Street Watch

It was one of my random-slash-boring afternoons when I thought of creating a post similar to what I wrote for our zine Kanto way back college—a collection of knock dead stuff about our culture. I then asked Bien to accompany me in strolling around the Tiger City. So I scribbled some notes, brought my trusty Botchog with me, hopped into his little motorbike and off we wandered!

I now present to you (some of) the streets of Mandaluyong City.

Mandaluyong has 27 barangay but sadly, I can’t find a detailed list of its streets. I still had to consult my atlas and Google Maps so I’d know where we should be headed before our fun motorbike ride. Insert comment here: I suddenly wish that I have my own bike.

There are other several interesting streets that can be found in the city, which, unfortunately, are very difficult to photograph because of the busy traffic. To name a few:

• Harapin ang Bukas (how?)
• the King’s and Queen’s roads (the Prince’s, the Pauper’s, and the Dark Knight’s?)
• Private Road (non-owners are not allowed)
• Barangay Road (eh?)
• Correctional Road (your life will definitely be better here)
• Jupiter (WOW)
• Saturday (I want to live here, every day is weekend)

Lesson I learned while creating this post? Not all streets are blessed with street signs. Bien and I had to literally went back and forth seemingly lost because of the missing, wrecked, too-old-that-you-cannot-make-out-what-is-written-on-it street signs! We realized that it is indeed difficult to get to your destination without them. _{This is a call for the city officials’ action.}

I know there are a lot more bizarre street names and signs lurking around the country. This just goes to show that Filipinos are creative dorks!

What’s the story behind your street name?