Top 10 road signs/billboards/posters that caught my attention

I tend to notice weird posters, billboards, and road signs while I'm stuck in traffic or in a long queue while waiting for public transportation. Here's my top 10 signs/ posters/ billboards (so far), in no particular order (and what I was thinking when I saw them):

1. "Accident-prone tunnel up ahead."

I was driving back to Laguna along C-5 Road when I saw this sign at the approach to the C-5/ Col. Boni Serrano underpass in Quezon City. As I passed the sign in slow traffic, I thought, "Poor tunnel. It must have gone through a lot of injuries because it's accident-prone."

2. "Slow down race ahead." 

As vehicles were being signaled to stop right in front of a grade school along the national highway in Brgy Lalakay, Los Banos, Laguna, I thought that there was a real race going on along this stretch of road. Weird; nobody in his or her right mind would run in that heat on a national highway at that hour. But as the words of the sign sunk in, I grew worried: I might be stuck in non-moving traffic for a long time because the race was a slow one.

3. "e-PASS lane/ Absolutely no change lane." 

Ah, the Canlubang Toll Plaza, the gateway to the rest of Southern Luzon, is found in Calamba, Laguna. Vehicles slow down to a crawl as they approach this area because the drivers need to pay the toll fee before traveling by national highway... And by crawl, I mean that the queue could easily be more than two km long on any given day. And with that kind of traffic, it's easy to notice so many things... particularly the signs  above the toll booths (which are clear to read when one gets closer to the booths). Many years ago, when my dad used to be the only driver in the family, I kept asking him this question: "If you've chosen the booth where you'd pay and have started to join the queue, why in the world would you want to suddenly decide to change lanes so close to the booth?"

4. "No flood, free flowing water."

Brgy Bucal in Calamba, Laguna has had its share of floods and heavy traffic during the rainy season. A subdivision was developed and its marketing people promise that there would be no floods there despite the property being along the water's path from the mountains to Laguna de Bay. Come to think of it, there really won't be floods... the water will flow freely. Right.

5. "Annie Loading Station" 

Going to Los Banos from the Southern Luzon Expressway can be a pain due to heavy traffic in Calamba. So to keep my travel time as short as possible, I divert to the small barangay road in Real, Calamba, Laguna. True, the drive is a little slower here on good days but at least traffic is still moving when the national highway is gridlocked. One slow day, I noticed this sari-sari store which I initially thought was a tricycle stop for commuters going into the inner parts of the barangay. When I passed by it, though, I learned that it's a shop that sells prepaid phone credit (probably of all the network carriers).

6. "wall climbing inside -->" 

Still in Calamba, Laguna, but this time in Brgy Pansol. That's where the tightest bottleneck is every summer (thanks to the tourists flocking the hot springs and the resorts dotting the barangay). One highway-side resort is trying to attract potential clients by advertising its facilities. But a wall climbing on its own?!? That's pretty scary.

7. "Save and protect Laguna Lake" 

Long before the 2013 mid-term elections, an environmentally friendly councilor of Calamba, Laguna decided to encourage people to save Laguna de Bay through a poster right before the railroad crossing. He had very good intentions: his photo was superimposed on a photo of water with a fluke high in the air. Whoever made the poster and approved its design made several boo-boos: (1) the proper name of the lake is 'Laguna de Bay' (Laguna Lake is like pizza pie) and (2) there are absolutely no whales in Laguna de Bay. Just a few days prior to the elections, the poster was taken down and replaced with campaign posters. Now, the electric post just before the railroad crossing is just another plain post.

8. "Pre-owned cars accept trade-in" 

That's the claim of a car shop in Brgy Real, Calamba, Laguna. When I saw this while waiting for the queue of cars that I was in to move (the same day I saw Annie's Loading Station), my brain just had to react: "But I beg to disagree. Pre-owned cars have no mind of their own." 

9. "This opening is for emergency only." 

I had a double take on this, one rainy morning as I was driving northwards. The Quirino Memorial Medical Center is located on the southbound side of C-5/ Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City. This dual carriageway has a gap that is closed for all except one. Only emergency can take a left on that gap. Emergency is a driver now, it seems.

10. "No entry beyond this point." 

One day, I decided to take the train from northern Metro Manila (for a change). At the MRT station located at the Ayala Center in Makati City, someone barricaded the white cement wall with black queue divider rope (probably) for safety purposes. But to make sure that absolutely nobody collides with wall, he still added a written warning: you're not allowed to enter the wall. I was convinced.

What a way to entertain myself while waiting for traffic, huh? I bet people who drive cars for longer distances or those who get stuck in longer traffic jams have more to add. :)