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

Lance and Hannah's Birthday Celebration

October 18 - This was the day that Toni and Stevie rescheduled the kids' birthday celebration. It was originally meant for October 4, Sunday but the venue was also flooded and needed weeks to get things back in order. So they decided to hold the celebration at Jollibee in Green Meadows.

Needless to say, the kids all had a good time. It was rather unlucky that Rhys and Dimples and Jericho couldn't make it because Rhys was sick. Some of the guests were also trapped and troubled by the closing of the Quezon Circle route due to a marathon run so they ended up being late for the celebration.

Dana and Dylan participated in the games and even won a few prizes.














Of course, the highlight of the party was when Jollibee himself made an appearance!! Even the adults wanted to have their picture taken with Jollibee hahahaha
















All in all, kids and adults had a good time and there was plenty of food left over. After this, we took the kids back home because their car was still in the shop adn then we went straight to SM North Edsa to have Den's laptop looked at. I fear it's a virus and the system needs to be recovered. It's a good thing that the after-sales service at Gigahertz is great. They fixed the laptop with no charge :)

Took advantage of the 50% sale at the department store to buy the kids' their Christmas clothes :D

Tiring but Fun Day!!

The sun is out!

After Ondoy it was Typhoon Pepeng but he didn't pass Metro Manila. Instead he made landfall in the North, not once but three times (yes, he came back twice!). Relief and cleaning up operations are still ongoing this time in the northern provinces. The northern provinces, especially Pangasinan, Tarlac, Bulacan were left flooded. Baguio had one too many landslides and for a while the roads leading to and coming from Baguio were impassable. Rains continued for 3 days straight there. 5,000 cubic meters per second of water was released from the San Roque Dam, which may have added to the flooding of 90% of the towns in Pangasinan. Prices of vegetables doubled because most of these were coming from Baguio. Many people were left homeless, their crops a riverbed of water, and their towns once clean and green are now either flooded or muddy.

Metro Manila, this time, was spared with only a few rains here and there. Thus, we decided to get out of the house, breathe "fresh" air and maybe enjoy the sun when it comes out. We all went to Mall of Asia where Dylan got his hair cut at his regular salon. Den also went for a hair cut while I treated myself (sort of a pre-birthday gift) to a foot spa with pedicure! (oh it was heaven!!) at the David's Salon. I love this salon, they really make you feel pampered and special. That's why I keep going back there :)

The weekend after that, after Dana's Saturday class, as another pre-birthday gift, we also had Stanley's stereo replaced. We bought a Pioneer system that's equipped with a USB port for more music woohoo. Stanley's old radio had a 6 CD changer but you can only play 2 CD's and that's at the whim of Stanley LOL Next on the agenda will be to replace his speakers because one of them is broken. ;)

The aftermath of the storms

You've all probably heard by now the destruction that the Philippines experienced in the wake of Typhoons Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma). Ondoy hit Metro Manila last September 26, rained for 6 hours and delivered a month's worth of rain. The result: Metro Manila was totally flooded, especially in the areas of Marikina, Rizal and Pasig, all of which were along the path of the Marikina and Pasig Rivers which both overflowed during the height of the storm. Many people were stranded, my niece included and she spent the night at the University. It's funny because though the school was only a 15-minute walk home I told her not to risk the floods because the water was thigh to chest deep in some areas. You'll see a lot of videos and pictures of cars one on top of the other, filled with mud and cascading down streets. Most houses in Provident Village were submerged in mud and flood waters. Patrick's brother Stevie and his family had to evacuate from their house in Marikina because the water rose up to about 12 feet. We went to help them with the cleanup last Sunday and we hardly recognized the subdivision because it looked like a battleground of sorts. As you can see, it's not just debris from their own house that they have to clear up. There are lots of debris brought by the floods that end up in their home and mud is so hard to clean.


We also heard from friends about other friends that lost most of their belongings and we pitched in to help by donating clothes and food. Den also volunteered in their school drive to pack relief goods.

Patrick's sister, Dimples also felt the brunt of the storm. Their house in Quezon City was totally flooded up to the 2nd floor. They thought that they will be safe because the water level has never risen past the ground floor and they were caught unaware by the deluge. They had to evacuate for their own safety. When they came back, their house was a wreck. Furniture overturned, the ref floating in the water and even their cellphones and gadgets were waterlogged.

