Baguio Road Trip 2009

Its been a long time since I last drove far and away. Well, about a couple of months ago we went to Subic. That's as far as I drove and it wasn't even summer yet.

So before I get stuck in the doldrums of deskwork and online chatter, me and M. decided to pack up the kids and head somewhere North, where we haven't been before. I was looking forward to the long drive, especially with the Civic just coming off its 10,000km service check-up a couple of weeks ago.

This trip to Baguio had been in the works since December, but due to a death in the family, we had to forego our holiday and plan it some other time. Well, it was time to cash in on that plan and with nary a couple of weeks of summer left, I hurriedly booked a room at AIM-Igorot Lodge inside Camp John Hay, and filed my VL from the office.

Ironically, this will be the very first time I'll be driving all the way up to Baguio City. In past trips for BWorld Online and during our Mobile Media days, I'd usually take the wheel for the first leg of the trip, then hand it off to another driver for the last leg going up. The last time I went to Baguio was in 1995, I think, and we took the bus going and coming.

The prospect of long drives doesn't worry me. In fact, I relish those times I can spend long hours behind the wheel, especially now with a powerful (1.8L) automatic transmission car, strong A/C and leather-covered seats.

We left Manila a bit late at 5am. I was aiming to be at NLEX by 5 but due to some delays (like the slo-mo ritual of getting out of bed to get ready) we got behind schedule. The girls were still sleepy but their excitement about the whole trip ensured that they were strapped onto their seatbelts in the quickest time possible.

Traffic was already building up on EDSA, especially at the turnoff to NLEX in Balintawak. I just told myself not to get too pressured and to just relax and enjoy it. Its not like in the old Motorista days when we needed to be either in Subic or BRC (Batangas Racing Circuit) before noon to catch the first round of Sunday racing. That means, out of Manila by 7 am because travel time was all of four hours in the pre-SCTEX and Star Tollway years.

Back to the present, our trip was made quicker and easier via the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX). Really convenient to start a long trip on a wide, smoothly asphalted highway! We entered SCTEX a little past 6:30am and sped thru it as the sun was coming up on the horizon.

Exiting Luisita, we made a pit-stop at Jollibee to stretch our legs and use the CR. The girls were up and about by now, munching on the buttered pita bread M. prepared as our in-car breakfast fare.


I'd say one of the more boring sections of the trip to Baguio is the one between Tarlac and Pangasinan, along the old MacArthur Highway. The kids agree with me, too. Every time I pass thru there, I don't retain any image of what I see. Weird. It all usually comes back the next time I pass thru. But before and after a trip, I don't have a visual image of this part of the highway. Whenever I make a return trip to Baguio, that's when the route starts becoming familiar, as I drive through it. Looking back now, I guess it just matched the name of the highway, from the WW2 American general who coined the famous phrase: "I shall return!"

We took Kennon Road on the way up, only because I wanted the girls to experience the zigzag road. The views up the side of the mountain were still spectacular, wowing the girls and keeping them wide-eyed. It was already 10am by this time.

The Civic did well on the drive up. It was light yet powerful enough to easily make the steep zigs and zags without losing momentum. Handling was great and responsive.

A quick stopover at the Lion's Head, then the Viewdeck, and we were almost within city limits. The welcome sign into the city was a rusty old metal billboard sponsored by McDonald's. Not funny.

Traffic was really bad at this portion, just upon entering Baguio City proper. I can't believe it took us about 20minutes to get past this intersection!

Driving inside Baguio City is just like driving through Little Baguio in San Juan. There were several one-way roads but it didn't help funnel out the traffic in a smooth manner. I guess arriving in Baguio in the middle of a Saturday isn't a very good idea.

Later that day, we drove through the city, parked inside SM City Baguio, and walked down and up Session Road. Then I drove around Burnham Park to get back to Camp John Hay. All this to familiarize myself with the immediate vicinity.

On our last day, we drove to La Trinidad Valley to check out the strawberry fields. Going there took quite a bit of time, with heavy traffic as you come out of the city center and turning left into Magsaysay Ave. Then you follow the winding road, passing thru the flyover and then the Boundary Arch to La Trinidad.

The Strawberry Fields is where you can go strawberry picking, but on the day we were there, all of the strawberries had already been harvested. The rains came early, someone said, so they had an early harvest. We just checked out the souvenir stalls that lined the road. Got some brooms, jams, some more igorot woven mats and stuff. The girls enjoyed fresh strawberry ice cream from one vendor.




We then drove back the same way, noticing the heavy traffic going back in Baguio City. It was our last morning so we proceeded to Mines View Park. Mines View had changed over the years; there are now more souvenir shops outside, more restaurants and resorts in the immediate vicinity, and more people of course. We took our obligatory souvenir pictures with a view of the mines in the back. Actually, the mines aren't there anymore. All we could see were houses and houses.

