I Love Nature photo contest entry

http://www.philstar.com/microsite/ilovephilippinesyear3/ilovenature_entries.html

And the winners are...
http://www.philstar.com/microsite/ilovephilippinesyear3/ilovenature.html

Better luck next time, DL.

Dreamt of My Pare

Brown Mitsubishi Mirage. Orange Toyota Supra. Green John Deere tractor. Yellow Willy's jeep. These were the vehicles found in our garage during my dream.

Last Sept 14, I dreamt of my father BL. It was my first dream that I heard his voice again since April 2008 days before he passed away. The location was in my parents house. We were in the garage and he put his arms on my shoulder and we walked to the adjacent garden. Miss you BL.

Boss Badge

It is believed to be an urban legend but the fact that TV documentaries featured this not-so-ethical practice shows proof that this is actually happening. Here's the scenario: an off duty police riding a public transportation (like a bus) will show his police badge and he gets a free ride. Speaking about "the badge" last Aug 1, we took time out and visited the Hyundai Quezon Boulevard showroom. Visiting car showrooms is becoming one of our family's bonding time. The plan was to see the all new sixth generation Hyundai Sonata. And yes, it was pretty. As Top Gear Phils described it "it looks like an entry level Mercedes Benz" probably drives and handles like one at half the cost. But there's clearly something wrong with it. My senses tell me it's the "H" emblem. If it were the popular "H" from Japan, at P1.380M that mid sized sedan would sell like hotcakes.

http://www.hyundaiusa.com/sonata/

TGP article

I hope TGP doesn't sue me for posting this in my blogsite. Peace.

http://www.topgear.com.ph/blogs/head-over-wheels/?p=411

7 cool cars for cool dads
Written by Dinzo Tabamo of Top Gear Philippines
June 17, 2010

When I was growing up, I recall that my cousin Dylan was one of the coolest kuyas I had. He was funny, had good taste in clothes (he was a bit brand-conscious, but it was the 1980s), and he always looked younger than his actual age. And while I wouldn’t call him a certified car nut, he knew a lot more than the average Juan when it came to machines on four wheels.

After he got married, he purchased a Toyota Revo. It was a very capable vehicle, but I chided him for getting a daddy car. He just grinned and acknowledged that he has other priorities now. When he upgraded to a Honda CR-V, I thought he finally decided to get a more hip ride, until I found out he got the automatic transmission variant.

I like fatherhood. I grew up with a kind and forgiving dad. I also understand there are new responsibilities and commitments that come with it. The sporty two-seater might have to go and be replaced by something with a more practical purpose. But it doesn’t have to be vanilla compact SUVs or minivans.

Here are some cars for dad that can be used by a family of at least four but can still make him feel like a teenager with a new driver’s license. I’m sure when my cousin Dylan’s cute children Kobe and Chloe graduate from college, he’ll make a beeline for one of these fine cars.

1. Subaru Legacy Wagon – Symmetrical all-wheel drive and a torquey turbo will redefine your definition of a midsize sedan. The wagon variant is a good excuse to tell your wife it’s just a plain station wagon, just tell her the hood scoop is an eco feature of some sort.

2. Porsche Panamera – Profit is the reason Porsche created the Panamera. But the result is a superbly engineered four-door with the soul of a 911. It can only seat four, so yaya will have to be left behind.

3. Hyundai Sonata – The most likely candidate to topple the Camry from its throne. Based on looks alone, the Toyota midsize sedan should start worrying.

4. Lancer Ralliart – It’s not the most hard-core Lancer in Mitsubishi’s lineup; that distinction belongs to the Lancer Evolution X. But this 237hp compact sedan with dual clutch transmission is more than enough to make one feel like a driver in the WRC.

5. Land Rover Discovery 4 – The Disco is the right balance between the hip-hop luxury of the flagship Range Rover and the mountain goat utility of the classic Defender. Even though the most off-road action it will get is probably Manila’s post-election potholes, the feeling that the ability to crawl rocks is there makes all the difference.

6. Lexus GS460 – To some it resembles the Toyota Camry but when you drive it, all the Camry comparisons fly out the window. There’s a reason this car is being aimed at the BMW 5-Series. Here’s a hint: a 322hp V8.

7. Nissan Grand Livina – At first glance it looks like a failed attempt to steal market share from the best-selling Toyota Innova. However the Grand Livina is one of the most underrated cars in the market. Select the variant with the six-speed transmission and it will do wonders with the 1.8-liter engine. And since it’s smaller than the Innova, what the Grand Livina loses in space it makes up for in handling and sportiness.

City Lights

Overheard in an elevator are two officemates who recently got 3rd gen Honda City. They were talking about other officemates who also got a similar car model:
J- Naka City din siya.
L- Ha? Naka City lang siya? Bakit City lang kinuha niya?
J- E siguro yung lang ang budget niya.
L- Pero kahit CRV afford niya.

