Marcus Can Blog

I bet that almost everyone who’s commuting daily read this question printed on each and every public transport vehicle. I also bet that most if not all probably thinks this is just some useless print similar to the No Smoking sign inside the jeepneys that not even its drivers care to follow. But guess what, I’ve just proven that this sign behind every buses, jeepneys and taxis, “How’s my driving? Text LTFRB 09214487777,” is after all working even until now. I discovered it after I reported a reckless taxi driver who cut me off while I’m on my way down the Magallanes flyover in EDSA.

A couple of minutes after I reported the incident, a polite sounding voice called me up and asked about the details of the incident and committed to verify the identity of the operator and vehicle and ‘will’ get back to me about any update – if they’ll do it or not, it’s another story. Anyway, at least it’s comforting to know that some things in our government still work somehow. Kudos LTFRB. Screw you PWG 956, you don’t deserve to be on the streets for you just ruined my New Year’s to-do of not minding other drivers and cursing them in the process.

Mood: 2/10 Honks! (I’ll have 350+ days to get back on this 2010 ‘to-do’)

Several cancellations later, due to the crazy weather for weeks already, I decided to push through with my trip back to MSEUF in Lucena to do a couple of things – process my transcript transmittal to Ateneo and finally, after three long years, claim my yearbook. I went on, leaving my car at home – this, I soon regretted doing so.

Once again I experienced the butt-burning 3-hour trip (excluding the two hour waiting time at the terminal) one way and another 3 plus more hours on my way back. The butt torture could have been fine as I’ve conditioned my mind that I’ll just sit back and relax, no matter how cramped, and enjoy the sceneries – like seeing once again a stretch of funeral parlors along the highway of Sariaya, Quezon. But it didn’t happen.

Foolish me, but I must have forgotten that other than being elbow to elbow with other passengers inside the van (which most still call the FX no matter what the brand and model of the van is), one thing I have to bear with is horrific driving from its suicidal drivers. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I now seem to notice that all these drivers so far have this common way of driving that makes me wonder if a school for developing reckless drivers does exist. I’m now starting to believe that they are far worse than most bus and jeepney drivers and I wouldn’t be surprise if someday we will see another tragic news about people being killed due to these road maniacs.

***

Since my attempt to doze off during the trip have been futile in my fear that I’ll soon wake up with fluffy clouds around and some bearded man beside me (i.e., if it’s where I’ll be), my nokia 5800 became my trip buddy. On my way back, the driving became worse than the first that I shifted from listening to MP3’s to taking some video of the deadly maneuvers:

This one shows our driver changing from one lane to another with gusto as if the whole highway is a one-way road. Also captured, is another driver with a death wish overtaking despite the obvious oncoming traffic. If there’s Spy vs. Spy, I’d say what is shown here is Stupid vs. Stupid. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is defensive driving extinct in this part of the world? Well, actually, I was wishing of capturing more stunning videos but I wished otherwise as I pity those others on board – a baby, several elderly woman, oblivious lovers, charcoals and yes, live chickens. Take note: live, stinking, chickens inside an air-conditioned van who were with me during the whole 3-hour or more ordeal. Forget about waking with fluffy clouds around…I was almost in hell already.

Mood: 3/10 Honks! (at least, I’m safely back home…smelling like stinky chicken)

Dear car manufacturers,

Greetings from the Philippines! I’m one of those drivers whose daily commute has either brought me more wrinkles on my forehead (plus the accompanying white hairs) or, luckily, brilliant ideas about how I can help you decide on what to do for your next car models. I’m presenting here a list of those modifications that I see will best fit our driving styles and road conditions.

Here are the parts that should be taken out of the 2010 models as we really don’t find any use for each one:

1. Seat belts. We hate it. It restricts our movement and wrinkles our well-pressed working clothes. It also has this annoying vibrating sound whenever we pass by bumpy roads. Moreover, we use it only when we reach the toll gates or if we are apprehended by our professional policemen.

    

2. Side mirrors. The only people who finds this useful are those outside our cars. It’s either they pick their noses when they pass by it or they pry it out for good just to be sold elsewhere and to unsuspecting buyers who may even be its original owner in the first place.

