The Scabbard: 2011

April 3, 2011, 7:51 am , on a hot Sunday morning, I began my expedition to the official central point of the Philippines, the Kilometer Zero Monument. From the town of Cainta, Rizal, I had to go there only by foot!

It was challenge I took on a whim. It was the previous Saturday evening, lying on my bed deep in thoughts, I was thinking of doing something cool. Initially, I thought of running aimlessly around the island of Luzon like Forest Gump, just for the whole summer. But since my health conditions won't permit such a suicidal act, having asthma that is, sadly I've lowered my goals.

7:45 am, I was ready to go. I was wearing a pair of all-terrain slippers, a knee length orange polyester cargo pants, a white camisa de chino shirt and a native backpack that definitely attracted attention. Inside my bag, I put some reading materials, and some necessary stuff. I was also plugged into my mp3 player to keep me from getting bored.

I'm very thankful there is such thing as Google Earth, where I could pinpoint my destination and plan my route. I planned to follow the LRT 2 Railway line.

Out of our village, I started to trek Imelda Avenue. Then after reaching the corner connecting Marcos Highway, I climbed up the flyover bridge to get to the other side, no, not like a chicken.

I had a stopover at the Santolan LRT Terminal Station along Marcos Highway at exactly 9:00 am. Not to ride the train but to have a snack, which happened to be a handful of orange kwek kwek dipped in vinegar and refreshing gulaman juice.

Right after the protein-rich snack, I came out of the terminal and started to walk again.

I climbed up the foot bridge connected to SM Marikina. As I passed by the front of the mall, I tried to capture a few shot of the huge amazing structure, but the mall guards just had to be rude to local tourists like me. They shouted at me at a distance, forbidding me not to take pictures. I can't blame them, they were instructed to do so, but really, I wonder why.

So I left and stepped on the bridge over Marikina river, showing a nice yet mediocre scenery of the lily-filled Marikina River and its banks. It showed the Riverbanks Center, but what caught my attention the most was the sewer with a large number of squirming janitor fishes near it. I am not really sure if it's a sewer and where the water comes from, but you can see it's right beside the SM Marikina mall. Not much of a big deal right?

Moving on, I've arrived at the end of Marcos Highway and now on Aurora Blvd. The LRT line went underground. What am I supposed to follow? My instincts, since I don't have a compass and it happened to be a blazing hot sunny day, I use the biggest one visible from earth, the sun. Well, I know I should go west, where my destination is.

So then, I moved along Aurora Blvd., passing LRT 2 station after station. I had a few stops for Gatorade and bottled water.

Then I reached Gilmore, the Computer Capital of the Philippines. I'm already halfway the LRT 2 Line, where my feet started to sore a bit. I took a couple of pictures of Gilmore.

Then I continued with my stomach starting to growl. Passing by some food diners made me stop, look at the time but refrain from giving in to the temptation. I told myself, I will only eat at 11:30 am and up. Now my feet was starting to be covered with black greasy dirt! I really looked like a hobo.

So when I passed Sta. Mesa, I saw this Jollibee restaurant beside the SM mall and had my lunch there. I was pretty disappointed with the size of the burger steaks and amount of gravy I had, compared to the foreigners who preceded me (same order). That will be the last time I will ever eat at Jollibee.

After lunch, I headed inside SM Sta. Mesa, to the food court to rest my feet and ate some potato fries. A couple of girls grinned at me, because of my camisa de chino and cool backpack, I guess.

1:30 pm, I resumed my journey. My feet were really soring but I can't let such petty reason to ruin my expedition, right? Right. Eventually, I saw this 5 kilometer stone marker, meaning I'm just 5 kilometers away from my destination. This revved me up, how could I not finish this after seeing a sign of hope?

Then I saw this sign. It gave me the choice whether I'd follow the LRT 2 line till the end which is Recto or to Malacanang Palace instead. Seeing a national landmark seems to be a better choice, so I went to the Malacanang Complex. This would become a different route, I'm not familiar with. But I thought, "I'll see".

I can't help but take notice of this interesting white walls before entering the Malacanang Complex. :

At the entrance gate, there were a classified number of soldiers stationed.

Once again, I was shouted at by a guarding soldier for taking a photo of him.

The corresponding developments are deemed to be classified.

Finally, I was able to get through the gate. I took the opportunity to take a picture of this historical building. - Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino.

Moving along, I got to see the rear outside of the Malacanang .

The fence of the palace were awesome itself, beautifully ornamented with dozens of flags of the Philippines.

I saw the back of the Malacanang Palace, I was warned not to take pictures.

I realized, the current president isn't even living in that majestic mansion at all.

I finished the 1.7 Km Dr. Jose P. Laurel Sr. Road that led to Ayala Bridge, realizing I actually took a shortcut to my destination.

Then I saw SM City Manila, I just went through it though. Then I walked along the Taft Ave., beside the Manila City Hall where I saw the 1 Km marker! That's when I can barely walk, my walking speed slowed down obviously.

I was in front of Rizal Park already, I would just cross the pedestrian lane of Taft Ave.

Exactly 3:00 pm - I stepped on the Rizal Park pavement.

Just a few hundred meters away, my feet where giving up. I really had to sit, it felt like my legs were turning into jello. Around 15 minutes of resting in the main park, I finally reached my ultimate destination! The Kilometer Zero! I actually forgot to touch it, too bad.

I actually had a second optional goal in mind, to get to glance at Manila Bay. But before that, I had to sit around and read for a while.

Then some 30 minutes after resting, I walked South along Roxas Blvd., passing by Museo Pambata and The Embassy of the United States of America. Again, I was shouted at by a security guard of the embassy for taking some pictures of the front.

Finally, I can smell the foul sea breeze of Manila Bay. I took some pictures of the ship filled horizon and some young seaside folks posing in jejemon style. Baywalk really seems to be cool except for the foul stench.