Little Coloured Bricks

The Philippine Tricycle in Lego by Michael Davadilla

Like many countries, the Philippines has its own quirks and this includes one of the Asian country’s most common mode of transportation -the tricycle. Colloquially, this vehicle is called a trike by most Filipinos and they are around in any village or town. In the cities, there are still selected trike areas. It can carry 4 people, 3 in the inside and 1 in the back of the tricycle driver. This is what Michael Davadilla’s Lego creation accurately depicts -the trike in all its glory.

Tricycles are usually classified by color depending on certain areas they service.  In a subdivision or village entrance there can be 2 different colors of trikes lined in certain spaces. These colors symbolize which part of the village the tricycle goes to. For example, if there are 2 trike color choices -green and red and the green goes to the northern part of the village and the red ones go to the south, you should make sure that you are riding the right trike. If you are going to the south then you should ride a red trike and give the tricycle driver the address of the place you are going to. You may opt to share the trike like the Lego minifigs in the trike made by the Filipino Lego builder or just pay for all the seats and have the ride for yourself. If you have a heavy built, it would be best not to share the trike since the space inside the trike is around 80 centimeters wide so basically it would be hard to fit two heavy built persons in there.

Photo Courtesy of John-Paul Enaje

Another iconic mode of transport in the Philippines is the jeepney. It looks like the Lego jeepney made by Lego builder John-Paul Enahe. This vehicle is usually called the king of the road in the said country.