Jeepney ride

Before when I was living in Makati my jeepney ride is always easy and short. That I think is related on how I have been used to taking that ride for more than 20 years or so. The familiar always sticks to me somehow.

Now I stay in Manila. I take a different route and most of my travel takes place in the jeepney.

Jeepney postcard from Papemelroti

So how do I travel from Samaploc to Ortigas? I go out of my house usually on or before 12:00 PM. I walk out of Loreto going to Magsaysay Boulevard. I pass by a Mercury Drug at the cornet street, go under the Magsaysay flyover to the SM Savemore-Nagtahan. God, these SM places are getting more and more of an eyesore than of help.

Often times I see the interesting students of many schools here. For some weird reason SM is also a magnet for students especially of PUP and others. So ignoring people as music pumped through my old iPod I pass other establishments like UNITOP (its like a shopping mall with China made products) and a small Mini-Stop Convenience Store. It's a five minute walk because of the flyover.

Often times there is a MMDA traffic enforcer at the jeepney stop (or the place I take the ride at the foot of the flyover near a tributary of the Pasig River). Jeepney stop that is just one word I invented, for jeepneys stop anywhere they want or where the people want them to or sometimes both.

I take a jeepney with the sign Pasig Palengke. I pay 14 pesos. I had to have an exact amount most of the time because there are drivers who are stubborn and forgetful about your change. The jeep will go straight Magsaysay Boulevard passing interesting buildings and structures like the trash looking LRT 2 Pureza Station, Sta. Mesa Post Office, and some of the interesting Guitar shops at Sta. Mesa before turning right on V. Mapa, with its isles of trees and plants.

It turns right again at Old Sta. Mesa then to Reposo. I find it odd that there is always a garbage truck near that Town and Country Motel. Yes motels is the cheap place where most Pinoys get their fuck most of the time.

Now we turn left passing a small portion of Valenzuela Street going back to V. Mapa. This second part of V. Mapa and it turns into P. Sanchez with its rising condos and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.

At Sevilla Bride I always see some informal settlers in their small carts of wood and their stash of trash. The same goes with the bigger tributary of black water peppered with trash of all sorts. Again some pots of plants are put in here as you approach Kalentong where many passengers alight or even get in. This is also the bottle neck of traffic. There is also the Jose Rizal University a few walks away.

By passing Sevilla Bridge I am already on another street and that is Shaw Boulevard. The nicest part of the jeep trip is going through Acacia Lane. It has large trees on both sides and provides fresh air and some cold after the minutes of wasted time on concrete roads. But as the jeep turn to Fabella all those green trees are replaced by yellow walls (Is it?) to cover all the disturbing realities of Mandaluyong to end with the stinkiest public market ever - the Mandaluyong Public Market II. Despite the small size it can really overwhelm any garbage dump.

Then it goes through F. Martinez and back to Shaw Boulevard. This time I have a sense of being near work but its still a bit far. Now the road at least remains straight. I go down before the jeep goes on the flyover at the place called Crossing.

I walk from here passing under the flyover and going wither through Shangri-la MAll or SM Megamall until I reach the stinking building Tycoon at Pearl Drive.

Travel varies from time to time but usually takes less than an hour.