After my meeting in Rockwell, I ate my favorite pad thai in Som's and then felt extra adventurous so I opted not to ride Grab to experience the 4-Peso Pasig River Cruise which will bring me from Makati to Mandaluyong. The ride was only around 5 minutes but definitely gave me extra feels more than a hundred boring Grab rides can give. Plus saved me some money too! Also made me learn/realize some things. 1. Pre-Spanish Filipinos used to live near bodies of water. Thus the words/places Tagalog, Agusan, Pampanga, Makati and etc. 2. Poblacion, Makati which was the starting point of my ride is actually a heritage site. It was a place where Miguel Lopez de Legazpi went to sometime in 1571. He named the place Macati which he heard from the locals who are saying "Makati na!" -- meaning they are approaching the land -- which obviously de Legazpi did not understand during that time so he just randomly picked the word to name the place. 3. I can save a lot of money and time going home (Manila) if I will do this everytime I have meetings in Rockwell/Makati area. What separates Makati and Mandaluyong is Pasig River and I can avoid a lot of traffic if I take the river cruise. 4. I dream of the day when this can be an actual river cruise for tourists. I mean, Pasig River is a very important landmark in the history of the Philippines. I believe Pasig River can be brought back to its old glory. With science, technology, political willpower and support from the Filipinos, this is not impossible! 5. What can we do to these water hyacinths (which actually poses more environmental detriments than benefits) in order to help the citizens living near Pasig River? Can these be turned into baskets, bags or something else? #PasigRiverCruise #AnakNgPasig