We stopped for lunch at PNKY Bed and Breakfast along Leonard Wood Road. The food was great and the place was quaint and relaxing.

Soon enough, it was time for us to say goodbye to our room at the Igorot Lodge. Its a simply laid out establishment, operated by the Asian Institute of Management. Reasonably priced considering its inside Camp John Hay. Its just a few minutes walk from The Manor Hotel, surrounded by pine trees.

The girls bade farewell to our room and to the pine trees around the lodge. They had a lot of fun, with the cold weather, the walking on forest trails inside John Hay, the drive to the strawberry fields and Mines View. Now that we know how easy it is to go to Baguio, we can definitely do it again soon.

On the way back to Manila, we took Marcos Highway going down to Pangasinan. We were going to visit a friend and former colleague of mine in BW Online. She lives at her parent's house in San Fabian although she's now based in Mozambique, Africa.

The view along Marcos Highway was different from Kennon. We saw thick fog blanketing the mountainside. We passed through the long tunnel and the girls found it exciting.
Had a tasty merienda during our 2-hour stopover at my friend's place in San Fabian.

It was almost 6pm when we said our goodbyes. Good thing my friend's dad recommended a different route that would take us through a secondary road parallel to MacArthur Highway, thus avoiding the traffic in Urdaneta and Dagupan.

This route was drawn by hand on a clean sheet of paper. from San Fabian, we were to take the road going to Mangaldan town, where we could also get the native delicacy called tupig. From Mangaldan, we passed thru the Y-intersection, heading left into Sta. Barbara town. Next town is Malasique then Bayambang, which means we would already be in Tarlac province!

From Bayambang, we traverse that stretch of road past small towns and villages, schools and churches to get to Camiling. Then on to Sta. Ignacia, the last town before Tarlac City, which is where Hacienda Luisita would be, and further along, the entry into SCTEX back to NLEX.

That whole route took us about three hours, on neatly asphalted and cemented roads, sidestepping the busier intersections and poblacions. By the time we exited SCTEX, it was already 9pm.

And it was straight and steady driving from there, making a quick stop at the Shell station in NLEX.

We entered the gate into our compound in QC by 11pm, which means the whole return trip from Pangasinan took all of five hours! Not bad.

It was a great drive back to end an equally fun holiday in Baguio City!

My Ferrari 250 GTO

I finally completed my collection of Shell Ferrari toy cars! This further expands my growing loot of Shell-Ferrari collectibles, starting with the 6 Ferrari car models from two years ago, and then last year's Die-cast iron key chain collection. These items are still in mint condition: still in the box and unopened!

For 2009, Shell decided to offer seven new 1:38 scale model Gran Turismo Ferraris: Ferrari FXX, Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, Ferrari F430 Challenge, Ferrari 250 GTO, Ferrari F40, Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, and the Ferrari 575 GTC.

I managed to complete my collection after my weekly fuel runs to the Shell Station in T. Morato Ave. in Quezon City. For every load of up P500 worth of V-Power, you get to purchase one of these babies for only P50!

Now that my collection is complete, I can get some more as "service units" that I can play with...hehe! First "extra" unit I got is this lovely baby pictured here! This particular model actually came in first in class at the 1963 24-Hours of Le Mans! A truly speedy sportscar that still makes heads turn. The 250 GTO is reportedly the most valuable Ferrari ever, costing up to US$15-million! Only 36 units were built by Ferrari.

And I have a mini-version of it! Sweet!

Cheers!

Skyway Run

Had an opportunity to get on the Skyway heading south a couple of weeks ago. These are some photos taken from behind the wheel. Don't try this at home!

Goodbye old car, hello new car!

Saying goodbye to the trusty old family car wasn't easy. It has served us for the best of the last 12 years or so, ever since it came into my possession after my younger brother decided to move to the US.

The car, a 1995 Mitsubishi Lancer GLXi, was part of our growing family, and both my kids grew riding in that car to go to doctor's appointments, parties, family gatherings, out-of-town trips, school, and many other destinations.

It's a hardy automobile which has seen many mishaps (not so major bumps and scrapes on both ends and the sides, piston-breaking incidents and timing belt breakages). But for every incident, we made sure to fix her up right away.

The time finally came to let go of it before it got any older. Driving around in a 14-year old car is not a joke, no matter how well-maintained it is.

Which is good timing, too, coz it had already been fixed up with a new coat of paint not more than two years ago, overall body repairs included. I also removed the tint recently to make it look clean and new! The interiors were well-maintained, too, despite going through the growing years of two children. The upholstery has had its share of baby vomit and various other liquid substances spilled on it.

