I love driving. Looking at the odometer, you wouldn’t think my car is turning 3 years old in a few weeks.
If money weren’t an issue, I’d take long drives every weekend. Though going straight through EDSA tends to make me sleepy (unless I can go really fast), I actually do long for highways and the open road. To me, it represents freedom and possibilities.
But I also love byways because you always have to pay attention lest you get lost. Driving up, down, and around mountains are also something I like – the twists and turns, and looking forward to what’s waiting on the other side.
When driving with the hubby by my side, we like to sing, and snack. We have some really funny conversations in the car, sometimes we discuss serious matters too.
When alone, I find that driving gives me the opportunity to process my thoughts. Even with music blasting loudly from the speakers, it’s like finding a quiet space to just be with myself. Recently, I’ve also been tuning in to podcasts so that sitting through traffic doesn’t feel too much like a waste of time.
Yesterday, I drove hubby to the market. While I sat in the car waiting for him to come back, I realised what I was thankful for on Day 2 of 30 Days of Thankful 2018: 21 months of being accident-free.
Thank you, all my angels, for protecting me and all who ride with me. Thank you for not allowing me to cause harm to other motorists and pedestrians. Thank you for not letting me wreck my car, as well as any private or public property.
For keeping me safe, thank you.
And thank you, Self, for knowing better than to continue driving even when sleepy. Thank you for taking steps to address your health issues affecting sleep and wakefulness (still a work in progress!).
When I ask the husband what he would like to do for the weekend, he would be hard-pressed for an answer. We hardly go to the malls anymore, and we hardly ever go to see movies in the cinema these days. We’ve even missed the Batman-Superman movie, as well as the more recent Civil War.
Happy with his purchase
Sometimes, he would tell me of an errand he needs done and he would like for me to drive him. Such was the case for Sunday, 15th of May. We were to head to SM San Lazaro where he’s to meet up with a Lego seller, and then drive all the way to Pasay for a brief visit to his parents. I stay in the car for both stops. It’s faster for him to go in and out of the mall with just one objective. If I go with him, we’d be window shopping all over the place. Or worse, we might end up buying something – maybe a snack or something.
For his visit home, I also stayed in the car. We have to park a block away from their house whenever we visit. That day, I just parked along the main road, hazard lights on. And this was a quick visit because Nanay wasn’t home. So he just said Hey to Tatay, grabbed a few things, and came back.
On the way there we were already talking about where to head next. Robinson’s Magnolia was a good option – so we could buy a bigger thermos to lug cold water with. SM MOA was another option, or behind it rather, at the bay area, because I really wanted to go somewhere we could just hang out. I have been wanting to go to a park, somewhere where we could relax and I could read or crochet for a few hours. I’ve also been wanting to drive to Tagaytay.
It was 12 noon, and he said yes to Tagaytay.
There are so many dining options in Tagaytay City, but since I’ve never tried it at Mahogany Market, that’s where we went to eat. It’s the Bulalo capital, so they say. I’m happy to report that the Bulalo is just as good as anywhere else in Tagaytay, the fried Tawilis too. Leslie’s and Dencio’s have the advantage of a nice view, but the many stalls at Mahogany Market offer unlimited free senyorita bananas, and even a plate of chilled pineapples! They even offered free coffee after the meal. That was good coffee too, very tasty.
After lunch, we wondered where to go next. It is summer and even Tagaytay is hot and humid. We didn’t go to the Picnic Grove for fear that there might be a lot of people there. The husband insisted that there were still places along the highway where you could stop, park, and admire the view for free. I didn’t believe him but we went ahead and drove the length of the highway. We spotted the Sales Office of Splendid, and what do you know? There’s free parking, and people were stopping to admire the view. We stopped there for about an hour, for crochet and a nap.
On the way home we decided to take a different route, not the Sta. Rosa route, but the Alfonso-Silang road. We followed Waze and was again amazed at the good but narrow side streets of Cavite. This province sure has a lot of small bridges. It’s also nice to note how there are many big, beautiful houses tucked away and hidden from the main roads. When we finally got back on the main road, there was the Sunday afternoon traffic – people are heading home to Manila. It wasn’t too bad though, just slow going at some areas.
We decided not to follow Waze at some point and just follow the road to Cavitex. It meant an additional hour of travel, but it was nice and steady. The husband ended up sleeping for the most part, but I would wake him up every ten minutes or so. Haha.
We are definitely not spontaneous people. We usually talk things through a few times before we do anything, that’s why end up not doing much most of the time! Lol. But it’s nice to just do something like an impromptu road trip. Good for the soul. 🙂
I love James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke! I think the first one I watched was the one with Justin Bieber. More recently, I saw him pick up Adele and that was so fun to watch.
Today, with Super Bowl fever still in the air, I just finished watching the episode with Chris Martin. It is hilarious!
I probably enjoy it because I also love singing in the car. I do the driving, and at a certain point I always end up getting sleepy. Specially if I drive after shift. Long straight roads also tend to bore me and that is always a reason to get sleepy. To wake myself up, I’d play songs I could sing too. That, or I’d have to really get into juicy gossip with whoever’s riding with me.
