The First Expedition

The On-foot Route: Prologue

Original Date: October 20, 2013

There i was ready to run out the door and see the new world around me. I wanted my first expedition to be special and meaningful so i did not took the jeepney nor the LRT to reach my destination. I started from G-Tuazon, Sampaloc, and went straight forward down to Lacson Avenue. Both G-Tuazon and Lacson Avenue were long and took me probably 30 minutes of walking to reach their intersections. There might be a shorter route but i only followed the jeepney's route to Quiapo and after going through some corners left and right, i ended up at Loyola st. There was nothing special from the streets and corners i went through, although they all shared a common thing: Neglected. There were lampposts with no lights, some with no lamps at all, the walls of buildings were grimy with some having their paints peel off from the pollution, and  a scattering of homeless people and vagues, sleeping in the shade of nooks and crannies which really made the place look like an post-pandemic attack!

Anyways my first destination was the Manila City Hall, the most iconic landmark in the city. There were rumors that the building is haunted with restless spirits from WWII, so i wanted to check those halls myself. I took a brake at the Jollibee fast-food chain near Loyola-Recto, grab a bite to eat and looked at my handy-dandy smartphone for google maps. Oh did i forgot to mention i was studying at Far Eastern University? That's why i fairly memorize the place; But my sense of directions will be tested later on. The map showed me that the quickest way to reach the city hall was to cross the Quezon Bridge coming from Quezon Boulevard. Feeling energized and ready to go, i took my last sip of coke zero and left to reach Quezon Boulevard. It was tricky at first cause i hardly noticed there was an underpass somewhere near the Isetann mall alas it all made sense after a few attempts to cross to the street. Its amazing how Filipinos find a way to make a living in small areas no smaller than the restroom i went to at Jollibee.

As i make my way towards the end of the boulevard, that's when it struck me.... I finally saw the gems of Manila.