AP – MANILA, Philippines: Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino was forced to hop into a pedicab to escape flood-induced gridlock in the streets of Manila on Wednesday on his way to the presidential palace to receive a film award from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Tarantino said he and Filipino filmmaker Amable “Tikoy” Aguiluz were in a limousine that had been stuck for about 2-1/2 hours on a bridge close to Malacanang palace when Aguiluz suggested they leave the car and proceed on two separate pedicabs — one for each of them.
“It was a lot of fun. It’s the way it is, I guess. … It was wild,” he told reporters later. “No worries. I’ve done more serious things than that.”
About 15 minutes later, they reached a street corner near the palace gates where a car picked them up, he said.
Tarantino and Aguiluz were 40 minutes late for the scheduled ceremony but they were still 30 minutes ahead of Arroyo, who was a victim of the traffic jams in the Philippine capital’s flooded streets Wednesday.
Pounding rain from Typhoon Sepat flooded parts of metropolitan Manila, prompting authorities to suspend classes, briefly stopping a commuter train and slowing Arroyo’s convoy.
Tarantino — well-known for his films “Pulp Fiction” and “Kill Bill” — was in a traditional Filipino formal shirt called Barong Tagalog but wore sandals. He was handed a size 13 black leather shoes because sandals and rubber shoes are not allowed inside the palace during presidential ceremonies, a staff of the National Commission on Culture and Arts said.
Tarantino, who is writing a book about the Philippine films, particularly the horror and action films he saw in his youth, was one of the three Lifetime Achievement award winners in the 9th Cinemanila, a film festival featuring foreign and local movies.
Chatrichalerm Yukol, a member of Thailand’s royal family whose historical epic “King Naresuan” was shown during the festival, and Belgian independent film director Robert Maleangreau also received the same award from Arroyo.
In this photo released by the Presidential Close-in Photographer’s Office, PCPO, Malacanang Palace in Manila,Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo chats with American film director Quentin Tarantino after awarding him the International Director Lifetime Achievement award at the 9th CineManila International Film Festival Awarding Ceremony at Malacanang Palace in Manila Wednesday Aug. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/ PCPO Malacanang Palace, Avito Dalan, HO) (Avito Dalan – AP)
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haha. late sila lahat! Traffic, Baha combined with Filipino time can be lethal.