Awhile back, the husband and I purchased an inexpensive GoPro alternative – the Supremo Action Camera:
Verabear | Supremo Action Camera
It looks just like a GoPro, but I don’t know enough of them to know whether they do the same things. For us though, this is enough. It costs a third of a GoPro. We are photography enthusiasts and have a collection of different types of cameras. It’s like a hobby for me, a collection. I like having different options in capturing moments and preserving memories. We wish we were more outdoorsy but we aren’t. So this Supremo1 is definitely just the right action camera for us.
What does this have to do with Carpool Karaoke? Well, we’ve tried taking videos with the Supremo1 mounted on the dashboard. First it was pointed outside, like regular dashboard cameras. You know, just to record the streets of QC on a regular day. And then on our way back from our short weekend at Nasugbu two weeks ago, we turned the camera on us as we sang whatever song would play on the radio. Sad thing is, as is always the challenge, I have yet to see the photos and videos off the memory stick. Oh well.
So I would love for the husband and I to do something like Carpool Karaoke on a regular basis. Will we share it on Youtube or on the blog? Yes, No, Maybe. It’s just something we thought would be fun to record.
So anyway, without further adieu, checkout Coldplay’s Chris Martin on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke:
What I really wanted to say is this: Chris Martin is so pogi! And it just seems like so much fun to hang out with him. 🙂
I have been taking cabs or Uber cars for nine days now. I’ve generally had a good Uber experience, except for Monday’s ride that took the long way costing me a bit more time and money than usual. On Friday, a 6-minute wait time turned out more like 20, but I didn’t make a big deal out of it.
There are two down sides to this situation – it is costing me a lot more daily to take cabs, than my usual petrol costs (let’s not talk about Parking for now). And we can’t just up and go to the grocery, when we run out of food. Fast food delivery is also costing us much more, in addition to the food not being good for us.
Of course, other people are able to do groceries even without cars, it isn’t a requirement. People go out and do stuff all the time and take public transport or hop on and off cabs or Uber cars. I get it. We just haven’t done that in a while. Old habits die hard.
And I just really miss driving my own car.
Last Look at Dale
That there is a snapshot of my official last look at my first car – Dale. I named it Dale based on the plate, but I never really got the habit of calling it that. We just referred to it as the car, my car, the Honda.
We’ve been through so much, including 3 costly accidents. But he’s been good to me. I feel bad that in the last two months or so, he barely got washed. Our suki car wash along Scout Reyes closed down and I just couldn’t find another place that I liked enough to bring my car weekly to. Haha.
Dale was supposed to be replaced the very next day. It hasn’t happened so far. It’s been really frustrating and disappointing, but I’d rather not spend my energies on being negative about this situation. So to and from work, Uber it is. I try to enjoy the experience of sitting in a different car every time I need to go somewhere. Like today, I found out that it is actually spacious inside a Toyota Wigo. It isn’t as tight as I thought it would be. The Hyundai Eon wasn’t too shabby either. In fact, that car was the coolest of all the cars I’ve used in my morning/afternoon trips so far. By coolest I mean A/C coolest. I’ve had to ask other drivers to adjust the A/C, but not on that Eon.
As a rider, I really do like Uber. I love @Uber! I also like the business model and the potential income it offers. Have you tried it? How was your Uber experience? If you haven’t, then sign up with my promo code and get ?200 off your first ride! https://www.uber.com/invite/verao27ue
*Not a sponsored post, but I do get a free ride if you sign up with my code: verao27ue
As I write this, we are 3 hours into a 12-hour road trip home. Perhaps it was about 6 years ago or so, my colleagues from Asia ACTs and I took a road trip across the Cordilleras. We rented a van, and wove our way through Banawe, Sagada, and then Baguio. Then back to Quezon City. On the way home we stopped by Joy’s family home in Tarlac.
I don’t remember now how long it took, probably 3 or 4 days. It was fun because we took our time and there was much chatter on the road.
For this trip, we’re taking public transportation and you either entertained yourself with your own gadgets, or sang along whatever music the drivers and their conductor played. On the way up to Sagada, we slept for the most part of the trip. That was easy, the bus left QC at 830pm and we hasn’t slept since the day before. Now going down the mountains, the trip starts at 3pm. So it’s not so easy to fall asleep, or to stay so for long.
Most people would rather do something else than travel 12 hours to the mountains. I say it’s time well spent when the destination is Sagada. 🙂 Besides, 12 hours of sleep is a gift! Now the time it takes to get back to life, hmm. Well, it’s another gift of time. One can read, or watch movies.
So that’s what I’d been doing the past 2 hours – I watched a movie! That means that this weekend I’ve done quite a lot really:
1. Witness a childhood friend’s wedding
2. Cover a wedding as official photographer
3. Give my niece Shanti another memorable experience before she turns 18
4. Watch 2 movies: The New Adventures of Alice in Wonderland and Rachel Getting Married
5. Get a massage (which I said I should have weekly or at least twice a month)
6. Tried a new diner in Sagada (as opposed dining at all the old familiar places only)
7. Walked everyday in the past 3 days until I lost breath.
8. Met a charming little boy (I must share a photo of little Seth)
9. Say hi to old friends
10. See some of my favorite Baguio boys
And the weekend’s not even over yet!
What have you been up to? 🙂
Time check – it has been about 20 mins since I started writing this post and just when I was about to attach a photo of the mountains taken when we were on our way up, I lost network connection. When I do get to post this it will still be thanks to the mostly excellent Globe 3G signal on my iPhone. No, Cable Tours does not have wifi on board.
