Travel: Trip to UP and then Tagaytay

August 26, 2012

Ordinarily, we don't go out on Sundays because we just all want to rest and stay home in preparation for the new week ahead.  But since, it was going to be a holiday tomorrow and Patrick is test driving the Subaru Impreza, we all decided to take a trip to UP so that the kids can bike freely.  We were also looking forward to having lunch at Rodic's :) So here are the kids having Taho while on break :)

Now, we didn't take pictures at Rodic's because you've seen a lot of them by now.  What surprised us though was when Patrick decided to drive all the way to Tagaytay just to test the Subaru Impreza :)  So, we decided to go to Palace in the Sky which we haven't gone to.  It was quite a ride going up through the slightly  roads zig-zagging roads and we had to do a little climbing (walking) to get to the entrance.  Apparently, a lot of people had the same thought during this holiday as there were a lot of people here too.

So here we were, taking advantage of the views from our high vantage point.

Now these two succeeding pictures actually tell an unfortunate incident while we were there.  I took this picture (notice the umbrella behind them).  It was cloudy when we arrived that's why we took it and indeed, it rained a little while we were there.  At the next picture, Patrick took the shot and after that, we all went somewhere else.  Unfortunately, Patrick forgot the umbrella under this picnic hut!  We realized it after we climbed the other peak which was about 5-7 minutes away so by the time we got back to this spot, the umbrella was gone.  Patrick was pissed because it was his favorite Subaru umbrella and it was huge and can protect all four of us.

After a rather frustrating time trying to locate the umbrella, we just decided to chalk it up to experience.  We left Palace in the Sky (I think they call it People's Park now) but I was still keeping an eye out for that huge Subaru umbrella hehe.  To console ourselves, Patrick drove to Mushroom Burger since the kids haven't eaten there yet and it has been a long time for Patrick and me too.  After our snacks of burgers, fries and drinks, the kids went outside and spent some time in the playground :)

To end the day, we had dinner at Rose and Grace restaurant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Jaws: A mean great white of a Subaru :)

Over the weekend, we were thrilled when Patrick brought with him "Jaws" the great white Subaru Outback from Motor Image which he had to test drive as part of his duties for Top Gear Philippines.  As usual, the car can hardly fit in our cramped garage which he had to share with a Mitsubishi Lancer and a Honda Civic (both of which are my cousin's cars).  Seeing it in the dark only gives you a glimmer of its size, just like a Great White.  It's huge, it's sleek.  You wonder how it'll perform on the road. We found that out the day after when we took it for a spin along Metro Manila's busy roads.


 First, we went to SM Megamall, to visit the Asus Service Center where we're supposed to pick up the laptop battery of Den's Asus shell netbook.  After a month of waiting, we found out we ordered the wrong battery! LOL My mistake! Becoming senile at my tender age hahaha

It's really cool that Jaws is slightly smaller than an SUV but bigger than a regular car because it fit snuggly into the parking lot at Megamall.  That's a big deal because on a weekend, you'll probably wait a long time to get to a parking space.  And if you're a big ol' SUV, you're limited to parking in the middle areas where there are no pipes to hinder you.

With nothing else to do in Megamall, we drove straight to Shopwise in Cubao to do our grocery shopping.  You ask why in Shopwise when there's already a supermarket in Megamall?  Well, it's simple.  The goods that we want aren't there!  It's a pain to go around the supermarket only to find that they don't sell the brand that you're looking for.  So, it's off to Shopwise for us :) Anyway, the kids don't mind the change in venue because as you can see form the pictures they're very comfortable.  You just have to be patient with them asking for a cup of drink to put in the cupholders hahaha

After buying the necessary (and not so necessary) stuff we drove from Quezon City to San Juan where we had dinner at Charlie's Grind and Grill near Greenhills.  The kids love their hotdogs, while Patrick and I are fans of their buffalo chicken wings and Black Angus burgers with fries :)









DAY 2

Since Patrick was able to test drive in the city, he wanted to test Jaws' powers on the highway and so off we went (just the two of us this time) to Tagaytay.  Along the way, Patrick decided that we'd go "house hunting" (like we had any money ) and check out the residential developments along Daang Hari.  He said that since we had this awesome car, they'd (sales agents) probably entertain us more since we appear to be loaded hahahaha  We only had time to visit one project and that's Ponticelli.  Their houses were huge and expensive (something in the range of Ph3Mn upwards).  I liked their designs but I wanted bigger lots.  It felt cramped to me seeing houses too close to each other and the roads can only accommodate 2 very narrow lanes.  I did appreciate the agent's spiel.. He wasn't they hard sell type and was simply showing us the different layouts available.  

After that, we headed straight to Tagaytay planning on having lunch there.  On the SLEX, I knew Patrick was fiddling with the controls because car-newbie that I am, I can sense some changes in the engine.  When I asked Patrick what he was fiddling around with, he gave me this mischievous smile and said, "Cruise Control" ;) It was a novelty to him to be able to finally, actually get the chance to drive a car with Cruise Control hahaha and he loved it! :) Oh and I can't forget that little button called the SI-Drive (Subaru Intelligent Drive) that shifts your engine's mode from Intelligent, to Sport to Sport Sharp :D There's also the Sportshift thing that lets you shift control from automatic to manual.  Oh and since I was only a passenger I loved the fact that I can customize the position of my seat in so many ways as to give me comfort while driving. :)

Anyway, after lunch, we headed back to Manila, met up with Den and Philip at the Asus Service Center in Megamall to finally get the correct laptop battery.  From there, we went to the Samsung Mobile Phones sale at the Market, Market in Fort Bonifacio where Den and Ate Mel (through me) bought their Samsung mobile phones.We bought Krispy Kreme Donuts to take home for the kids and then we had a late dinner at Chic-Boy.