In our culture, the top 3 determinants of success are 1- house, 2- car and 3- clothing. The car and the clothing is the most visual. Actually, it may be a general rule but not always the case. There's this retired couple living in a Makati CBD condo and has two 7-Eleven franchised stores but drives a mid 90s Honda Civic. On the other hand, there's this young couple living in an apartment and "trying to make ends meet" but drives an early 2000 Ford F150. I wonder where they get the budget for gasoline. I reckon from his rich parents.

The reality is priorities of people vary hence what you see is not what you get.

Impressive Impreza! Impressive Impreza?

Last June 26, the DSL family trooped to Motorimage in Edsa, Ortigas to test drive a potential next family car - the third generation Subaru Impreza 2.0 R-S. It was a two-months-in-the-making scheduled test drive courtesy of Jesette of Motorimage who arranged it. The unit was color black and if we decide to get one in the future, we're eyeing the lightning red color.

ROUTE
The test drive route was from Motorimage's Ortigas Edsa office to Christ the King and back. DSL drove from the showroom to Corinthian Gardens then JML from there to Christ the King Church. From the midpoint and back to the showroom, the wheel was back to DSL.

PRO & CON
The Pros:
* For P1,2M, you get a fully made up sedan that has a personality disorder...is it a sport car or a family car? It will definitely turn heads esp. the non car nuts. Car nuts would probably say it's a rice car.
* When asked "So what do you drive?" The proud answer is "I drive a Subaru Impreza." If asked if it's a WRX or STI, just say "Next question pls."
* Contrary to popular belief, preventive maintenance cost is within range. A 10,000 kilometer check out would cost the owner between P4K to P5K.
* It's a cult car with serious followers. While the resale value is a scale or two below Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, there is second hand market for this car. You just have to exercise patience. It's a virtue anyway.

The Cons:
* The 3rd gen was released in the US in 2008 while it was released in the Phils in 2009.
* It's underpowered, walang sipa. Cruising at 40kph, I floored the gas pedal and thought that I was driving a diesel powered full sized SUV w/o turbo intercooler.
* Imagine a 2010 model poging poging ride but sports a 4 speed auto tranny. What that?!?! BMW uses 8 speed A/T for crying out loud. My former ride, a 1993 Mitsubishi Galant MPI A/T had a 4spd tranny!
* If the car breaks down, you better have tons of tissue paper para umiyak ka na lang because there's only ONE SERVICE CENTER in the 7,107 island Philippine archipelago.

It's 23 months to go before we change our primary ride however Mr. Excitement is excited again. In case we do opt for the Subaru, it will be our closest thing to a European luxury car having owned 5 Japanese cars so far since I made my own money. It's still not the Euro dream car pero pwede na.

Sakurabashi Superman

At around 7 o’clock in the evening in the busy JR Osaka train station, an “undressed” Superman wearing a black suit approach me and asked “Do you want to go?” I wasn’t really sure what he meant: (a) Did he have the hots for me? Or (b) Was he asking me to leave? I reckon that since I was holding a map, he meant that he wants to help me get to my destination.

Sakurabashi Exit
We just came from Universal Studios Japan on day 2 of our Japan trip and on our way back, I was trying to figure out our exit point since this will be “our point b” for the next 3 days of our lives. Point B a.k.a Sakurabashi exit is a few steps away from the Righa Royal Bus Stop. In economic terms, this means savings of Y1500 per trip of taxi from JR Osaka Station to the hotel.

Helpful Tribe
During the trip, we came to realize that being helpful is a trait common to Japanese. That was not the only time we were approached and offered help. The biggest challenge is the language barrier as a tourist need to communicate their objective to mostly non-English speaking Japanese.

In parting ways, I could only say Thank you as Arigatou gozaimasu slipped my mind during that brief encounter with the Sakurabashi Superman.

A quick lesson in Majority and Minority

The 15th President of the Philippines Benigno C. Aquino III was inaugurated in simple albeit historic rites today in Quirino grandstand. His political resume shows 9 years as Tarlac Representative (District 2) and 3 years as Senator. He is still considered a political neophyte. On the other hand, newly minted VP Jejomar Binay has 18 years of being Makati city Mayor under his belt plus 3 years as MMDA Chairman. In the national election last May 10, Aquino garnered 15,208,678 votes or 30.4 % of the population while Binay got 14,645,574 votes for 29.3% of the voting populace.

B5 is this school year’s class Vice President. He got 45 votes out of the 50 class population and that makes him the majority VP with 90% of the votes. This is his 7th year in DB and he has been Prexy 3X and Veep 2X already.