    

3. Rearview mirror. We drivers don’t care glancing at it every now and then when driving. Although, our wives and kids love using it as a vanity mirror. (In that case, retain it, but make it longer and wider so that my wife doesn’t have to lift her chin at a level where everyone outside will see her nose hairs.)

    

4. Turn lever and signal lights. This will result to a huge saving in cost and a significant weight reduction once pulled out. We change lanes here without even caring to switch it on accordingly. And while you’re at it, please take out the brake lights in the process. We don’t give a damn if its bulb is busted or not anyway. Lastly, do not forget to include the reverse lamp. At least, your designers will now have one less problem with the car’s rear part.

    

5. Speedometer. Other than being distracted by that illuminated needle or digital display, we don’t read it – and if ever, we don’t understand it. Take it from our jeepney and bus drivers, they work everyday and none of them ever look at it. Now, that’s one less dashboard instrument. Nice, right?

Of course, if I suggested removing the parts stated above, I however would like some additions or enhancements for the following:

1. Fenders & Bumpers. Back here, we need re-enforced versions of these as we need to compete with our beloved jeepney and bus drivers as they weave in & out in front of us. If you can add 7 more layers to the paint, that will be a big plus.

2. Suspension. We need you to make those rally-grade suspensions built-in into our stock cars. With the way our beloved politicians and public officials build roads, we should expect more and more roads similar to what Neil Armstrong saw when he landed on the moon. Which reminds me, if you can manufacture one with several wheels like the lunar module, that might sell like hot cakes as well.

3. Brakes. We love stop-and-go traffic scheme. Yes, I know. You probably haven’t heard or even experienced such excellent idea. It’s hard to explain as even our traffic enforcers themselves are clueless of what they’re doing although they seem to enjoy it every time. We also love sudden stops whenever our jeepney and bus driver friends find it fit to make use of that tiny gap to change lane during bumper to bumper traffic. Of course, how can I forget our barefooted motorcycle drivers who find those narrow space a chance to practice their slalom skills. Now isn’t that compelling enough to improve the stopping distance of those current brakes?

4. Horn. This is actually my personal request. If you can put a lifetime warranty for my horn, then I’d be your customer forever. I love using my horn second to my brakes.

I’m presenting you an opportunity here. If you’ve made JDM or USDM cars before for the Japanese and American market, respectively, I guess this request to specially build one for the Philippine market, isn’t too hard to handle. You can call it then PDM – even if it might mean Poor Driving Manners. Consider this a win-win scenario even if it clearly looks more in favor for your business – you take out 5 parts, you modify only 4 – rather than ours. Please contact me if you have questions about this proposal. I’d love to be of help if you need further explanations or in case you are wondering if I can actually suggest more things to be removed and modified. Let’s talk about it over the phone. You can call me even while I’m driving.

Best Regards,

Cris

Mood: 3/10 Honks! (My side mirror was hit by another car on my way home. Perfect!)

It’s my 2^nd term already in Ateneo Rockwell but it is just lately that I decided to avail of the school’s parking mainly because of one thing – avoid the Powerplant Mall or the nearby Starbucks. No, there’s neither a threat of the dreaded AH1N1 nor an occurrence of carnapping incidents. It’s just because I’m trying to save. Period.

Despite still having a parking fee just as much as in this classy mall, parking in Ateneo have kept me for two weeks already from frequenting the Dunkin Donut shop inside the mall or the more pricey Starbucks just across the street. Now I’ve been going to school with a mug (bearing my ex-employers logo) filled with home-brewed Peets coffee and sandwiches or any other bread to go along with it – in short and in plain Filipino, “nagbabaon na ako.”

My Ateneo parking experience though have been quite funny and scary. On my first day, as I reach the first basement level, I was so glad when I saw the area with about 3-4 more vacant spaces. I was thinking, “this isn’t bad…so only few people do bring their cars to school.” And so I hurriedly maneuvered myself to a spot near the elevator (access to the building) where the vacant slot is between two SUVs. Perfect. But just I was about to turn my engine off, I saw this bold sign on the wall: Dean. Law. My goodness, I’ve just occupied the spot reserved for a Dean. Of course, if that title isn’t as intimidating, the next word below it made me scram out of the area and into the crammed third basement parking.

