too LOL.

    • Bob New York;
      Pedal car??? How 1970’s he has one that is battery operated and uses it to terrorize my three house dogs and his grandparents, while carrying his android tab and playing a game.

  13. With Mayang’s Mitsubishi G4 GLX, she probably doesn’t even need the rear view camera to parallel park. Or, the expensive late model cars that park by themselves. The GLX doesn’t look that heavy, remember how Randy Weiss commented about the car’s 1.3 liter engine? LOL Mayang needs two kids working for the peso tip, one in front, one in the rear to pick up the car and drop it into the parking space between two cars. The problem with that is when Mayang gets ready to leave, and she can’t find two kids working for the peso tip because it’s raining cats and dogs. LOL

    • John;
      For Mayang to back a car up it would require an Act of the Philippine Congress, as for the camera the rear of the car is high, and you can not judge distance while looking back. That 1.3 liter engine is all I’ll ever need from now on, it is fast enough for me and it hates to burn gas. (LOL)

  14. The best thing about those rear-view cameras is that they have a fish-eye lens and you can “see around corners”. It’s great for backing out of parking spaces into traffic!

    We won’t talk about how much harder it is these days to flip the arm over the passenger seat and turn around like we USED to do. “Who’s got a stiff neck – NOT ME?!!”

    • John Weeks;
      I still line it up by looking out the rear window then let the camera bring me home. I really do like it now, and thought I wouldn’t. Beside the lines on the screen, it will distort if you are too close.

    • And then there’s the priceless “toddler / small dog” bonus. God-forbid I EVER need it for anything more than peace of mind on that front!

      • John;
        And stray roosters too, all though most roosters are watched out for better than kids and dogs. But you pointed out a good reason to have that camera even if you can back-up by yourself…

  15. Totalled my truck, so I had to get a new car about six months ago. The one extra I got was the back-up camera. Love it.

  16. Paul , to be true to history,the oldest city oh USA is San Agustin Florida,it was founded in 1565, Boston was founded in 1630.The Mayflower with the Puritans arrived in 1680, Ponce de Leon arrived to Florida in 1513, a difference of 167 years. I always enjoy your Monday post. have a nice day.

    • Antonio;
      Saint Augustine you can drive through in 15 minutes, I’d love to see someone do that in Boston. As long as we are splitting hairs; the original 13 United States included Massachusetts, but not Florida, so which was the oldest city in the United States? (LOL)

  17. Hello Paul: Here in the U.S. at the University parking lot, it’s always a problem finding parking slots and backing out. Got concerned hubby to drop me off to work and pick me up. I’m enjoying my privilege at this time. Great post. Thanks for sharing!

      • Hi Paul: Four vehicles, total in my house. Hubby has work truck, his mother’s classic T-bird, my Honda, and his MG sportscar from college days. Four vehicles for two people only – no cameras installed in any of them, just old fashion looking back with the mirrors.

        • Roselyn;
          Some camera free zone you have there, but putting a camera in a classic British sports car would be a sin, but with the two seats to carry your husband and you, and that third seat to bring along the British mechanic, would be Okay. I had a 1958 Austin Healy.

  18. Paul,

    when i bought my innova from the toyota dealership in san fernando, pampanga. i was told anything installed outside of the dealership (mechanical or electrical) will void the warranty. was it not the same for mitsubishi?

    • Bong;
      Could that rule be so Toyota could be the one to sell you more stuff? When I put the new rims on my car they told me that same lie. I asked if that applied to Hub Caps too. Read your warranty, mine didn’t mention it.

      • Paul,

        my warranty expired this march so now i can install whatever i want in my innova.

        • Bong;
          Then there is nothing to worry about, and I’m in the same boat as you my warrantee expires in 4 ½ years or one hundred thousand Kilometres but I know the five years will come first.
          By then my free seat covers will have worn out and my butt can then sit on my brand new seats that will still be virgin by then.
          I bought a new Lincoln year ago with white leather seats and a girl asked me if I was going to cover them, why so the next person can enjoy the very expensive brand new seats? I think not…

  19. Paul,San Agustin is the oldest city of USA, Boston is biger than San Agustin, Let us have a CERVEZA NEGRA , as they say , a cerveza negra a day keeps the docter away, LOL.

    • Antonio;
      If when the United States started there was no Florida or Saint Augustine as a part of it, Would not have Boston been the oldest city there? Saint Augustine would have been a village at best and not even a city. A nice Spanish Fort they do have. (LOL)

        • Pete,
          Jamestown disappeared for awhile again before there was a US. And it was not a city but a town, note the name. (lol) We Bostonians are thickheads!!!

          • Paul, you’re making me feel like I’m working at the museum again. I worked at the 1611 Citie of Henricus for nearly 10 years. (Note the pre 1620 date on this one too. 🙂 ). I got into this discussion frequently. It’s mostly fueled by regional pride, and most folks only know the legends and folklore concerning both sides.

            First off, both were founded by the Virginia Company, established in 1606. There were 2 branches, the Va co of London, and the Va co of Plymouth. The London branch was on the ground first at Jamestown. Contrary to the folklore, Jamestown didn’t disappear. It remained the capital of Virginia until 1690, and continued to this day as a small town. Henricus (also spelled Henrico, Henryco, and Henricropolus in the period documents) was established in 1611 in response to the famous problems at Jamestown, which make people think the place disappeared. Henricus did disappear after the Indian wars of the 1620’s. But not before several other places along the James River had been settled, giving the English a firm foothold in what would become the US.

            The Plymouth branch first concentrated on trade and exploration rather than settlement. That saved them some of the hassles the Jamestown crew endured when they did get permanent settlers on the ground in 1620.

            I often encountered New Englanders who discounted the permanence of the Jamestown colony. On the other side, I encountered Virginians who believed that the Plymouth colonists were intending to go to Virginia, but got lost and ended up in Boston Harbor. Both stories are folklore. The Plymouth colonists did indeed intend for Virginia. But, as far as any Englishman of the time was concerned, all the land from the Saint Lawrence river to the Savanna River was Virginia. They may have intended to take on supplies at Jamestown, but their charter was for the land north of the Chesapeake, and south of the Saint Lawrence. Personally, I think they didn’t do that because of the religious differences. Others claim it was the storm. There is some speculation that their intended destination was what is now New York Harbor. They knew the coastline. Their leaders had been exploring for over 15 years. They did famously encounter a storm which probably blew them slightly off course, but Boston harbor is a pretty good place too.

            The culture and economies of the two regions developed differently. The tobacco economy of Virginia didn’t need cities, just good ports. Things pretty well remained that way until recently.

            Take care,
            Pete

            • Pete;
              In New England we also believe that the Pilgrims were not supposed to be in Plymouth (A distance from Boston) but because they ran out of beer they had to stop there. As a Bostonian I choose to go with the beer theory. Facts be damned!
              But I will stick with “BOSTON” being the oldest CITY in the US of A, As Jamestown was never a proper city and Saint Augustine was under Spanish control and not part of the 13 U0nited States until much later.