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Road Trip
In search of bulalo
We drive a Toyota Hilux all the way to Batangas craving for a hot bowl of beef shank soup. We get our gastronomic wish, and then some.
Words by Vernon B. Sarne; Photography by Chino Acosta
A recent letter-sender asked if we had fuel-consumption figures of the vehicles we had tested. We didn't, because fuel-efficiency tests had never been part of our vehicle evaluation. But come to think of it: Why not?
Hence, the birth of this regular feature.
We call it Road Trip because it's not just about measuring a vehicle's fuel mileage. It's also about the joys of driving. And driving euphoria is definitely what this new section promises, especially since we're given free fuel by Total Philippines—our fuel partner in this latest motoring pursuit—and we don't have to worry about a single thing except step on the gas with a vast, open road before us.
The purpose of this new feature is twofold: first, to find out a vehicle's fuel mileage so prospective buyers will be guided accordingly; and second, to show interesting places to visit and amusing things to do while trying to achieve the first objective. Initially, we wanted to do a Pocholo Ramirez by filling the fuel tank to the brim and driving like maniacs until the vehicle came to a dry halt.
But the idea is so unoriginal and is more identified with another fuel company—not to mention that the endeavor will take a lot of time, effort and iPod battery juice. We don't have an iPod car charger and we refuse to go on a road trip with a dead iPod.
The vehicle of choice for Road Trip's first installment—as you can see on these pages—is the Toyota Hilux. Which brings me to a confession: I am a closet pickup fan. In fact, I have been telling a colleague about my desire to get one (not necessarily the Hilux). The pickup, to me, represents unadulterated machismo. It's the Robin Padilla of the automobile kingdom—the Spartan of flip-flops, the Red Horse of beers, the Robert Jaworski of basketball players. Not that I need the rugged veneer—I even think I've already got too much of it—but something about driving a pickup is so magnetically appealing. In a rescuing-a-damsel-in-distress sort of way.
And what's a road trip without good company? So I asked staff writer Dinzo Tabamo and photographer Chino Acosta to tag along. Good doesn't begin to describe their company. No, it's not just good—it's easy, interesting, calming. The key to being a good journey companion, I suppose, is your ability to not take yourself seriously. To be self-deprecating. To leave your hang-ups outside the vehicle and pretend that life is simply one humorous road trip. Especially when all passengers are males of the species, sharing an intimate cabin and wondering where on earth the road will lead them.
Total Alabang
Our comical triumvirate began our trip at Total's station inside Filinvest Corporate City in Alabang, and not just because our editorial commitment required us to. Even before we granted Total our handshake for this project, I had been unusually fond of this particular gas station. So fond that I must have slept inside the car a couple of times while parked there. Although now I can't remember if it was to wave the white flag at drunkenness or to rest a dog-tired body after spending the night with some girl who lived in the south. Either way, the images that come to mind aren't fit for publication.
But more than having been a transient bedroom for me, Total Alabang had won me over with its excellent collection of magazines (both local and imported) sold at its Bonjour convenience store. If you haven't been to this store and you're an avid magazine reader, I suggest you check it out. The wall-wide magazine racks are worth the trip. I can still remember driving the length of South Luzon Expressway from Makati just to buy a copy of the British Top Gear (no kidding). And to digress, let me brag about Top Gear Philippines being a bestseller here.
Food trip
I have another confession to make: I love to eat. When you hear my friends call me Boy Kanin, they are not joking one bit. Dinzo, too, loves to eat—though you don't actually need a confession from him to deduce as much. And don't let Chino's kite-like body deceive you; he can partake of a feast as well. It is thus logical that mouthwatering thoughts would dictate the road trip of three food-loving male adults.
For some reason, my mind had been wandering off to a bowl of hot bulalo since I showed up at our meeting place this morning. I also knew that the nearest place to enjoy it in was some roadside eatery in Tagaytay or some homey restaurant in Batangas. So that was where the Hilux was headed.
We took the Santa Rosa route, the exit to which was an 18-kilometer cruise from Filinvest. Twenty-two kilometers more and we were almost at the Tagaytay circle, checking out fruits and flowers and pretending we had someone to bring fruits and flowers to. We had hoped to stuff the Hilux's cargo bed with heavy loot to lessen the bounciness of its ride. Alas, the best we could come up with was a hand of bananas purchased by Dinzo for his folks.
