High-ways

Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, or EDSA for short, is one of Metro Manila's most important arterial roads. One end of its circumferential, 24 kilometer (15 mile) length lies in Caloocan City in the north. Then it passes through Quezon City, Mandaluyong City, Makati City and Pasay City, where its other end lies. In an effort to ease the flow of traffic on EDSA, flyovers and interchanges were built over major intersections. And in the hope that fewer buses would be needed on its route, the Manila Metro Rail Transit System (MRT) also runs along most of its length. Neither seems to have helped much. About the only time that EDSA isn't congested is Sunday mornings, which was when I took this photo from the Quezon Avenue MRT station.

Tracks

I've only just noticed the small rocks on the tracks of the Metrostar light rail system—better known as the MRT (Metro Rail Transit)—at the Ayala station. The MRT is elevated for most of its length and I suddenly wondered if there are also rocks on those elevated portions.

My station

Metro Manila, which is about 636 square kilometers in area with more than 12 million inhabitants, only has three light rail lines. Two lines belong to the Manila Light Rail Transit System and one belongs to the Manila Metro Rail Transit System. Together, their daily ridership totals less than 1.5 million people, so it is not surprising that traffic congestion remains one of the metro's biggest problems. The three lines have color codes but everybody just calls them the MRT, LRT-1 and LRT-2. This is at the MRT's Quezon Avenue station, where I begin and end most of my train rides.

End of the line

The Manila Metro Rail Transit System, better known locally as the MRT, stretches for most of the length of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), one of Metro Manila's longest, largest and most important thoroughfares. Its last northern stop is, appropriately enough, near North Avenue beside TriNoma mall in Quezon City. There were plans of extending the line to Caloocan City and the track actually extends beyond North Avenue, but it still isn't open to the public and I have not heard any news that it will open anytime soon. Right now, the extra track seems to be a parking and holding area for the trains.

Vulnerability

Notice in yesterday's photo of the train station that all the people within view are women. I'm not sure about the two LRT lines because I've rarely used them, but in the MRT, the first set of cars are reserved for women, children and senior citizens. If a child is accompanied by a male guardian, then he can stay there too. When I'm traveling alone, I always stay in those first cars. The sisterhood of women may really just be a dream, but I feel much safer there than in the other cars, especially during rush hour when people are packed like sardines.

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Now, all you CDP bloggers rush on over to the forum and cast your votes for the May theme! Don't forget that you can choose two. And do you have your yellow photo ready? Yellow is the theme for the first of April!

Ayala Station

The photo of Greenbelt 5 which I posted for the CDP theme day on Saturday was the last in a series of photos which I took in the Ayala Commercial Center on the evening that we watched Rep's The Fantasticks. So let's begin our tour properly at the beginning, shall we? I took the MRT from Quezon City to Makati City and this is where I got down, the Ayala Station. Buses on the ground level, trains on the upper, and lots of food stalls along the way. The cinder block of a building on the right is another mall: SM Makati.

Three modes

The track of the Manila Metro Rail Transit (MRT) System over a footbridge over the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA).

Farmers Plaza

Farmers Plaza in Cubao is one of the oldest malls in Quezon City. It was built before shopping was supposed to be an 'experience' and the shops were small and crowded, and the corridors dark and narrow. It underwent a major renovation when the Metro Rail Transit system was constructed because one of the MRT's largest stations would connect directly to it. On one side of Farmers Plaza, and the reason for its name, is Farmers Market, one of the oldest, largest and cleanest fresh produce, meat and seafood markets in the city.

Terminal

Since the Manila Metro Rail Transit (MRT) System's last northern station is beside TriNoma mall (see previous post), the mall's management converted a portion of its outdoor parking lot into a transport terminal for jeepneys and their air-conditioned counterparts (Asian Utility Vehicles licensed as public transport vehicles). It's a service to commuters and it probably translates to more customers for the mall too. What's a few shopping errands between the train and the jeepney?

European-inspired

Eurotel is a chain of small, inexpensive hotels in Metro Manila, most of which are located in commercial centers with easy access to public transportation. This is the hotel in the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City which is across the street from the Araneta Coliseum, Gateway Mall, Farmers Plaza and the Cubao Station of the Manila Metro Rail Transit System (MRT).

Of car parks and malls

I don't have figures to back me up, but I honestly believe that Metro Manila has more malls and shopping centers per square kilometer than any other city in the world. The stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) between Ortigas Avenue and Shaw Boulevard in the cities of Pasig and Mandaluyong has five malls, and there are two more within walking distance. You're seeing two in this photo. I'm standing on the 7th level of the car park building at the east side of Shangri-La Plaza mall looking northwest. The area with lots of trees is the mall's open car park, and the yellowish building to the left is its other car park building. I don't know what the low white building after the trees is—I suspect it's a power generator—but it belongs to SM Megamall, which is the long white and blue building on the right receding to the distance. The wavy roof in its open car park is the pedestrian walk which leads from EDSA to the mall. You can also see the elevated track of the Metro Rail Transit System, better known as the MRT, on EDSA. And notice the tall tower on the right? That's the Galleria Corporate Center and at its base is the Robinson's Galleria, the third of the five malls in this stretch.

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