While at Chic-Boy, there was a couple beside our table who when they were finished with their food, moved to a different table (now at the back of us).  We were all wondering what they're up to when we overheard their conversation.  They were talking about Jaws who was parked directly in front of us and can easily be seen from inside the restaurant.  The guy was really amped about Jaws' size, apparently it's the first time that he's seen a Subaru Outback.  Even his girlfriend/wife liked Jaws and if they knew that we were the ones driving Jaws they'd probably ask to have their picture taken with him hahaha

So that's kinda long (I can get chatty, sorry!).

Test driving the new 2010 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon

November 21, 2009 - One of the perks of Patrick's job at Top Gear Philippines is having the chance to test drive new cars and review them for the magazine.  His first test drive run was with a Honda City and he took that to Subic (on assignment too).  This November, he was able to bring home the new 2010 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon.  This car is like Stanley's junior sister, by almost 15 years. She's blue, she's big, she's wide (almost too wide to fit in the garage which wasn't exactly built for her girth) and she's so powerful just the hum of the engine is going to drive you nuts.

Naturally, the kids were excited to ride it in and we took it for a spin going to Greenhills where Patrick had to cover another event.  Here you can see just how long Sally (that's the name the kids gave the car) is relative to a Kia.

You can see how spacious it is inside, from the backseat and even in the cargo hold:

But, see, I don't know any of the specs of this awesome car and even if Patrick tells me, I still wouldn't understand.  All I know it's still AWD with its boxer engine (this I know because we have a Subaru Legacy too), the front seats have some sort of mechanized thingy that you can custom-fit to your body in 16 different ways and it's ultra-super fast given it's size.  It's size is deceptive, very much like you'd think it's heavy and slow but you'd probably end up with your mouth wide open when you challenge it to a race hahahaha At 100, the engine is barely whispering.  At 140, you sort of hear it speak.  At 200, there's a growl.. imagine it at its top speed! woohoo!! but of course, you can't drive it that fast here hehehe

IF we had the money, we'd buy it right here, right now.  It's such a great car and even tops at safety standards and what-have-yous.. Look at their smiling faces :

SALLY, we love you! :D

Shopping for a Car!

March 8, 2009 - This was the day that Patrick scheduled our car shopping trip :) Mind you, we're not going to dealers but to personal car owners who were selling their cars. In short, we're in the market for a 2nd hand car. We already did our research over the net. I think we even went overboard and had our short list in an excel file hahahaha but that's just the researcher in me LOL

Our personal favorite was the Subaru Legacy, between 1996-1999. 2nd choice would be a Big Body Toyota Corolla. Third choice would be a Honda Accord. All these cars have big cargo spaces and leg room in common hahaha and seatbelts in the back seat built-in LOL At first, I really didn't consider the green colored cars because I hate green! but then I figured if it's a Subaru and the engine is in good condition then the color would be secondary, especially if it's within our budget LOL

So, on that Saturday, Patrick had asked his friend Phil to drive us around and to help us look over the cars. Phil has an intimate knowledge of cars and we trust his choices :) Patrick was the one who handpicked and mapped out our destinations so the kids and I were just there for the trip hahaha It was just a little letdown that Phil's car was in the shop and he had to drive his older car which was in danger of overheating if the aircon was put on high. In the end, we just had to forego the aircon because the breeze outside was way cooler than inside :) We just bought plenty of water to hydrate us LOL

Okay so first stop, we saw a Mitsubishi Lancer. This was more for Patrick's satisfaction than mine and it was a relief to me that the car didn't pan out LOL 2nd choice was way in the boondocks and it was a Honda Accord. At first, it looked okay but upon much careful scrutiny, you'll see the flaws in the vehicle. The sound system was great though :)

We had to take a break for lunch and we ate at McDonald's in Ever Gotesco Commonwealth because that's where our next stop was. This time, it looked like we had a good one because we were in a good executive village where the cars are practically pristine quality so we were thinking that the car that was being sold was most likely to be in good condition as well. When we rang the bell, we were all surprised because the guy who came to the door was Michael Flores from TGIS (a teeny-bopper show on GMA-7 before). Talk about starstruck! LOL What's more, it turned out that Michael was a schoolmate to both Patrick and Phil in JASMS! Coincidence?!

We looked over the 1996 Subaru Legacy that he was selling and to me I was already sold on it. LOL The engine sounded good, the doors were aligned, the aircon was cool, there was only 90K kilometers on it, roughly (55K miles). It had an owner's and repair manual. The best part was he was giving it to us for P180K, with a great discount LOL exactly our budget LOL It even had comprehensive insurance which was a great plus and it was already registered for 2009. All we had to do was just ride in it :) Of course, even though we wanted to buy it already, we said that we still had one more Subaru to look into, which we did. But we told him, we'd get back to him as soon as possible too hahahha

So onto the last car of the day, a 1996 blue Subaru that was selling for P185K. It wasn't in very good condition compared to Michael's. There were a lot of cosmetic damages that would really take a lot of money to repair so it wasn't a good buy. At that point, we knew which car was THE car! It was so exciting! hahaha