April 02, 2006

Le Taxi

My husband and I never owned a vehicle. We fairly do not need it since both of us do not know how to drive. Moving from one country to another requires us to be mobile and never gave us the need to have a car of our own. Here in Istanbul, husband just walks to work since our flat is connected to the building of his workplace. I, on the other hand, enjoy walking through the parks nearby to get to the nearest Migros or Gloria Jeans.

My first few months here, naturally, I took taxis to get me to not so familiar places. Once I became more brave and adventurous enough, I tried taking the Dolmus which is the Turkish equivalent to the FX taxis back in the Philippines. I also tried taking the tram, the metro (subway trains),ferries, and even the fenicular. Of all modes of transportation, taking a taxi cab is always an experience. You will never know what to expect.

a typical Turkish Dolmus

Once I rode a cab here.The driver doesn't speak English and couldn't understand my limited Turkish. I needed to call a friend who could speak the language and explain where I wanted to go. This was also a very common situation when we were living in Hong Kong. I knew the English names of the streets but most of the time, the taxi driver would only know its Cantonese name. If it was somewhere in the outlying parts of HK, it would be best to have someone translate the English names of the streets and buildings to its Chinese counterpart. Here, there are no English names but I always find it hard to say the street names in Turkish.

Another thing I noticed, here, once a driver understood what I said in Turkish, he would suddenly speak the language so fast assuming that I could speak it and understand it fluently. Then he would see the helpless look on my face having no idea what he said and realize I was lost in translation. He would apologize and our conversation will rewind and play in a slower pace until I understand what he means.

Once, I carried on with a Turkish conversation with a driver not really knowing what we were talking about. All I knew was I got to the place where I wanted to go and had a pleasant conversation whilst on journey. Sometimes, it pays to bluff!

*photo swiped from this site.

Posted by duke at 4/02/2006 03:22:00 PM

8 Comments:

Anonymous said...: hi, duke, i dont like riding in a taxi. gives me the goosebumps, what with the many news about taxi rides.. the last i had it was when i was with kids who still very young. it made me so uneasy 'til we reached home. didnt tried it again.; 4/02/2006 06:17:00 PM
Anonymous said...: erratum: who were still very young; 4/02/2006 06:17:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Parang the minibuses in HK but the one that really amuses me here are the tramcars.

Teka marunong ng mag english ang mga Taxi drivers dito, you know if you try speaking in cantonese, sasagutin ka ng english and vice versa - it's weird pero nasa kanan din ba ang driver diyan?

Don't you miss the red urban taxi here?; 4/02/2006 09:56:00 PM
Jeruen said...: Duke,

Oo nga, kaya nga nag-aaral ako ngayon ng Czech eh, I'm trying to cram as much Czech in my head, since I'll be there for two and a half months!

Na shledanou!; 4/03/2006 03:42:00 AM
Gayzha said...: actually, i like riding a taxis especially with Turkish drivers since some of them are so pogi - like one time i thought the driver looks like Kevin Costner and there was one who is a Nicholas Cage look alike. When we ride a taxi we choose the drivers who look pogi. Some of my friends had even taxi driver friends with whom they flirt all the time and they really had great fun, as in!; 4/03/2006 06:29:00 AM
duke said...: Bing I always thought taxis are the easiest modes of transpo esp when you are with kids. At least you don't need to scram for seats like when you are in a bus or train. I guess it really depends on your experience too :)

K talaga? pag wala ng MTR at ferry dun lang ako nag ta-taxi dyan! One time I went to Ap Lei Chau to go to Tequila Kola
. Sobrang tagal ng bus I took a cab to go back. Medyo di ako maintindihan ng driver. I ended up in Pacific Plaza which is not bad at all :D; 4/03/2006 11:39:00 AM
duke said...: LIW Is a Czech a difficult language to learn? Parang iba yung sound nya. We had some Czech people come over here and I couldn't understand a single thing they were saying!

Goodluck on your language brush up!

Jase Well I can attest. Marami ngang guapong Turks. That's a nice way of choosing your cab! At least they are good looking :D lol; 4/03/2006 11:42:00 AM
JoobJoo said...: Have you never heard about the cab urban legend? Ha ha ha. Loko lang. But cab drivers drives so badly.; 4/03/2006 05:59:00 PM

Confessions of an Expat's Wife

April 02, 2006

Le Taxi

8 Comments:

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