28th of march
The 28th of March marked another eventful day in my not-so-glorious life. T'was the first time I took the new ferry going to Manila.
The Pasig River Ferry Service Project aims to bring back the Pasig River as a major transport route across Manila, and has already begun setting up ferry stations in strategic points along the riverbanks. There are 17 proposed stations from Marikina to Escolta, but only 4 are in operation as of now: Guadalupe, Sta. Ana, Escolta.
The last of these working stations is the Hulo station, a good 200 meters from where I live. Ah, the convenience.
~~~
It was already 4pm when my dad and I decided to head to Quiapo for a pirating spree. No trouble getting to the ferry station since it was a literal 2-minute walk from ours. Great. The ferry was scheduled to arrive at 4:20. Only a few minutes of waiting. The ferry reached the station just as planned. We boarded the white watercraft around 4:25 and a couple of minutes later, we were already cruising towards Escolta.
The ferry is much of an in improvement from the previous ferries that used to stream up and down Pasig. It is wide and spacious, and establishes a feeling of strength and safety just from a visual encounter. Four people manned the boat: The captain, a coast guard, and two other crew, all of them dressed to demand respect and assume competence.
It was near immaculate from outside in. The white interior matched the white paint job, and the brown cornisa lining up the edges of the ceiling reaffirmed what already was a fine piece of construction. Clear glass panes line up the ferry walls to let passengers enjoy the view. 147 sturdy blue seats fill the floor, but only a few were occupied. They were not built for comfort, but they're fine. Two white tables were also present at the rear side of the ferry, allowing people to eat as normal as they would please. In front, a Hitachi TV played a karaoke CD to keep the travelers entertained. The songs were classics: Blue Bayou, Rhinestone Cowboy, Jambalaya among them.
The people were quite fun to watch, too. While I was taking mental notes of the ferry's layout, a couple right in front of us was cuddling, at times caressing. Little children running along the aisles were also fun to look at. A guy, whom I failed to id visually, was singing along to Sad Movies:
"Sad movies always makes me cry."
Nice. So many people make me smile.
~~~
We arrived in Escolta at 5:06. Travel time was fair enough since there were no hassles brought about by traffic and pollution. This station is placed on a quite convenient spot. From there, Quiapo was only a few blocks away. Not very challenging for people who like to travel on foot. Yet another direction leads to Divisoria, another fun place to lose yourself in.
The trip back was not such as exciting. A ferry was scheduled to depart at 6:20pm but it was already 7:12 when the ride back commenced. This delay was predictable though. There are only 2 ferries in operation today, far from the targeted 16 by the end of the project. Because of this, there are 1 hour gaps in between trips. The envisioned waiting time in between ferry arrivals is 5-10 minutes (upon the project's completion).
The clock on my mobile phone read 7:58 when we disembarked the ferry. The ride home took that long because, apparently, the ferry came across a larger vessel in the middle of the trip. The ferry had to stop for a while to let the other pass. I didn't really feel that disturbance, nor did I care to. I was too busy sleeping.
~~~
So there went by the 28th of March. My first time to ride the Pasig River Ferry. I hope more commuters would patronize the service in the future, as the project offers nothing but commuting convenience.
There's another moment worthy of remembrance that took place while I was waiting for the ride back, inside the Escolta station. I leave this to another post.
~~~
Je ne dois pas attendre mais c'est tous que je peux faire.
~^_^~
The Pasig River Ferry Service Project aims to bring back the Pasig River as a major transport route across Manila, and has already begun setting up ferry stations in strategic points along the riverbanks. There are 17 proposed stations from Marikina to Escolta, but only 4 are in operation as of now: Guadalupe, Sta. Ana, Escolta.
The last of these working stations is the Hulo station, a good 200 meters from where I live. Ah, the convenience.
~~~
It was already 4pm when my dad and I decided to head to Quiapo for a pirating spree. No trouble getting to the ferry station since it was a literal 2-minute walk from ours. Great. The ferry was scheduled to arrive at 4:20. Only a few minutes of waiting. The ferry reached the station just as planned. We boarded the white watercraft around 4:25 and a couple of minutes later, we were already cruising towards Escolta.
The ferry is much of an in improvement from the previous ferries that used to stream up and down Pasig. It is wide and spacious, and establishes a feeling of strength and safety just from a visual encounter. Four people manned the boat: The captain, a coast guard, and two other crew, all of them dressed to demand respect and assume competence.
It was near immaculate from outside in. The white interior matched the white paint job, and the brown cornisa lining up the edges of the ceiling reaffirmed what already was a fine piece of construction. Clear glass panes line up the ferry walls to let passengers enjoy the view. 147 sturdy blue seats fill the floor, but only a few were occupied. They were not built for comfort, but they're fine. Two white tables were also present at the rear side of the ferry, allowing people to eat as normal as they would please. In front, a Hitachi TV played a karaoke CD to keep the travelers entertained. The songs were classics: Blue Bayou, Rhinestone Cowboy, Jambalaya among them.
The people were quite fun to watch, too. While I was taking mental notes of the ferry's layout, a couple right in front of us was cuddling, at times caressing. Little children running along the aisles were also fun to look at. A guy, whom I failed to id visually, was singing along to Sad Movies:
"Sad movies always makes me cry."
Nice. So many people make me smile.
~~~
We arrived in Escolta at 5:06. Travel time was fair enough since there were no hassles brought about by traffic and pollution. This station is placed on a quite convenient spot. From there, Quiapo was only a few blocks away. Not very challenging for people who like to travel on foot. Yet another direction leads to Divisoria, another fun place to lose yourself in.
The trip back was not such as exciting. A ferry was scheduled to depart at 6:20pm but it was already 7:12 when the ride back commenced. This delay was predictable though. There are only 2 ferries in operation today, far from the targeted 16 by the end of the project. Because of this, there are 1 hour gaps in between trips. The envisioned waiting time in between ferry arrivals is 5-10 minutes (upon the project's completion).
The clock on my mobile phone read 7:58 when we disembarked the ferry. The ride home took that long because, apparently, the ferry came across a larger vessel in the middle of the trip. The ferry had to stop for a while to let the other pass. I didn't really feel that disturbance, nor did I care to. I was too busy sleeping.
~~~
So there went by the 28th of March. My first time to ride the Pasig River Ferry. I hope more commuters would patronize the service in the future, as the project offers nothing but commuting convenience.
There's another moment worthy of remembrance that took place while I was waiting for the ride back, inside the Escolta station. I leave this to another post.
~~~
Je ne dois pas attendre mais c'est tous que je peux faire.
~^_^~
posted by thejoketh™ at
10:43 AM
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