230/365 - Reunions

Dinner at Kichitora with my former colleagues 

This had been planned for a long time already. I was very fortunate to have been able to go and meet up with former colleagues and friends of mine. It was great catching up, and the food was pretty good.

Out.

Car Set-Up

My entire week at CIMS I learned a lot of things about cars and driving. I was very fortunate to talk to a lot of people who are way, way more knowledgeable than me in the automotive scene. They gave me a good idea of what things I could to to a car / ride if I had the funds.

Contrary to popular belief, power is not the most important thing to fix in a car. Unless you're planning on building a dragster, that is. I learned that braking and handling is a bigger priority, because once you get the perfect handling set-up for your car, adding power will be very easy. Just to make it clear, the person who told me this is a racing driver. He knows what he's talking about.

So now I've come up with a plan for a trackable daily driver. Meaning I want to have a car that I can use everyday in comfort, but it becomes a decent track day car when I have the funds to join a track day. This plan applies to any and all cars I've been daydreaming about. Yes, even my dream Beetle Baja.

• Lighting. First things first, I have to improve the lighting. Use all-weather, brighter bulbs to improve night-time visibility. Add fog lamps if needed. Improve the rear brake lights, the third brake light, and improve the turn signal bulbs.
• Sound system. Just a modern stereo system with decent speakers.
• 17" - 18" rims. This is very important for both aesthetics and car handling. Less sidewall means better cornering. Also, getting wider rims will help me with the next step, which is...
• Brakes. If I could install a big brake kit, I would. I just have to improve braking, not only for track but also for the street.
• Suspension. Adjustable coilovers if possible, so that I can raise or lower ride height depending on the situation. That way as a daily driver I'd get proper ground clearance, but once on the track I would lower the car to improve handling.
• POWER!!! Not really. Just improve the intake and the exhaust, really. I don't want to build a powerful car that ends up being a gas guzzler. I just want a nice, reliable engine that can get me at decent cruising speeds and overtaking speeds in the highway when needed.

There you have it. If you notice, you'll see I'd rather have a car that drives well and handles well. I'm guessing it's more fun having a nice, peppy, responsive car than feels like it drives on rails than a super-fast car than can't turn.

Out.

229/365 - On Pets

I love to get darker.

Last weekend at Clark my colleague Pao and I met a man and his dog. They was hired as the K9 security detail for the CIMS 2014 event. Pao had chatted with him while I enjoyed listening to their back and forth. He said something about dogs that made me think really, really hard.

He said that we owe it to our dogs who passed away to get another one and take care of the dog like our previous dog. Something like that, or at least that's how I understood it. Sort of like paying it forward.

We put Rebus to sleep one day after my 33rd birthday. I cried a lot that time, and I swore I would never get another dog because of the pain I feel when these things happen.

However, what Roger said hit me hard. Indeed, I loved Rebus a lot. I loved all of the pets we've had, and they too loved me back. I'm sure it would make them very happy and proud of me if I would continue to take care of pets as best as I could, because it would mean I was honoring the bond we had.

Out.

221 - 228/365 Weeklong Edition

I've been gone for over a week. I'll try to recap that in this blog post. I was getting ready for my work-related trip to Clark. I was going to be there from Wednesday to Sunday, possibly getting to Manila in the wee hours of Monday.

I was already done packing by Monday. I wanted to make sure I had enough clothes for the trip, with a couple of spares just in case.

Checking my inventory of clothes.

Tuesday I was pretty relaxed, but anxious also. This would be my first time to drive to Clark and drive back. I knew I could do it, but that didn't stop me from being a bit worried.

Revolver Ocelot.

Day 1 in Clark we had dinner at this place named Iguana Mexican Restaurant. Formerly called Zapatas, the food was good and cheap. The plate you see below is actually only half of one order. My colleague and I shared one order. He got the burrito and I got the soft taco and chili.

Dinner at Zapatas.

The official Day 1 of CIMS 2014 was off to a slow start. There were plenty of empty areas for the car clubs, but the cars in the show were pretty impressive. I was very happy to see a Honda CRX in the flesh, as this is one of my more favorite cars.

Honda CRX at CIMS 2014

Day 2 of CIMS 2014 was more of the same. Very few people, and long hours. It gave me and my colleague time to practice our photography skills.

AutoPerformance Ph's BMW E36 M3

Day 3 was more action packed. Most of the car clubs arrived and we had lots of inquiries in our booth. It was also the time reinforcements arrived, in the form of my boss. That night we had dinner at Bondoc's. It was a "hole-in-the-wall" restaurant that's been around for 24 years. The steak they had was amazing. Most of us stopped talking as we ate.

Steak dinner at Bondoc's in Angeles City, Pampanga.

Our last day was mostly a blur. We all knew we were going home, and the two of us who had been in Pampanga since Wednesday were very excited to go home. The day went by relatively fast, and we packup up our stuff quickly and efficiently. We left Clark around 8:45pm.

Our villa at DM Residente.

I got home midnight, technically Monday. I dropped off my boss before going home, and it was really nice of him to ride with me since I was a bit worried about the drive home. I'm glad we made good time home and we all arrived safe and sound at our own homes.

Midnight dinner. Got home at 12mn from Clark.

Overall it was a great experience.

Out.

New Blog Look!

I've changed my blog's look! I realized the old, monochromatic black-white-gray combo was getting a bit old (and painful to read - white text on a black-ish background?). Plus I don't think that color scheme fits into what I'm trying to transform myself to.

I needed cheerful colors and a quick update to the blog might help brighten my blog's mood.

Out.