A ferry trip along the Pasig River

The title may not sound catchy but it's not as bad as you think. When I heard about this new government project that they are promotiong an alternative route from Guadalupe to Divisoria via Pasig River, I said to myself, who would in her right mind opt for that? As our generation know, Pasig river is one of the ghastliest river in Asia, so why submit yourseft to such unpleasant experience?

Well, I guess I judged too much. My ferry trip From Guadalupe to Escolta wasn't too bad after all. Actually, I did enjoy it and I would recommend it to friends. The ferry is new, aircon was working well, seats and boat interiors were clean plus, there are friendly crewmen onboard that adds a positive mark to the trip.



We hopped in from the nearest station from Ortigas - Guadalupe Station.


The ticket booth is not crowded and don't have long lines like the MRT/ LRt usually have. Upon purchasing your ticket, you have to register in their manifesto before boarding the ferry. Fare ranges from 25Php to 55Php.

The ferry ticket is a bar-coded paper that you tap on the entrance counter. Neat!
( Sorry for the blurred image, phot was taken using a camera fone only)




Here's a glimpse of how the station looks like. Fully airconditioned, fairly furnished, and clean. I think every staion have it's own toilet so you don't have to worry if you need to go th the john before your ferry ride. The approximated wait time for each ferry to arrive at the station is 30 minutes.

Boarding the boat..





Pictures inside the ferry.. seats are just made out of plastic but they are comfortable to sit on. There's also a flat TV that show concerts of various artist that entertains travellers on board.

Some reminders.. PLease don't take home the lifevests!

Of course, I wouldn't let this pass without taking a picture with the captain..


During the trip, you can walk around the boat and even go outside in the viewdeck to take some pictures..





The Ferry pass by, Schools ( St. Jude and PUP and others..), under bridges, oil facilities, factories, the Philippine post and the Malacañang palace. There are lots of old houses and boat ruins you'll see alongside too. ( Sad to say, There are still areas where you see garbage floating around) As we passed by the Malacañang Palace, the crewmen asked us to keep our cameras beacause it's not allowed to take photos of that place. I wonder why? Isn't it one of our country's landmark? It should be a good photo souveneir for local and foreign tourist alike. I'm a bit frustrated because if this.

This mini boat carries passenger to cross the river.




Picctures of the other stations. Basically, all stations look alike, but I wonder what happend to Quiapo Station?!


To get a better view of the ferry's interior, we waited until everyone left the ferry. We took pictures and walk around inside that we noticed that the ferry is moving again. We almost missed our stop. Thanks to the kind Captain, he brought us back to the unloading dock.

Alas, we reached our destination - Escolta Station. Safe and sound! The ferry trip was indeed a funfilled experience. It actually reminded me of my Bangkok River cruise, just of course a bit lesser in quality ( since this is just an ordinary passenger riverferry trip and not a cruise). Nevertheless, I must say the "Piso para sa Pasig" campaign is all worth it and with continued effort to clean and rehabilitate Pasig, It will in the future, reclaim it's glory. Mabuhay Philippines!

Marching to Bataan, My Mount Samat Adventure!

I was not always a fan of history but there is something in Historical Places that facinates me.

Bataan is rich in culture, history and great places to visit! Just about an hour drive from Subic ( Olongapo ), you can reach the Famous Mount Samat. For those travelling via private vhicle, you will see road signs that will help you reach the place. For those using the public busses, I think Genesis Line from Cubao and Victory liner offers direct seat to Bataan. Travel time is about 4 hours from Manila, you can get there even faster if you try to leave early and beat the traffic.

This was my first visit to Bataan, I was surprise to see big houses alongside the road. It's kinda unusual to see that in between rice fields, you see huge modern concrete houses that you just usually see on Posh villages and subdivisions in the cities. Well,I guess, Bataan indeed is full of surprises!


We're almost there!!!

We can see the cross from here....

Photo taken along the road to Mt Samat. There are lots of religious statues that you will see alongside the road and this is just one of them.



This is my friend, Shei, posing with the time tablet memorial under the Dambana ng Kagitingan...

Here's the famous Bataan Icon - The Mt.Samat Cross ( Ang Dambana ng Kagitingan)

The statues at the bottom of the cross shows episosdes of our history




Admiring the sceneries and enjoying the cool air from the view deck inside the Cross tower..

A view from the top..

I think I can see Manila from here!



The long pathway down from the cross viewing deck to the museum

My friends posing outside the Museum, Kudos to the Bataan goverment for keeping this tourist spot clean!\
This is Michael, taking pictures of the museum and cross from below. I wonder if he's getting the right angle this time? hmm... He's the one who invited us to this trip. Thank you to his Uncle Tito Jun and family who accomodated us in this trip.

See how big the canyon is! I'm just glad the war is over.

And what did we do during the night?
We danced and sang our hearts out, thank you to our good host and Hostesses. See, we found some new friends!





This is the gang posing in front of Tito Jun's house, admiring the fresh air of Bataan for the last time before, we head back to Manila

And so this is my trip to Bataan... Until next time!!!! See you in my next blog entry! Ciao!