To advertise the car, I stuck a big FOR SALE sign on the rear window and parked it along our street for a week. In a couple of days, I got a lot of text messages and calls asking about the price. Some wanted to get it really low but I didn't bite.

In the end, it was sold for a reasonable amount, not too far from the standard selling price of such models in the market. I'm glad to let it go while it was still running well and in good condition.

What replaced it is a new Honda Civic 1.8S automatic transmission that came as a perk in my new company. Its sleek Alabaster Silver finish makes it look really sleek and sporty! The kids now have bigger room in the back and a more stable ride for out of town trips. Yet its still a passenger car, a bit bigger than the Lancer, but the more powerful engine will make it just as exciting to drive!

@ the 2008 Manila Auto Salon

November saw me heading out to SMX Convention Center beside the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay to take part in the 2008 Manila Auto Salon, a show that gives local and international manufacturers, distributors and dealers of the automotive aftermarket industry an opportunity to showcase their latest stuff.

Incorporating two long-running events – Custom Car Show and the Sport Truck Show with the Bike Show and 2nd Mobile Electronics and Technology Show, MAS 2008 is conceptualized and produced by the Philippine’s leading motoring events organizer – Tradeshow International, Inc. (the team behind TRANS SPORT SHOW).


As is the case, the cars were all well-prepared, and it gave us a chance to see what kind of talent the Pinoy car-lover possesses!

The four-day event was highlighted by the competition for the best cars in various categories, as well as a sound-off competition for the loudest and best-designed car audio equipment!



Of course, aside from the hot cars, most of the booths were decorated with attractive females! Definitely, cars and girls go together!


View my online gallery here.

At home on the Ranger

Ford Ranger Trekker A/TOne of the vehicles I recently had the opportunity to test-drive was the Ford Ranger Trekker A/T. It was a great pick up, and I had a lot of fun driving it around town. Which is ironic since pickups usually belonged to the great outdoors, all torqued up and loaded with stuff, rumbling through unpaved roads, ditches, rocky streams and riverbanks.

But these days, pickups are commonly seen on EDSA. Not everyone has use of a 4x4, so there have been compromises in the once purely utilitarian pickup truck. The Ranger, however, has tried to remain as close to its original roots as possible. The little upgrades and enhancements actually add a bit of smoothening of the rough edges, so to speak. But it's all good.

My review of the Ford Ranger Trekker can be read in full at www.autoindustriya.com. Check it out and see what I mean...

Little red....

... riding fast and low to the ground!

is how I can describe this little roadster that I had the pleasure of driving a few months ago. Our friends from Mazda Phils. have something good going for them with the MX5, and they willingly loaned it to me for a week, perhaps just to prove the point that you don't have to be a European brand to come out with an adequately balanced, low-riding road monster that handles like a dream with the looks to boot!

Excuse me if I sound simply enamored by this little piece of machinery. And why shouldn't I be? What used to be called a Miata was reintroduced early this year as the MX5, seamlessly tuning in to the whims of roadster-hungry car freaks who by now have gotten used to the usual Bavarian variety, to the point of exhaustion. The Miata was once the yardstick by which all inexpensive roasters were measured, and the MX5 manages to uphold that image, perhaps even lifting it up a notch.

A few days behind the wheel of this 2.0-liter baby can spoil you. Maximizing its power to weight ratio easily, the MX5 is perfect for snaking around slow-moving traffic, and once you hit the open highway, you can hit 6th gear without batting an eyelash! Moving up the different gears isn't that difficult, as each one shift into its designated slot precisely.

The novelty of having a top-down roadster is the idea that you can pop the roof back on whenever you need it. This time, Mazda put in an automated contraption to bring the roof up or down. Just press a button and hold it till the buzzer sounds, signaling that the roof is in place, after which you clip it on from the inside, right between the sun visors. To fold it, unlatch the roof, then press and hold the button till the roof disappears. It actually folds neatly between the back seat and the trunk lid, in a way that one can best describe as "Transformers-like."


Inside this roadster, its all leather and vinyl. Neatly arranged instrument panel, with most everything you need within easy reach. Funny but I didn't notice the presence, or lack of, a cup holder. I guess when you're driving a car like this, you wouldn't want to be holding on to anything else!

Yep, the MX5 is a great car to have, that is if you have other cars in your garage. This isn't for your daily family drive, hey, its only a two-seater! This won't also be advisable as your daily drive to the office due to its high fuel consumption. Maybe you can take it for a spin on weekends, on long drives up to Tagaytay or even Baguio, with one passenger beside you. Its a two-liter two-seater costing two million pesos!