MC is the class President. She got 17 out of 41 votes which makes her a minority Prexy with 41% of the votes. Her classmates who ran against her got 10 votes an the 3rd placer got 7 votes. Her friend and namesake nominated her for class prexy. This is her 3rd year in CS.

Majority is considered 50% plus 1%.

Photo Me again

I am joining my Nth photo contest in the last 3 years. I’ve actually lost count how many times I’ve joined but recall submitting entries in CNN, Air Asia, Sea Air, Havaianas, Smt Photo Club and now Philippine Star. Prizes range from airline tickets, electronic gadgets and gift certificates.

Last month, I joined the two Philippine Star photo contest with themes: (1) I Love the Philippines http://www.philstar.com/microsite/ilovephilippinesyear3/home.html and (2) I Love Nature http://www.philstar.com/microsite/ilovephilippinesyear3/ilovenature.html. The Phil Star contest runs until end July 2010.

My win ratio is a bit low since I’ve only won one first place in a photo contest that I joined last year. But that doesn't discourage me from joining more contest as long as there's no joining fee and I become richer in experience.

Black Folding Umbrella

Osaka, Japan. When I was a teenager, mother used to remind me often to always bring a jacket and an umbrella. During my younger days, an umbrella wasn't thought to be cool. It probably still isn't to a teener. But to a thirty-ish practical like man like me, a "payong" is a necessity. I actually don't give a hoot what people think as long as I don't get sick.

Enough said. Now let me tell you about my over 5 year old well travelled black folding umbrella. I know I bought it in the Philippines but the name of the store escapes my mind right now. It has accompanied me almost every rainy day and a staple in my trips to the US (2X), SG (2X), MY, ID and JP.

One of its support is already broken. I think it has outlived its useful life and now time to retire. Then again, an adhesive only cost 50 pesos so I might as well repair it and extend its life. That's the practical side of me talking.

What's with Denzel Washington?

Osaka, Japan. What? No love scenes? No fast cars? No picturesque location? And yet the movie grossed US$ 152.4 million! En route to Japan, I indulged myself in CX's in house movie and watched a D. Washington film called the Book of Eli. The film released in Y2010 was a worthy replacement for a 2 hour sleep. And speaking about being blessed, I was fortunate to see the award winning actor in Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills driving his black Porsche Carrera 4S.

Bless Kids

Osaka, Japan at 6AM. These children sleeping beside me right now at Righa Royal Hotel are truly blessed. Only 12 and 6 y.o., they've been to 5 countries already. My first international travel was at age 10 when I went to Hongkong with a cousin and stayed with an auntie who worked for the Philippine Embassy. After that, my next international travel was when I was already 33 y.o. Young as they are, they are privileged to have already visited HK, ID, MY, SG and now JP.

CX Galore

Osaka, Japan. Our first option for air travel from Manila to Osaka was every Juan's favorite Cebu Pacific (CP). Unfortunately, flight back to Manila was booked and a CP and CX combo would be more expensive. The tour package includes Philippine Airlines (PR) however we opted out because there is only one flight in and out of Osaka. It arrives in the evening and leaves in the morning which already shaves two days off.

This year's family trip was serviced by Cathy Pacific (CX). It was the most expensive amongst the 3 choices (by $50) but the most practical, travel wise. For the organizer (that's me), it was overall value for money. We arrived Osaka just after lunch and leave in the afternoon. This schedule gives us more time to enjoy the city.

Some of the highlights of the plane that we rode include:
1- Live video feed of the plane's frontend. The camera is probably placed in the fuselage. So in the event of a crash, you have just 1 to 2 seconds to pray the Hail Mary and Our Father. J/K!

2- In house movie at your fingertips. Think Avatar, Book of Eli, Shutter Island, et al. They have the new releases as well as a good selection in their library hence a great time to catch up on the latest. Not only that, you have full control of the movie. The common video buttons are available- pause, stop, play, forward and rewind.

JAPAN TRIP DAY 5 – June 6. Kobe

After being ultra confident as a result of day 4 experience, we decided to do Kobe on our last day. Hotel check out time was 2PM, travel time to the target destination was almost 1 hour one way hence our day had to start early. By 9AM, we were onboard a train to Kobe. We stopped at Kobe JR station took pictures and decided to try our luck and see Akashi Kaiko bridge (the longest central span of any suspension bridge at nearly 2 kilometers). Unfortunately, time was not on our side and the view was blocked by buildings. While in Kobe, we stopped at Kobe and Sumakaihinkōen Stations. We explored the Suma-ku ward and checked out their neighborhood. After that it was back to hotel then back to reality. The Japan 5 day dream concludes today.

