The Wild Card Boxing Club is alive and kicking.

I dropped by that famous gym in Vine Street in Hollywood to check on two fighters who were scheduled to see action during that same weekend at the Pechanga Resort Casino in the city of Temecula, an hour and a half drive away.

From my sister’s place at Glassell Park — near the boundary of Los Angeles and Glendale — I took Bus 180 in front of the Galleria for the 40-minute ride to Hollywood.

Actually, the bus doesn’t pass in front of the Wild Card but the final stop is a mere ten-minute walk from that popular training facility owned and operated by Freddie Roach, the Hall of Fame trainer of Manny Pacquiao.

So, I got there at around 9:30 in the morning but didn’t go straight up since a familiar face called my name.

It was Tina, the Thai cook who runs the Nat’s Thai Restaurant just a stone’s throw away from the gym.

You see, Tina is a Pacquiao favorite.

Every time the Filipino icon begins training camp for a big fight, he would go visit the eatery and order her mouthwatering culinary treats like beef jerky, chicken wings and that succulent crab fried rice.

Since I had breakfast that day, I politely turned down Tina’s offer.

Instead, we just talked about Pacquiao and my writer-friends who likewise adored her cooking.

After a few minutes, I went up and Freddie was right there holding court.

While he is no longer as active as before, Freddie was still calling the shots and accommodating the gym rats and visitors like myself.

“I know who you are,” he said to me.

Then we shook hands.

It’s been more than 20 years since I started making that climb up the steel staircase and I could still vividly remember the good old days when Pacquiao was still trying to make heads turn.

A lot of establishments have disappeared to make way for new stores and restaurants.

The dollar store where Pacquiao bought a cheap pair of socks for the Juan Manuel Marquez fight in 2004 is no longer there while the gyudon restaurant has relocated across the street as its original spot is now occupied by Jack in the Box.

Even the Filipino writers’ favorite Chinatown Express — a Panda Express clone — is now a Mexican-themed resto.

Bookseller Borders — where me, Abac Cordero of the Philippine STAR, Gerry Ramos of Spin, Roy Luarca and Francis Ochoa of the Inquirer — spent many hours browsing through editions of The Best American Sports Stories has long been abandoned.

Time was when it was occupied by a pharmacy/grocery.

Even that is no longer there.

A few steps away once stood Kabuki restaurant, the hangout of Team Pacquiao on the eve of the departure for Las Vegas for fight week.

Pacquiao treated so many of us to lunches there, the last taking place during the runup to the Floyd Mayweather showdown in 2015.

Amoeba Music, which sells hard-to-find records, has transferred a few blocks away.

Even the seedy motel right beside the Wild Card — the Vagabond Inn — is no longer there after it was demolished to give way to a classier place that now houses us whenever Pacquiao is around.

After spending a couple of hours watching Mark Magsayo and Jimuel Pacquiao do their last training sessions, I left the gym and began walking my way back to the bus terminal for another 40-minute trip back to where my sister dropped me off.

Being a sentimental fool, I kinda felt sad during my entire bus ride.