This was certainly a trying time for everyone. More so for those who lost everything but their lives. Seeing all that they've worked so hard to build reduced to a pile of debris is heartbreaking. Losing their loved ones to the raging waters, cascading mud is even more traumatic. Having to spend the night on your roof without water, without food and without any hope of rescue is mind-shattering.

Thank goodness for the kind-hearted souls who have generously donated their extras to help their brothers in need. Thank goodness for the many organizations who work nonstop to get the relief goods to people still unreachable by regular means. Thank goodness for the indomitable spirit of the search and rescue workers who have continuously been working to get people to safety.

You can look at this tragedy and be hopeless and wallow in self-pity. Or you can take the higher path and feel emboldened by the generosity of others and move forward, value the life of your loved ones and strive to learn from this experience.

Flooding in Sampaloc

Never in my life did I think that the water would rise so fast. It was a Saturday morning and Dana had classes. So we brought her to school. It was raining a little so it was still okay, otherwise I wouldn't have thought to bring her to school at all. Anyway, around 10:30, we were heading out to get her from school and the rains were stronger, visibility was very poor but we managed and we even went to our favorite store so we can buy lunch but the water was high already and we were scared it might get into the car. We didn't think it was going to be bad at our place.

When we got near the house, we noticed that the garage was open and my cousins were bringing their cars out.. Look out! Water was in the garage and it was ankle deep in a span of 15 minutes!! we parked the car outside, brought the kids in and checked the status inside the house. Mel's room was flooded, there was a leak in the window.. got that fixed with sealant. Den's room was leaking, got that fixed too, the roofdeck was flooded, the drain was blocked. Our room was leaking.. the ceiling was flooding.. man, i can't fix that so our room had buckets of water LOL

You won't believe it, but the water in the garage rose to as high as chest-levels. On the streets, they were probably at thigh-levels. and the rain wasn't stopping ... At least, we didn't lose power.. Our neighbors houses were flooded. Our house itself wasn't flooded but we couldn't get out.. We just had to wait it out and keep vigil on the buckets of water inside the house LOL

Now we're waiting for the water to subside for the clean-up.. oh what a joy! LOL

Here are pictures, if you're so inclined:

On the streets:


Inside the compound:
If you look at the water level behind Tito Ernie, you'll see how high it reached.


Water in the car:

Trip to Subic

September 19 - With just a few days notice, Patrick told us that we were headed to Subic for the weekend. He was supposed to attend and cover the launch of a new energy drink and we were tagging along with him. It was also coincidental that he was assigned to test drive the new Honda City for a week.

Unfortunately, the day of the trip started out bad. When Patrick went out to get to the 6am opening ceremonies of the event in Ortigas, he found out that someone stole the Honda's side mirrors!! oh no!! It was our schedule to be parked outside of the garage for the weekend but never in my mind did I think that someone was going to steal side mirrors.. Man.. that was a shock.. It was a stress looking for replacement parts but Patrick found them over at Honda Otis Manila. What a relief!!

Then, we were headed out.. Dana was not feeling well but I thought it was just the regular "just woke up, bad mood" thing. I was hoping she will get better once we were on the road.. so we just monitored her..

Traffic was bad on the Expressway because it was a long weekend since Monday was a holiday. We had late lunch at the stopovers along the NLEX and we were worried that we won't make the check-in time. Fortunately, they allow late check-ins.. that's the 2nd relief! We arrived in Subic around 4pm already..


The Bayfront Hotel was pretty okay. Affordable rates, pleasant staff, good food. Dana still had a fever but it went away for a while so she was able to swim in the pool. The fever returned full blast maybe because of the aircon, it was so cold in the room. Dana's fever was still raging so we turned off the aircon and bathed her in cold water. I kept a cold compress on her forehead overnight, which meant I didn't sleep but that's okay.. it's a mother's duty.. The fever was kept at bay until morning. Luckily, there was a reclining couch in the room, that's where she slept, and we moved that couch away from the aircon so it wouldn't be so cold for her.

She was feeling better in the morning, we went outside after breakfast (buffet and really good food). There was a playground and we stopped at the beachside. We went riding around the area just to see what's new. Then went back just in time for checking out. We had lunch at Gerry's Grill - really yummy food! Dana was able to eat something at least..

