Please Stop Polluting My Neighborhood

Every weekend, I enjoy sitting the whole morning in my balcony without any care. No meetings, no hurrying, just surfing the web, checking pictures, reading posts. That's my ideal weekend morning. Then at 11:30 a.m., my neighbor literally blows out black smoke! No, no silly cigarette smoke, it's industrial BLACK SMOKE. The one that makes-you-dizzy kind of smoke. Shouldn't this be banned?

I can never seem to get the right timing to take the pictures of the black fumes but these fumes come out from the two huge exhaust vents on the deck of the Petron Building on Gil Puyat Avenue. It's suffocating! And they do this every Saturday and Sunday.

I wonder, can we get the air pollution control people, the ones that converge along Gil Puyat to flag down diesel- powered vehicle to check if their exhaust contributes to the air pollution, to check on Petron?

Beat the traffic and get a FREE ride!

I really hate having to pay for parking. If you compute how much you spend on parking fees, you'd be surprised! At Php 45.00 per day (that's just for 3 hours), 5 days a week, that comes up to Php 900.00 a month!!! And you haven't even paid for your meal and shopping yet!

Well, today I decided to go car-less to the Mall. I took a leisurely walk to Greenbelt to do some Christmas shopping. I crossed over to the Ayala Triangle and took the underground to Greenbelt. It took less than 10 minutes from H. V. Dela Costa Street. I took the footbridge to Landmark and made my way to Glorietta and before I knew it, I was at SM already!

By 5:00 p.m. I was done for the day and decided to head on home. Now, this time, I told myself that I would try the E-Jeepney.

I headed on to Landmark and asked the security guards at the door where I could take the E-Jeepney. They pointed me to the station which was located in the front entrance of Landmark facing Makati Avenue. I got there at 5:09 p.m. I noticed 2 ve:30 pry long lines forming and I told myself that if I wanted a FREE ride, then I'd have to wait in line. But to my surprise, these lines were not for the E-Jeepney! They were for the regular jeeps. So I asked the barker if the E-Jeepney was still operating and he said yes.

So I waited and kept reading the E-Jeepney sign making sure that I was waiting for my ride during the scheduled service times (7:00 am to 10:00 am; 11:00 am to 1:00 pm; 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm). Three Pateros-bound jeepneys later, an E-Jeepney arrived! I was ready to jump in but the sign read "Legaspi Route". Ok, so I got too excited. I waited again and then at 5:18 pm, another E-Jeepney came by. Again it said "Legaspi Route"! So I just had to ask the driver if the Salcedo Route would come by. Fortunately, the driver said he was heading home and so he was driving to the Salcedo Route instead. So I hopped on and we were off to Salcedo Village. It was such a smooth ride. There were only 2 passengers on board, me and another lady. The best part of the trip was that the E-Jeepney passed right infront of my building and I got off at the footstep of my front entrance. And the better part of the ride is that it was FREE.

It was a hassle free day for me! Thank you, E-Jeepney.

New Resto Won't Hurt Your Pocket Book

Seeing the pile of cars rushing out of the Village on a Friday evening, I decided to stroll around the Village to find dinner. I was immediately attracted by the clean lines and white facade of Brasserie Bohome along Leviste Street. For the old timers, the Brasserie is the new restaurant in the former Blanco Center.

The Brasserie has just one menu that offers a 3-course meal. You have a choice of soup or salad, a main dish and dessert. Since it was Thanksgiving Week, I decided to try the Pumpkin soup, Turkey with cranberry sauce and Pumpkin pie for dessert. I must say that the service was good, the food was attractively plated and tasty and the total experience was not disappointing, considering that their doors just opened that same week!

Now for those who'd prefer to cook their own meals at home, the Brasserie has a deli with cold cuts and canned ingredients.

Light & Sound Show at Ayala Triangle Gardens

A few months back I was wondering why they were balling the trees inside the Ayala Triangle. I was praying that the little park wouldn't be converted into another high-rise building or even worse, a parking lot like that in the Salcedo Park. Well, my prayers were answered.

The park has been renamed the Ayala Triangle Gardens and is now a garden-and-events venue offering family-friendly programs. It will also serve as a tropical pedestrian corridor which links people coming from Legaspi and Salcedo Village to other offices, shopping centers and commuter stations.

To welcome the Christmas Holidays, the garden will present three 10-minute light and sound shows every 30 minutes from November 20 to December 24, from Monday to Friday, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon!

FREE and clean transport to Landmark

A neighborhood is as good as the people who inhabit it. And it can be even better with forward thinking leaders. Just this week, newspapers announced that the E-Jeepney will be transporting Salcedo Village natives to and from Landmark for FREE.

I was driving (ok, so I was burning fuel --- but it was a very hot and humid day!) around the Village early this week to do some errands and noticed the e-jeepney stop signs scattered in various strategic locations. It's nice to know that the e-jeepney won't be like your typical jeepney that stops just about anywhere, even in the middle of the road, blocking the smooth flow of traffic.

For now, E-Jeepney rides are available on weekdays and start and end in the Landmark mall from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Now if only enough of us take this mode of transportation, then maybe we can de-clog the roads of the Village.

I still have to give it a try and I'm excited and ecstatic to know that someone in City Hall is actually thinking green.