Roads Less Traveled

It's been a while since I last went to Quiapo. For those who are wondering, yes, you could still get a whiff of that welcomed smell of tinapa along side Quiapo church, the tianggue is still as busy as before, and fortune-tellers who look the part still line one side of the place and you get to choose a specialist on your particular sign on the zodiac. Most worthy of note is how clean the street below the LRT Carriedo Station had become. That area is now, and had been for a quite a while now I was told, free from horse shit and passing public transport that includes calesas (horse-drawn carriages), thereby explaining the horse-shitlessness.

I went there just last Saturday when I did not really have anything productive planned for the day and Ana and Beth seemed excited with a three-point agenda in mind being: go to Quiapo and scout for anime DVDs; go to Cubao via LRTA from Recto to get Beth some cold-weather wear and visit what is purportedly a legendary ukay-ukay venue with a promise of quality finds; then swing by Greenhills for cheap PC peripherals and flash drives.

The tour proved eventful as I got to get A-quality replacement batteries for my trusty alternate-phone and the complete Getbackers series on DVD which I had been itching to get my hands on for the longest time. Also, I got to buy the best computer-generated sequel movie to the Final Fantasy VII game entitled Advent Children (due out in DVDs elsewhere on November 29 this year).

A vendor asked me if I'm currently collecting anime movies, upon observing my selections. I said not really. He then told me he's got a great new title and automatically showed me a picture of a naked woman baring all and not just her pearly whites. Disgusted on his desperation to sell porn, I walked away. He then said at earshot that I did not make a mistake in getting Advent Children. Sure, man, but I already knew that.

Next stop: Cubao. Ana was actually excited to try the new LRTA out from the moment she heard that the train seats don her favorite color: violet. We first got on a jeepney going to the station just beside Isetan. We all found the train quite impressive. The escalators are working rather smoothly, the ticket-cum-passage-card vending machine is as high-tech as those in other Asian countries, and the train itself spacious. An in-train PA even announces the next station a few meters before and upon arrival in two languages: English and Swahili, er, Tagalog (next station: Betty Go Belmonte...ang susunod na istasyon ay Betty Go Belmonte). I was beside myself with pride and smiling at how our government had done a nice job in trying to cope with public train transport technology. I was also actually smiling bacause Betty Go Belmonte is a weird name for a station and that I had no idea who she was, until Monday morning when somebody volunteered the info.

We did not get to find the ukay place but the Araneta area, truth be told, has also tremendously improved over the years. It's not a huge wet market anymore, an image which stuck in my mind from since I was an inch tall. They now have nice restaurants and its tianggue inside Farmer's Plaza is actually already comparable with Greenhills, the tianggue capital, which just happens to be our last stop.

Who says we still need to go outside the Philippines to do thrift shopping? There are cheap cool stuff in Greenhills ranging from clothes to gadgets and house decors and tools and Christmas gift ideas.

When was the last time you went around the metro the way we did? If it was more than 3 years ago, or so, try the itinerary out and let the joy of rediscovering your city surprise you.

posted by Fritz @ 1:40 AM