Then it was time to go home. But Patrick had another stop in mind.. the Duty Free shops!! Man, did I go crazy there!!! Finally, clothes that fit me and for so cheap!!! I bought 2 pairs of shorts for me, a pair of Crocs on sale, shorts for Den, an Elmo doll for Dylan, toys for Dana.. it was crazy!! we also bought Combos (cheddar cheese snacks) and a 6-pack box of Pringles LOL

Car Emergency on the NLEX

September 12 - Today, we went to visit Uncle Dennis and his family in Pampanga. This time, we were joined by Stevie and his family as well. It was a good time spent catching up, mostly it was Stevie and Uncle Dennis because we were there recently. Around 5 PM, Stevie announced we were going home and so we packed up and left.

Immediately after exiting the tollway station, Stanley (for those who don't remember, Stanley is the name of our car) just started to shake and the steering wheel was really going crazy. We immediately stopped at the shoulder of the road. We tried driving slow to see if it was caused by the speed. It wasn't. Even if we were traveling at 20km/hour there was a minor "wiggle" to the car that can't be ignored. So we decided to stop at the nearest gas station to have a mechanic check the problem and if it's possible, to fix it. Surprisingly enough there wasn't a mechanic available at the Caltex Station. They gave us a number to a mechanic in San Simon whom we had to wait for. When he arrived 30 minutes later, he looked at the tires pronounced them unfit, released some of the pressure and sent us on our way. Oh and he told us that there was an accident on the Southbound lane of the NLEX. What a joy! right!

So on we went, it was now 6 PM. Oh and we let Stevie and his family go on ahead because the kids were getting fussy. And when you're traveling you don't want fussy kids in the car LOL

We were moving again but the wheels were still a problem. I asked Patrick to stop and call the emergency service of NLEX using their phone on the side of the road. That's what they're there for, right? So that in itself was an adventure for Patrick LOL Because he said, it wasn't technically a phone but a box - a talking box LOL He wanted to take a picture but it was getting dark and it was drizzling. Perfect timing and weather for your car to breakdown.

He talked to someone, they said they'll send the nearest Patrol Car (which happened to be a few minutes away at the scene of the accident we just passed LOL) They examined the car, said it was something else that was the trouble. Finally, we decided we can't go on like this forever and so we asked them the rates for towing. P1,200 up to the nearest exit which was Pulilan. P4,200 up to the end of the NLEX, further than that, they charge more of course. hmm.. so that kept us thinking LOL

And so we thought. And the solution at that time was to call Sharon (my sister) and have Jowell (her husband) tow us back to Manila by any means necessary LOL But that didn't pan out because as the Patrol guys said, only the accredited towing service of NLEX is allowed to tow vehicles there. The option was, we get towed to Pulilan have them pick us up there and then use the McArthur Highway to get back to Manila. So that was our option. Better, P1,200 than P4,200 LOL

When the towing service came, it was from AAP or the Automobile Association of the Philippines.. Woohoo!! We were members which meant we didn't have to pay the P1,200!! hahahah one less problem solved LOL

They towed us to Pulilan and they recommended a car shop who can probably fix Stanley. By that time, Sharon and her family arrived in Pulilan too and Jowell was there at the shop with a watchful eye.

They replaced the left wheel with the spare tire. They fiddled with something. Jowell test drove it. It seemed to work fine. So we were off, no towing necessary but we were running at 40km/hr on the shoulder of the road because it was still wiggling. The steering kept fighting with Patrick.

We arrived at the house around 12. The kids were tired. We were tired but we arrived safe though not so sound LOL In our stress, we even landed on the truck lane at the exit tollgate because we were concentrating on every sound and move that Stanley was making, we didn't notice that the lanes were widening LOL

Monday morning, we took Stanley to my aunt's vulcanizing shop and one look at Stanley's underside and we saw the problem. The CV joints were busted. Not the tie rod, not the wheels. The CV joints were blown out, bearings gone, it was a surprise they didn't break off too, the mechanic said. Got those parts replaced from Banawe (original parts for P3,000) each.. expensive but at least they're not surplus.

