Cars: Toyota 86 for the long weekend

November 30 - December 04, 2012

One of the most memorable test drives that Patrick has ever brought home in the four years that he's been test driving cars is THE Toyota 86.   During this week, he will have the Toyota 86, which we've fondly nicknamed Kratos (from God of War), to test drive and our first stop was at the Manila Auto Salon at the SMX of the Mall of Asia.  Of course, before heading out, we all had to have our picture taken with Kratos haha

So guess what we first saw at the Manila Auto Salon?  A red Toyota 86 at the Top Gear Philippines booth hahaha

After browsing through all the nice cars at the show, we were ready to go home.  We still couldn't stop ourselves from taking pictures haha The car was a real Beauty and Beast !! :D Granted, the kids were comfortable in the back seat, although of course, they preferred to be able to see outside, but they liked it when Patrick "drifted" the car LOL As a passenger, I felt that the car really handled well and though it is a sports car, the suspension didn't make me dizzy.

It felt good to be driving around in it since we all saw how people reacted to the car.  Some pointed it out.  Some wanted to take pictures of it.  There was even a time when at the traffic light, a jeepney driver had a conversation with Patrick about it.  It surprised us when the driver thanked us for taking the time to talking to him about the car!!

I'm sure if we had money, Patrick wouldn't need any prompting to buy the Toyota 86! :D The kids would probably love it too :D

Chevy Motorama and Pyromusical Competition at the MOA

February 19, 2011


After Dana's Family School day that morning, we just bought take-out from Wendy's for lunch and headed home to rest.  Patrick mentioned that we still had one event to go to and that was to be in Mall of Asia.  I didn't really know what the event was except that there's a robot that looks like a Transformer which Patrick said Dylan will be amazed to see.  Ok, so that was enough for me. :)

Upon arriving in MOA, we headed straight to the Music Hall where the event was taking place.  By this time, I found out that the event we're attending was the Chevy Motorama where Chevrolet Philippines will be launching their all-new city car, called the Spark.  In the center of the venue was this tall Spark robot next to its car form :) Naturally, the kids wanted to have their picture taken and we, as indulgent parents, couldn't say no hehehehe

Other Chevrolet cars were also on display and very helpful sales associates were on hand to answer customer queries about the cars.  If you want to know more about the All-New Spark, you can read more about it from  Patrick's article on Top Gear.

While Patrick was going about his business for Top Gear Philippines, the kids and I spent time ogling Bumbleebee (Transformers) and the Camaro :) Another photo op! :)  The kids weren't too fussy because soon after the program started with a smashing performance from Mr. Beatbox (OMG, I forgot his real name!) and Karylle who entertained the audience with a number of songs.  Ryan Agoncillo, the celebrity endorser for Chevrolet was of course, present too.

After the program, we all trooped to the 2nd floor and partook of the special buffet hosted by Abe restaurant for the event.  This was also a good time for the media attendees and the organizers to simply catch up, network and share a few laughs :)  We were all excited to watch the Fireworks display from the Pyromusical Competition of which Chevrolet was also a major sponsor.  That night, we were amazed by entries from Portugal and the UK.

The night wouldn't be complete without our visit to our favorite bookstores and leaving with some great titles :)

Our thanks to Chevrolet Philippines, Sir Albert and Ma'am Lyn for inviting us and treating us so well! :)

Patrick's Trip to Bangkok, Thailand

March 24-27, 2010

Patrick and I have often argued that his job, though he loves it, has a lot of downsides.  For one, the pay sucks and if you have a family it really can't sustain you.  Sometimes, the work also spills over during family time when on the weekends we have to troop to car events and such because he has to cover them for the magazine or for the website.

However, he loves it and I mean really loves it so what are we to do?  With it's downsides, it does have a lot of perks.  He gets a lot of freebies from the events that he attends, like free gasoline, free motor oil, lots of T-shirts, discounts on car services and he gets to test drive cars that normally he wouldn't able to drive let alone, touch LOL  Also, we can't deny he gets free out of town trips like his stay in Cebu (which we would've loved to be with him) and this time, his trip to Bangkok, Thailand.

At first, we thought he wouldn't be able to make it because he only just applied for his passport and it was taking a long time to process.  It turned out that the DFA (Dept. of Foreign Affairs) was moving it's passport processing department to a new and more modern building.  But in the end, he was able to go :)

When he told me what his first impression of Bangkok was, I laughed, because he said it's very much like Manila except that it has more fly-overs hahaha  Oh and before I forget, the reason why he's in Bangkok was because of the 2010 Bangkok International Motor Show which he had to cover.  He really was astounded by the sheer number of cars and people at the event.  It was like nothing he has ever seen before and he was just amazed at the effort the organizers put in.

Though he didn't really have a chance to go around the city, he did see some interesting sites :) Like, this Porsche "service" station by the side of the road.  And, the great monuments that are easily seen from the many highways in the city.  I was a bit scared for him though when I heard that people were rallying on the street.  Having lived near the Malacanang Palace here in Manila, I was exposed to a lot of coup d'etats and I know how dangerous things like rallies and protests can be.  Oh and he said these pink taxis would do MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando proud! LOL

Anyway, nothing bad happened and he really liked where he was billeted during his stay there.  He was given accommodations at the Jasmine Executive Suites Hotel and he marveled at how big the room was :) He also enjoyed the buffet breakfasts every morning  :)

Though we really missed him during the time he was working, I'm really happy that he got to go on his first out of the country trip.  :)

Here are his pictures at The Bangkok Motor Show.

 

2009 Hot Rod Exposition and Car Show

March 15, 2009 - After doing the laundry in the morning, Patrick, Den, the kids and I trooped to Fort Bonifacio to attend the 2009 Hot Rod Exposition and Car Show event. It was really for Patrick's job but we felt that it's a unique place to enjoy the day so we went with him :) Of course, the kids have some fascination with cars too especially from watching movies like "Cars", "Transformers", "The Italian Job" etc. and since they also play Gran Turismo we knew that they'll find it fun! :)

There were a ton of cars that it's hard to know where to start looking hahaha but when we spotted the food stands there's no question which our first stop is hahahaha After filling ourselves with yummy food, Patrick went ahead to cover the event. The kids played in the inflatable slide thingy that was erected to keep the kids occupied.

After maybe an hour, I figured the kids needed a rest from playing so we walked around the exhibit site. We saw Mini Coopers, Corvettes and really cool, very old cars!! Seeing as I'm no car buff, I can't tell you which models they are, but if you have an old car and you're not really taking good care of it, you should be ashamed hahaha

The kids became excited when they saw a replica of Herbie and Mr. Bean's car! Naturally, Dana gravitated towards all the red cars and she even saw a Volkswagen Combi wagon that looks similar to her Dora Van hahahah Dylan became scared of the really huge Monster Truck!!

It was such a good day.. a different but fun way to spend the day with the family! :)