I thought maybe we'd just pick up some hefty wood handicraft on the way to Batangas. And this is the trouble with driving around in a pickup with an empty cargo bed. Your obsessive-compulsive side is just begging you to fill it up.
We found our gastronomic nirvana at Greenview restaurant, some 12 kilometers from the Tagaytay circle and the picture of a typical rural canteen that doubles as a beerhouse at night. No bulalo here, but there was no way we'd soldier on to Batangas on empty stomachs. We settled for kare-kare, papaitan, liempo and lechon paksiw (yes, I was serious when I said there were just three of us on this trip). Definitely not bad for P550—to think I lost count of the number of rice cups we ordered.
Driving soundtracks
The Nasugbu arch in Batangas indicated we had already covered about 59 kilometers from Alabang. And even then, we still had no idea where exactly we were driving to. But the uncertainty of it all was made bearable by good driving music, courtesy of my and Chino's iPods.
The one thing you have to know about the Top Gear staff is that they have impeccable taste in music. (So please pay careful attention to our CD reviews.) From the managing editor down to the editorial assistant, music is something taken with utmost sacredness in our office. My 11,000-song iPod doesn't and will never impress any of them. All because I listen to 50 Cent and they listen to some French rapper accompanied by a classically trained jazz ensemble. To me, Ely Buendia is a demigod; to them, Miles Davis is just another human trumpeter.
And so you can be sure that both Dinzo and Chino are just as musically inclined. Which also meant I couldn't just play my Air Supply tracks. Dinzo likes Kanye West and Itchyworms, and Chino listens to jazz vocalists. I did impress Chino with Chet Baker, whose version of "Embraceable You" is enough to give you the chills on a sunny afternoon.
These days, some of the newer cars come with a standard iPod port, but the Hilux isn't one of them. This is easily solved by a cheap FM-radio transmitter that transforms your iPod into a little mobile radio station. If you have an iPod and you spend a lot of time on the road, this accessory is a must-have.
Butterfly knife and halo-halo
We did stumble upon some interesting places while driving aimlessly. The Fantasy World theme park in Lemery—some 65 kilometers from our point of origin—looked like Disneyland from a million miles.
Twenty-five kilometers farther and we were shopping for balisong (butterfly knife) in Taal. I got a chromed one for less than P300. Hopefully, the thing will forever stay on my desk as a harmless ornament.
We drove more, with the fervent wish to see the needle of the fuel gauge drop even just an increment. We passed through Mabini and Bauan before finally witnessing the needle move perceivably—after traveling a total of 130 kilometers. While I believe the Hilux's 3.0-liter D-4D turbo diesel engine is fuel-efficient, it also couldn't have possibly been this frugal. The stinginess with which the fuel gauge moved suggested that only a fraction of the Hilux's 76-liter fuel tank had been taxed by all that distance. Either the gauge was off or the Hilux deserved a place in Guinness World Records. We did more driving, reaching Don Gregorio Agoncillo's house at the 144-kilometer mark.
On the way back, we had a craving for halo-halo—not the Chowking offering but the roadside, 15-peso variety—which we found by the, well, roadside costing, well, 15 bucks. The place even had a videoke machine that allowed you to belt out your frustrations in life.
We hit the bulalo jackpot back in Tagaytay, at a place called Tower Ground. Their P350 serving was already good for four, but we still got sizzling chicken for good measure. Mission accomplished.
Wait, not quite. Yes, the Hilux's fuel mileage...
Coming full circle at Total Alabang, our trip meter read 263.3 kilometers and the fuel gauge was approaching the three-fourths mark. It took 24.92 liters of diesel to give the pickup another full tank, a third of the tank capacity. Which confirmed our suspicion that the fuel gauge was erratic. Still, 10.56 kilometers for every liter of diesel isn't bad at all. It's actually very good, considering our pedal-to-metal driving and full-blast air-conditioning.
Ah, what's not to like about our road trips? Free fuel, interesting vehicles, cheap food, good music, even better company. I'm falling deeply in love with this job.
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Top Gear Philippines - July 2006
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