Today is another story. Every Saturday I have a morning class and so this morning, just like the past 2 weeks, I was already in Rockwell, Makati before 7 am. This time though, I drove directly to Ateneo instead of the usual parking in front of the restos. I was the first student to be inside the parking basement. And upon reaching the student’s parking area I was surprised to see myself in a dimly lit and almost deserted area where if I could have been on an MTV, I would have seen Jacko and his posse jumping out of each column ready to start the video of “Bad” – well, good thing I wasn’t. And as if the thought of Jacko dancing around isn’t scary enough, the way to the elevator puts me this time into a Dawn of the Dead scene. Imagine this: I can barely see my way thru and what guided me, and what are just visible, were just my cellphone’s screen illumination and the flickering red push button of the elevator still a few meters ahead. Next time, if get to school this early, I might have to park back in front of the restos and see if I can resist the temptation of the coffee with the green round logo. Ti abi.

***

My recent parking experience made me think, “Is it only Intel that doesn’t have a reserved parking space?” If yes, I’m now missing it more this time.

Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Yesterday I unexpectedly attended the Ateneo’s MBA freshmen orientation after being told by our professor that she highly encourages us to be there even though its schedule is in conflict with our Information Technology class, thus she’s allowing us to be out of our first session.Since I didn’t anticipated being there and that I didn’t anticipate as well that I’ll be coming home late in the afternoon instead of lunch time, I decided that it is best that I drive my way back to Cavite via the south Luzon expressway (SLEX) instead of the coastal area after seeing in the morning that traffic at some part of it has worsened due to the flooding after typhoon Isang sent torrrential rains.

From the Rockwell area traffic flow was surprisingly fast but just before reaching Bicutan, it slowed down as if on cue. Although I was expecting it to be that way as I’ve heard from the news, I didn’t know that they’ve actually set a very long counterflow which I soon learned starts in Alabang. Thankfully, traffic loosened up after I reached the Filinvest exit. But it was short-ived.

The moment I approached the Total gas station in Ayala, traffic once again began to crawl and it remained that way until just before where the Daang Hari road starts. What made is frustrating though is when I learned what actually caused the build up is just the road which is more or less just 50 meters in length but is now as cratered as the moon’s surface. Man, that reminded me of the DPWH informercial where smiling public officials proudly declare their “accomplishments”.

Well, today I sort of retract back all the spite I had from yesterday’s ordeal. It is because our drive from Cavite to Batangas started to pick up speed as soon as we exited Carmona. As a proof, I was able to maintain around 120 kph until we reached the Calamba toll gate where once again, every car and motorist got stuck due to the still on-going construction in that area. This time I’m not disappointed since I’ve seen how a lot of progress have been made since this SLEX improvement project started. By the looks of it, they might complete it as planned sometime in 2010. All my fingers are crossed.

***

Yesterday’s drive was also quite alarming due to several encounters:

• I had a near miss when somewhere in Baclaran I saw a taxi swerving to my lane and upon hitting my brake and punching my horn, he braked so hard that I heard his tires screeching almost to a stop. Some people just don’t deserve to drive.

• While idling at an intersection near SM Molino I saw one street kid approach me but he not only knocked on my window to beg, but I also saw him lift the door knob on my side. I let it pass, but I only remembered about the modus when after he left one of the passengers of the car beside me opened her window and said, “he was trying to open you door”. That warning reminded me of what I’ve read from one of the car forums that some unscrupulous group operates this way. They send one innocent looking kid to check on car doors. Once they see that the doors can be opened, they will come out from nowhere and will immediately enter that particular car and divest whatever they can. It’s alarming knowing that as early as now, instead of the Christmas season (ironic, huh?), these people might be already starting their activity again.

 ***

I now describe the SLEX as the Philippine’s own version of Germany’s Autobahn. And I’m now calling it AutoBat (for Batangas). Right now, what this highway lacks, among other signs, is speed limit marks. So until the time when these are put in place, this highway is basically free for all and it means speed here is controlled more by the sanity of the driver behind each wheel rather than the speedometer in front of them – assuming it works. Hopefully, our beloved DPWH officials won’t wait for the time when accidents begin to happen before they act upon this safety concern.

Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Late last night, while just several kilometers away from home and while cautiously avoiding a number of potholes that seem to appear out of nowhere (every night), I noticed a black car with its hazard lights on coming from my right side view mirror.

The sleek car has a low and wide profile and as it overtook me, I saw that it has this appealing 4 overlapping ring emblem – it was an Audi. Other than being fascinated at the rare sight of one lovely car, I was as well shaking my head (just as much as the bob head on my dashboard did) in disbelief while this Audi attacked the potholes and the uneven asphalt patches.

The Audi’s low profile, and probably the stiff sports suspension, made it act just like a stylus in a phonograph does – it went up and down, left and right as dictated by the bumpy and rough road. I don’t know if its driver cared less, but I was thinking that luxury cars such as this just aren’t meant for the Philippine roads…well, unless, he’s among those who are getting their car maintenance fees from the bottomless taxpayers’ fund. Hmmm.

***

Here’s another reason why an Audi, specifically the TT isn’t for the pinoy and more so to be talked about in Tagalog. Imagine hearing this conversation:

Pare ganda a, ang itim at ang kintab…pwede ba mahipo yan TT mo?
Sige pero wag masyadong diinan ha…bibigay ko yan sa girlfriend ko.

If you didn’t understand this conversation, good for you. If you did, fine. But if you did and you smiled…well, just call it an Audi next time.

Mood: 4/10 Honks!

“It takes two to tango” – Anonymous

The Monday morning and prime time news is filled with news about accidents, most of it tragic, involving motorized vehicles. While watching it on TV I can’t do anything but shake my head in disappointment that once again, lives have been wasted and worse, others are lost just because someone failed to drive safely – especially nowadays that rain has made our already bad roads more perilous to drive at. All these pictures of wreckage, twisted metals and bodies, blood and grief sent flashbacks of my own bad memories.

I personally had experienced a costly driving accident that hounded my wife and I for days, even weeks. Although obviously the fault was ours, it could have been avoided by the other driver. That split-second collision played over and over again in my mind like a bad sports replay. Even with the lack of surround cameras, I can almost imagine what took place from all angles. And as much as I’d like to forget it and move forward, I can’t help but still think about so many what ifs and only ifs: If only there were no blind spots; if only my wife didn’t cross the next lane; if only the involved tricycle driver drove cautiously knowing that he’ll pass by a busy village entrance. If only he had braked just in time. What if we weren’t used to wearing our seat belts? What if the tricycle driver went completely through his windshield. I could only ask these questions and more, and yet not even receive definite answers. And even if they won’t admit it, I’m quite sure that the other party had their own regrets as well.

Just like that personal story, so much similar incidents happened and sadly, still keeps on happening as if most of us don’t learn from the repetitive news. Let’s take a look at the recent accidents that we have either witnessed right in front of us or just saw on the news. More often than not, we’ll see that each driver will try to reason out and give their very best to point the immediate blame to the other. It is also very likely that each party will claim that they have the right of way and that one didn’t yield as expected. It is always a hopeless and frustrating battle of one’s word against the other but the real truth behind it all is that the accident won’t happen had ONLY one honestly practiced defensive driving.

It appears though that more of this will continue to occur if we don’t do something about it – like having the common sense. With the traffic volume almost increasing every year, despite the recession, it is expected that travel time will increase, people will rush, drivers will become impatient and in effect become more aggressive. It is when rush hour ironically becomes a time when traffic slows down and it is also when people’s heads get hot sometimes even hotter than their idling engines and it is these hot heads that will likely to blow off steam way ahead of their car’s overheating radiators.

So with such condition making a perfect brew for an accident, a fender bender at the very least, it is usually hard to pinpoint who actually was at fault. It is easy though to have our own prejudice take over. For example, an innocent looking female yuppie is likely to get the sympathy (normally from curious crowds AKA uzis) over a ragged looking jeepney driver during a traffic accident investigation. Likewise, it is also easy to direct anger to someone who has hit a pedestrian than to ask why the pedestrian crossed a non-ped xing zone in the first place.

For me, who has been into an accident, I fully understand that when accidents such as these happen, there are always two sides of the story to be heard – that is, if one is lucky enough to survive it and be able to share his. But whatever the reasons are, one thing will remain clear and certain; that whatever the results of the investigations (and media coverage) are, during these times there aren’t any winners but only losers coming from both sides. So let’s all help preserve life (ours and others) while on the road by driving safely, by driving responsibly.

