Acacia Street

Acacia Street is located right across Jacinto Street and Ateneo De Davao (College).

Tell-tale Establishments:
STI
Davao Starlight Hardware

Jeepneys that pass this street are often headed to:
Gaisano Mall
Victoria Plaza
Bajada
Buhangin

Sidewalk Vendors Alert:
High. Lots of pirated DVD’s, street food (“hilaw na mangga”, barbecue, junk food, etc) and cheap personal items (plastic combs, shades, hair clips, etc.)

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One of the streets I first familiarized was Acacia Street, since this is where we usually wait for jeepneys bound for Gasiano Mall and Victoria Plaza.

Me and Jean usually frequent Gasiano Mall since it’s the nearest Mall from my office. A non air-conditioned Taxi ride from Jacinto to the GMall usually costs around 30 pesos. A jeepney ride going to the Mall on the other hand costs just 7 pesos, or 6 if you happen to be a student.

Considering the frequency of my visits to the Mall, I felt it was easier on my pocket to just take a short walk to Acacia Street and then ride a jeepney going there. I also realized that a trip to GMall is faster riding a jeep than a taxi since the latter usually passes along Uyanguren, takes a turn along Octagon Computer Superstore and drops you at the entrance right along San Pedro Hospital.

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I know this sounds silly, but I must admit that I only started commuting on a semi-regular basis last year, upon the encouragement of my girlfriend Jean. No, I’m not filthy rich. But as you can see, I’m totally deaf and grew up being too dependent on other people. In fact, my parents had to accomodate me with their only vehicle and driver even when I was already in my late 20’s. But going out often with Jean gave me an idea that despite my disability, commuting is not really a problem just as long as I stay alert at all times.

Pretty soon, my officemates were astounded when they learned that I was already riding jeepneys by my lonesome. One of them even joked that while they were looking forward to having their own car, I seemed thrilled by the thought of riding jeepneys.

But you know, while I did prove to myself that I can commute, I also encountered some problems early on. For example, there’s a time when I was supposed to go to the Mall. You know, I have a soft voice and I’m really uncomfortable talking out loud. So when I had to drop off, the driver couldn’t hear me at all and the jeepney continued to roll. There were several passengers and I didn’t want to embarrass myself, so I just waited for the next passenger to drop. But alas, the jeep already passed along Victoria Plaza and it still wouldn’t stop. To make a long story short, I dropped off at faaar away Lanang and had to hail a taxi going to the Mall. Huhu.

Luckily, I haven’t been into similar incidents lately. But it’s good that it happened once, at least I can chalk it up to experience.

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I hope to publish more photos and blog entries about the streets of Davao in the future. I’m sure that most of you are already well-aware of the routes of jeepneys here. But I realize there are also a lot of people out there like me who are still starting to familiarize these routes. My blog has always been about sharing the few things things I know about Davao, and I felt that providing this kind of information suits well with that goal. Thus, I’ve decided to come up with this “Ram learns to commute” series.