JAPAN TRIP DAY 4 – June 5. Kyoto and Nara

The Chinese blood in me was in hyper mode last Saturday. After we’ve finally decided to do Kyoto & Nara sightseeing tour, we discovered that: 1- there was at least a one day pre-booking requirement by the agency and 2- that the tour is booked to the hilt until June 7. By then, we would be in the Philippines. The tour package cost 15,400 yen per person and it was like a blessing in disguise as our adventure to Kyoto & Nara that started at 7AM and ended 13 hours later only cost us 2,510 yen per pax.

We rode almost all types of land transpo on that day – inter-city train, intra-city train, bus and taxi. In Kyoto, we saw the Ni-jo castle. We would have wanted to see the Kyoto Imperial Palace that day however it was closed. Para siyang government office na closed on weekends. In Nara, we went to the Nara Park (where deers freely roam around. MC calls them Bambi), Todaiji Temple (considered the world's largest wooden building) and took pictures in front of the National Museum. Both Ni-jo Castle and Todaiji Temple are World Heritage sites. We also saw the Shinkansen or the bullet train. Dinner was at McDo again for the second straight day.

JAPAN TRIP DAY 3 – June 4. Osaka

The plan was to check out the Osaka Castle, tour the Osaka River through the Aqua-Liner and explore the Namba area (south). This day is relatively relaxed compared to the other days. We were only able to do the Osaka Castle and Aqualiner. What’s interesting is that I discovered the answer to the question “Who is Hideyoshi Toyotomi?” Google it and you’ll find out who he is but we’ve seen where he lives! Or at least a reproduction of his former empire. It is good to note that they have a free English audio tour guide just like Tony the fictional audio guide character in the Empire State Building.



Next on the list is a tour around Osaka City’s river system via the Aqua-Liner. At first, I was adamant on taking the river tour because of the cost (1,880 yen for adults and 940 yen for children). No regrets, both are a must see in a visit to Osaka.

In the evening, JML’s brother and cousins based in Kyoto and Nagoya in Japan visited and treated us for coffee in Starbucks in the Namba area. The Caffe Latte taste is consistent but the price is X3.

Our trip is more than 50% complete and day 4 promises to be equally exciting.

JAPAN TRIP DAY 2 – June 3. Osaka

The phrase "I enjoyed" is relative to every individual. For a parent, seeing your children enjoy to the superlative degree is tantamount to shouting at the top of your lungs that "I enjoyed!" The family trooped to Universal Studios in Japan today. We covered 4 out of 10 show attractions, 2 out of 5 play zones, 4 of 8 performances and 2 of 9 ride attractions. B5 liked the Jurassic Park and Terminator 2: 3-D, MC liked Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic and Aphrodite, JML Hello Kitty and Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic, DSL Jaws and Terminator 2: 3-D.


The statistics show we nearly reached 50% of what the park’s menu and that pretty much justifies the 2 days visit recommended by USJ however for this trip, we can only spare a day. The 5800 yen entrance fee for adults and 3900 yen for children was well worth it.

And now comes the exciting park, on our way home, we had to take the public transportation – the subway train. It should be easy if the signs were in readable English but it was pretty challenging. After missing the right train stop, we went back to point a then on the right path in no time.

JAPAN TRIP DAY 1 – June 2, Osaka

The day started as early as 2AM since our CX flight was at 6AM. First stop was HK because of the 2 hour transit break. We arrived in Japan just a little past 2PM. We had to take the bus from KIX (Kansai International Airport) to the bus station where a free hotel shuttle awaited us. The trip from kix to hotel cost only P750 compared to an airport to hotel arranged transpo which will be bank breaking P50,000! Dinner was at a ramen resto whose name I can't understand and whose menu is similarly sense challenging.

ALMOST BAHRAIN

The date was August 27, 2007 and we were scheduled to go to Bahrain for official business trip. We includes myself and my superior. We were booked on a flight via Emirates Airline and had a reservation at Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel & Spa‎ in Manama but the trip was not meant to be. Three hours before our 12:20AM flight, I got a call from my superior saying that there’s been a change of plan and we will not proceed with the trip. I suddenly remembered this almost Bahrain trip while searching for a file and the Bahrain stay permit popped up. If that trip pushed through, that would have been my 7th country to have visited. I have 188 countries to go!

Did You Know that by most accounts, there are 195 countries in the world?

MAGICAL MOUNTAIN

T'was my fifth time to go to Dambana ng Kagitingan (Shrine of Valor). It's a World War II monument which opened in 1966 during the term of the late president Ferdinand E. Marcos. It sits on top of mount Samat in Pilar, Bataan covering an area of 73.66 hectares. The things to see include the memorial cross and the colonnade. The memorial cross is 306 feet high with an elevator and a viewing gallery (arm of the cross). The colonnade is a marble-capped structure with an altar, esplanade museum.

In my 5 visits to this Bataan landmark, it is only now that I discovered that there is an interesting basement museum. Unfortunately, the elevator was not working and nobody dared climb the 30 storey stairway so we missed that part.