Photo credit:

Brave Heart (from Flickr’s Creative Commons)

Mood: 3/10 Honks!  

(Bolinao: Day 2)

The steady hum of the air-conditioning stopped and while I was anticipating for the electric fan to automatically take its place, it didn’t. Suddenly, I realize that I wasn’t home. I immediately remember us arriving very late last night after an almost 12-hour trip coming from Cavite. I was on the other bed and my wife and son just right across. Marcus is still fast asleep.

We are in one of the rooms of Puerto Del Sol, Bolinao and the generator has just quit working and it has stopped earlier than scheduled. Yes, I know the schedule since after we checked in last night, and like the other guests, I was given a copy of when there will be no power in all the rooms of the resort. This is because, until now whole Bolinao is still without power after Emong unleashed its stormy fury in this northern part of the Philippines. Up to this date, and with the end uncertain, the resort is providing only power during the peak hours of the day. Power is out from 8:30 to11: am, and then from 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm so as not to stress the power generator (at least, that’s what the flyer says). Electricity, and thankfully, air-conditioning, is provided in between the two periods.

I don’t know with the other guests, but for the three of us, this is our first time to experience such inconvenience but then again, why complain; the others outside the resort have so much to deal with other than just not having air-conditioning or cable TV.

***

Today we had the chance to discover Puerto Del Sol from morning ’til night, and here are the findings so far:

Room. The room is fairly okay. We got one with two separate beds, although, I wished it has one queen size bed so that we get to have our son sleep in between us to avoid him from falling on either side. It also has spacious toilet with a bath tub; of course, the standard TV and ref with pricey drinks are available. There are some things that may need improvement, though: some fixtures need to be fixed (isn’t that ironic?), a bigger cabinet (wifey’s complaint) to accommodate enough clothes for a week, and tap and shower water is obviously salty that we had to ask for purified water to be used in boiling our baby’s used feeding bottles.

Swimming pool. There’s one pool for both children and adult, and the water and the pool’s surrounding area is well maintained and cleaned. It could’ve been better though if the deepest is at least six feet – since I’m trying to perfect my water treading.

Breakfast. Left with no choice but to have buffet, we decided to try it out or we’ll have to drive out of the resort just find a cheaper alternative, that is, if there are any. Besides, it’s just our first day and a Php 320/pax (USD 6. 10% service charge is not yet included) meal may be after all worth it. Well, it soon turned out that it wasn’t. The food variety was just the regular ones and I’ve eaten better and cheaper buffet before. Of course, I felt satiated by the end of the meal, anyway. “Make them regret they served buffet, eat more.” Ti abi.

Beach. The obvious evidence that typhoon Emong was here are the toppled beach huts and these may be repaired or renovated after the peak season is over. The shore line is clean as well as the beach itself, but I was wondering if the water stays shallow all the time. I noticed that the level still hasn’t changed when we got back in the afternoon. I also saw that one has to go farther into the sea just to be able to swim and it’s dangerous for those swimming alone as it’s far enough especially for kids since they appear so tiny from the huts area. I’m also wondering if the sea floor has had sea weeds since then even before typhoon Emong came.

Sunset. I’ve read from Anton Diaz’s website that the sunset here is not to be missed. So by around 5:30 pm we hurried to the beach with me tagging my camera tripod along and we arrived just in time while the sun almost setting. The beach indeed appears serene but I was disappointed that the sun went down so quick and was not able to capture a good shot of it. But I don’t know, if it’s just me or if it’s the time of the month, but I really don’t believe that sunset here is as picturesque as that in the Manila bay. Well, we still have four days to spend; maybe, I’ll see better ones before we leave.

Dinner. Having packed ourselves with buffet breakfast, hahaha, we skipped lunch and of course we soon feel the need to have dinner. Puerto Del Sol’s dining area has this nostalgic appeal at night. The room filled mostly of things made of hard wood (from its bar to its tables and chairs), the antique displays, ceiling fans and the dim lighting makes the ambiance solemn and perfect for one romantic dinner. And although I know that my wife would like it to be, we just can’t because there’s one little guy behind us tagging on the table cloth, spoon, plates and everything – Marcus. Anyway, over other expensive menu, we settled for the less costly ones and I think this time the price it just fair and the food tastes good enough.

