Talamban: 13C

Back in college, minimum travel time from USC-TC to USC-Main is 15 minutes. That's the reason why the earliest schedule in TC is 7:45AM. In case students have classes in Main, they could just be in time for the next class at 9AM. Gone are the days when traveling anywhere in the Talamban area is five minutes good. Now, everything takes longer especially when it has become a university belt. Talamban has drastically changed since I first step foot in the area last 2000. The time when flyovers were starting to rise. When I felt that there was really no need of flyovers only wider roads and disciplined motorists. What has been a residential area, has become a business district of schools, restaurants, grills, coffee houses and town centers.

The easiest way of getting to Talamban is taking the 13C route. So how does one know if you're riding a 13C?

- It runs as fast as a bullet.
- It stops even at the foot of the flyover.
- It stops at every corner it could find. And the longest wait is in Coutrymall.
- Kung naa'y mo naog isa, mo shagit ang conductor nga kulang pag tulo (maski puno na gud).
- Inig tikang nimo sa jeep, mo larga dayon.
- If you let your hair down, it dries your hair in an instant. Riding the 13C is like having a hair dryer.
- It follows traffice rules when there is CITOM. Most days, they don't. (And what's they don't? -- They don't follow traffic rules and they don't have CITOM)
- Wearing a seatbelt is an accessory. Oftentimes, drivers pretend to attach their seatbelts eventhough it ain't working.
- Conductors tap the jeepneys loudly.
- Once in a while, someone declares a hold-up near the Banilad area if you're going to Talamban or if you're going to Colon, someone's gonna declare it in the Zapatera area.
- Jeepney fare from Ayala to Talamaban and vice versa: P8. Taxi fare from Ayala to Talamban and vice versa: P85.

ooo OOOOO ooo

picture courtesy of http://www.wayblima.com/cebu-jeepneys-photos2.html