And Stanley was as good as new.. well sort of :) Here are the pictures, forgive them if they're dark LOL
The Towing Truck

Preparing to get Stanley on the truck

Stanley on the truck. As Dana said, Stanley has his own driver now :)

Dana's Card Grades

Well, the time is now to see Dana's card grades. To be honest, I wasn't really worried or anything because I've already seen the results of her exams. I was actually more worried about her Filipino (learning to speak and read Filipino class) because as you know, English is her first language.

But lo and behold, her Filipino is higher than her Math grade!! LOL It's not that she's not brilliant in Math. I saw her exams and I asked her why she didn't answer the test questions correctly because I know she knew the right answers. She told me, she was getting bored from having to answer all of the questions and she didn't read any of the instructions anymore LOL That is quite understandable seeing as this is her first time doing tests like this in school. I did tell her that the first time is the only "excusable" time.. the next time, I won't be so forgiving (hmm.. that sounded ominous) LOL

Anyway, the red numbers are the actual grades that she got.

Trip to Tagaytay and Enchanted Kingdom

August 29-30, 2009

First of all, let me greet Den, my niece a Happy 18th Birthday!!! It is on her account that we're going out of town because we want to celebrate her 18th Birthday in style :)

So we chose Tagaytay as our destination for three reasons. First, we've never been there as a family and staying overnight. Second, it was on the way to Enchanted Kingdom where we'll be spending the next day at. Patrick got free tickets again as part of Enchanted Kingdom's media blitz. And, Third, we reserved a room at the Days Hotel Tagaytay because we wanted to test the discount card that I was a member of. For P3K annual membership, we get 30%-40% discounted rates at Days Hotel rooms nationwide and the same goes for their affiliate hotels.



Our first stop during our trip, believe it or not, was for lunch at the Rose and Grace Restaurant along the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Highway. For P1K+ we got our fill of Bulalo, Beef Steak, Lechon Kawali, a Tower of Nestea Iced Tea and 2 orders of Fresh Lumpia and bowls of rice! :D Not bad!! and Great Tasting too!!

It was just in time for checking in when we were done so we headed to the Days Hotel Tagaytay where we were booked at their Deluxe Room. There was 1 King Sized Bed, a couch that turns into an extra bed and our very own jacuzzi in the bathroom!! All for P4650 (inclusive of 10% surcharge). Oh and there was a balcony/terrace where you get to hang out and enjoy the scenic view of the mountain.


We then headed to Tagaytay Picnic Grove because we heard that there was horseback riding there and we wanted the kids to experience that. So off we went!! And sure enough, there were horses there, you can tell by the stench! LOL My allergies started acting up LOL But all for the kids so I soldiered on LOL For P200, 2 people can ride one horse for an hour. It's a boring one hour because they only get to go around in circles in a paddock type of field. For an additional P150, you supposedly get an adventure tour (but we didn't try that out). The kids enjoyed it though :)


After that, we went looking for the Zipline and Cable area. Arfie recommended this bit so thanks to her :) That was an awesome adventure!! Den and I decided to try the zipline. You are suspended from these zipline cables. You choose to lie flat or to sit (we chose to lie flat it was more exciting that way!) and you're zipping across the mountain. It was a rush, a scary, but exhilarating rush!! So we went both ways because it was tiring to go back up the trail on foot hahahaha The kids, Ate Mel and Patrick went on the cable car which will take the same route only on a much sedate pace. Dylan was pretending there was a dinosaur hiding in the trees LOL So that was a worthwhile experience :)




After all that excitement, we all trooped to the swimming pool at the hotel even though it was pretty cold so we didn't stay long. We then spent a long time in the jacuzzi LOL that was something :)


Time for bed!! We have an early day because we still have to go to Enchanted Kingdom :) But we still managed to sneak in a dip in the pool hahaha


And that was our trip to Tagaytay:


Our trip to Enchanted Kingdom is pretty much a rehash of what went on the last time.. Full of rides but since there were more people at the park, there were long lines and it wasn't really that much fun. I did have a chance to get a foot reflexology and whole body massage at Enchanted.. and it was heaven!! LOL You just don't know how long I've wanted to experience that ! LOL



For more pictures (and there are many!) just click here:

It's a good thing it was a 3-day weekend. We needed one day to rest before school and office started again LOL