The main reason why we got this place is because we had our time share exchanged and my (and wifey’s) expectation is that we can cook (or at least microwave) our own food during the one-week stay. However, just a week before we pushed through, we soon learned, from Puerto Del Sol’s Makati representative, and to our utter surprise that not all RCI exchange resorts allow such. That left us just prepared for fun and adventure but not for the costly daily expenses. With that said, I rate this place is 6 out of 10 stars (10 being the highest). This place is good if a Php 1000 + (USD 20 +) total expenses for food alone is not an issue; otherwise this resort should be avoided. This resort is also good if one has an itinerary for the whole week or if being in the pool then on the beach and back all over again isn’t boring at all; else the week should be planned with tours such as going to Patar beach (where the famous lighthouse and caves are located), an hour or more drive to Pangasinan’s hundred islands, etcetera.

Next: Day 3 

Mood: 3/10 Honks!

(Bolinao: Day 1)

On Thursday, we were informed of our reservation confirmation by a representative of Puerto Del Sol resort in Bolinao. She said over the phone that although the whole Bolinao is still out of power after the place was ravaged by typhoon Emong, they have power up using a power generator. Damn, that call was short of just saying, “Would you like to cancel your reservation for a later time instead, sir?” It was a dilemma, but with the pressing busy schedule at school and thinking that there won’t be any next time because rainy season is just around the corner, come June, my wife and I decided to push through despite the short notice.

May 16, Saturday. Just barely getting sleep after I crammed in finishing an assignment (which I regret having started it late, because I later find it interesting writing my own life book), I woke up with good weather beaconing outside. “It’s still summer, at least…nice sign”, I told myself trying to perk up my still sleepy self. By half past nine, we were on our way to an anticipated long drive.

Needless, to say, we got stuck several times in traffic, thanks (but no thanks) to the government’s infrastructure projects which I can’t help but wonder if there’s really a relationship between the timing of its execution and the coming election. By around noontime, and just having the packed sandwiches for lunch, we entered NLEX. My wife and I switched place, with her taking the wheel at the first Petron gas station in NLEX. She was behind the wheel until SCTEX’s Tarlac exit.

Wifey driving like Schumi in a Honda. See the G-force on the bobhead. Hahaha.

Rejoicing at the sight of a WiFi symbol at the first Petron station coming from SCTEX Tarlac exit.

The perfect model for the Fat-Fat resto.

That exit, we soon learned, isn’t a good choice. We passed by two-way roads and had to deal with slow moving tricycles, road improvement projects (once again, take note), and reckless drivers. The worse was when we got stuck in Rosales where a newly opened SM mall was jam-packed with cars and people coming in to watch a couple of guest celebrities (whom I’ve never heard of). By around 5pm we were somewhere in Urdaneta, clueless of still how far we had to go. The worst came when we realized that we have a hundred kilometers more to go and that dusk is already setting in.

It was already dark when we passed by Dagupan and Lingayen and the lack of road signs (with me mouthing some remarks that its mayors will love not to hear) forced us to stop every now and then to ask for directions. Good thing most of the locals are quick to help. By around 8am I was navigating the dark, twisting and uphill roads going to Bolinao proper. Sooner, we saw what the resort personel was talking about.

Bolinao was indeed damaged. Like one bad nightmare, we saw what our car’s headlight can illuminate over the almost complete darkness. The electrical concrete poles are toppled; some are still leaning dangerously with only its electrical wires holding it from completely falling on the road. Large trees were uprooted; twigs, trunks and leaves littered on the middle of the road (and the need to weave in and out of these obstacles making the driving like one rally car race). And on the roadside are people trying to kill time outside of their houses probably since their favorite telenovelas and other TV programs aren’t available. I just can imagine what else we’d see had it been daytime. It may indeed take a long while before they can get this town back to normal.

400 kilometers and a mouthful of questions later, we finally arrived at Puerto Del Sol so glad that we got there safe and sound despite the unsafe road conditions. We checked in just a couple more minutes before ten with the three of us feeling like astronauts enclosed in a small space capsule for almost 12 hours; yet of course I with me feeling lucky and thankful, and partly guilty that while we’re about to spend a good night sleep in an air-conditioned room, the rest of the people around Bolinao are suffering from the lack of power supply, and worse may not even have homes to spend another night since the destructive typhoon.

Tomorrow, we’ll know how badly the beach resort is affected.

***

The last time my wife drove was already more than a year ago (it was also during a vacation), but thanks to the good road of the expressway plus the fact that it is a Traffic Discipline Zone or TDZ (why can’t we have a TDZ anywhere?), she just stayed confidently most of the time on the slow lane while trying to keep up the 80-100 kph speed limit.

Of course, most of the time I was a backseat driver (with our baby boy wondering why mommy’s driving the car.hahaha), or more like a coach because as much as I’d like to believe that in this expressway most drivers follow the rules, there are just some who seem to have utter disregard of their’s and other’s safety – these are drivers who would change lanes without signaling their intent, and overtake as if under the influence of drugs (or most likely, they are?). Some people just belong behind bars rather than behind the wheel, huh?

Next: Day 2

Mood: 5/10 Honks!

The recently concluded Spain F1 race was once again disappointing, well, at least for a Ferrari fan like wifey and I; and of course, for the rest of the Tifosis. Needless, to say it’s more disappointing for the Ferrari team itself whom I’m quite sure has high hopes this season to start it with a more convincing performance to make sure that it stays at par with team McLaren and grab not only the constructors’ championship but also the drivers’ championship – an which Massa missed to take home after McLaren’s Hamilton scored points on the last race of 2008 leaving Massa behind by just one point.

This season though, McLaren has its own share of dismal performance and in fact the 2008 driver of the year had to settle for 9^th place during yesterday’s Spanish grand prix. Moreover, its second driver Kovalainen even retired during the early part of the race just like Ferrari’s Kimi Raikonen. With these results, fans like me now wonder what is going on within this more experienced teams that this year, they haven’t challenged team Brawn so far.

What makes this even more interesting is that team Brawn is a new kid on the block amidst the F1 big boys. Team Brawn was formed by Ross Brawn (an ex-Ferrari big boss) after Honda decided last year to permanently take their hands off the prestigious Formula One race due to several reasons that were hounding their team, one of which is the obvious non-performance – even just compared to it’s Japanese counterpart, Toyota; and of course as an effect, corporate sponsors probably stopped renewing their contract, which during the on-going recession a loss of even just one major sponsor is a big blow especially to a team who is engaged in one of the most expensive sports in the world.

Honda’s pull out was quite a surprise, although rumors about that decision had already spread around the F1 community. And that for a moment, left both Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, basically jobless (but still millionaires nevertheless). Then came Ross Brawn to the rescue. I don’t know what actually took place or if Ross Brawn has anticipated everything that he was able to start up the whole team (engineers, R&D, mechanics, sponsors, logistics, etc.), but whatever Ross Brawn did was all perfectly executed. Proof of that? Brawn has been winning since race one and its driver, Jenson Button stepping up the top position (with Rubens Barrichello, at some point) of the podium without any of last year’s champions either on his right or left side. And to think that Jenson was never seen in the podium in 2008 (or so I think).

The on-going success of team Brawn is what makes every follower and/or fan of F1 wonder what is making this newbie zoom past other matured teams. Was Honda cursed then and did Brawn’s entry to F1 casted the bad eddies away? Is Ross Brawn some kind of F1 magician who adopted and turned a dying team into one team to beat by just a flick of its magic wand? Or is it because his team’s most contested and controversial double diffuser a very big factor which is leaving the competition behind? Whatever that is, it is just making the prancing horses (and the rest of the teams) to start limping behind.

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Don’t get me wrong, although I now have all my respect and admiration for team Brawn, I’m still a Ferrari fan especially now that I won’t be any guilty cheering for a team whose one of its major sponsors is AMD. Go figure.

And by the way, this blog was edited while getting my car washed at a Shell gas station in Sto. Tomas, Batangas. Which reminds me to get one more of the Ferrari toy. Hahaha. 

Mood:  3/10 Honks!