Securing the hatch

I broke my thread mill and verifying the damage, I decided to bring it back to Park Square I in Makati to get it fixed. It was still under warranty.


Look at that smile!

So I converted Rufus back seat into a trunk space and loaded the thread mill. Unfortunately, at least a feet of the thing still stuck out of the car and I can't close the door.


Rufu's plate number

So what I did was take two 36" bungie cords with hooks on both end (you can buy these from Ace Hardware) then hooked them on the two bars just beside the backdoor latch as diplayed in the above picture.



Tick-tock-tick-tock

I then proceeded on hooking the other end of the bungie cords to the towing bar just under the rear bumpers.


Apple Logo

Since I used a 36" bungie cords, there was just enough slack to hold down properly the door but not get rope burns on the car paint.


Left side

I was afraid that the door might bounce if I hit a pot hole so I drove carefully through the Coastal Road with the windows down. I felt that turning on the aircon is just a waste of fuel since it would just escape through the rear door. There was no noticeable change in the car performance with the added weight of the treadmill and the open window flowing through the rear doors.


Isometric view

I did get my thread mill fixed the same day and transported it back home. I am really satisfied with Rufus and allowing me to do my stuff that day just reinforces it.

6 picanto in an hour

I live in Bacoor, Cavite and I drive along Aguinaldo highway to coastal road through PICC to get to UN Avenue, Manila to drop my wife then back to Ayala Avenue in Makati where I work (whew!).

Whenever I'm on the road, I sort of keep a lookout for Picantos out of curiosity and, for some cases, envy. So the surprising thing today is that I saw 3 Picantos on the coastal road, 1 around PICC, 1 on UN Avenue and 1 on Quirino avenue.

So counting Rufus, I can verify from 7am to 8am today, there were 7 Picantos on the road.

Can anybody beat that? :P

Bargain Book Hunt and a Picanto

Hello. My name is Alex and I'm a bargain book hunter.

Hahahaha. I was immitating Dory in the movie Nemo while she stands on a podium and says to a group of sharks and clown fish that she'd never eaten fish before. ;)

Seriously, I am a bargain book hunter. It's a challenge for me to dig into bargain books trying to look for a second hand novel that would finally complete a selection. I have successfully completed a number of sets and to name a few:

• The First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever
• The Wheel of Time
• The Sword of Truth

This car is NOT yellow!

So during lunch break, me and Rufus went to Makati Cinema Square to look for books. So while parking, a picanto passed us by. Luckily, I had my phone with me when the it turned around in the parking lot and I was able to take a snap shot.

I will tell you that I don't like the color but I will tell you that the car looked elegant with it.

Oh, before I forgot, I found a really worn copy of The Shipping News by Annie Proulx which won the Pulitzer Prize. I got it for 60Php.

Some changes

Ok so It's been a while since I actually posted something here and with the current blog comment spamming going on, I had to fix it, so I'm posting to inform you guys that comments will require some simple authentication from now on.

Other than that, my Picanto is still doing fine, going to be a year old next month. I'll make sure I post pictures soon and tweak the blog in the coming days.

Old pictures

I was browsing old photographs on my laptop when I stumbled upon my family's summer trip to Ocean's Adventure last March 5th in Subic Bay Philippines.


Rufus getting a tan

I was with my wife, son, a nephew and our nanny and took along enough stuff to have a beach picnic. As you can see from the picture, we were able to pack a lot of stuff into Rufus trunk. What your not seeing there are the swimming equipment that we brought with us like the snorkeling equipment (for me and the wife) and the inflatable rafts and what-nots that you have to bring to the beach.

I remember that we left Bacoor, Cavite pretty early. Since it was Rufus first time on the NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) so I pretty much let him run to 120kph whenever possible that morning.

The whale and dolphin show was pretty amazing. It different if your just watching it in television or video because when your there, the anticipation and joy of just watching the animals swim and jump is just exhilarating. It just want to make you go up and join Greenpeace. ;) Don't take my word for it, visit the place.

We had lunch in the adjacent Kamayan Restaurant and Beach resort. Suffice to say, it was really a test of will just to keep my son from running into the water before getting lunch. So me and my wife spent a lazy afternoon swimming around the beach and it was nice.

Dinner was at Gerry's grill which is also on a beach and beside a water-ski shop. Were able to watch the sunset while dining on grilled calamares and their famous sisig. We parked Rufus on the sand and my family strolled by the beach and everything in the world is as it should be.

March 5th 2005 was a great day in my life.

Picanto on 17" RIMS?

This is NOT Rufus on 17" RIMS

Someone in the Picanto Yahoo! Group posted the above picture of a Picanto on 17" RIMS. It looks nice doesn't it. Btw, just to clarify, thats NOT Rufus. Although I would love getting mags for Rufus but most of vulcanizing shops along my route and normal provincial destinations (Samar and Romblon) are not equiped to properly change tires on mags ... leaving it scored, scratch and damaged.

There are more pictures of other vehicles with nice mags on Concept One's gallery site and there's this really nice picture of a gray picanto.

New kid on the block

Parking Neighbor!

I passed by this vehicle parked in basement level 6 of the PBCom Tower here in Ayala. Technically, this is the first Picanto besides Rufus that I saw parked here.

Hmmm ... if not for my wife, Rufus would be sporting the same color ...

A Wedding

Last Sunday, August 28th, I drove Rufus to my friend's wedding held at the Barasoin Church in Malolos, Bulacan.


2 hours early

It was a pretty long drive since I was coming from Bacoor via Coastal Road, passing by Edsa, Guadalupe for 3 passengers and continuing to the North Luzon Expressway and exiting through Tabang and straight to Malolos. Whew! BTW, NLEX is charging 75Php from Balintawak to Malolos.


Better shade from the nearby tree

Although me and my wife alternatively use the car everyday, it was seldom that I use Rufus for almost 200Km at one stretch. The ride was pleasurable with the vehicle weight:engine ratio, I was able to weave in and out of the EDSA traffic. While on the NLEX, with the judicious use of the Overdrive, overtaking slow vehicles was a breeze. No complaints from the passengers too!


Rushing after the bridal car

The wedding was a big success! My friend and his wife was really happy. My only regret was that I forgot to set the Odometer to measure the actual distance Rufus traveled. ;)

Goodbye P5-45

P5-45 has been Rufus home away from home whenever he accompanies me to work.


Rufus commiserating with P5-45

There are actually four of us in the office assigned to that parking spot so I park there a week per month. It was a good deal since besides getting free parking, the security guards who usually frisk me whenever I get in the front door of the office would suddenly salute me whenever I drive to and from the my parking spot.


Rufus and P5-45 giving each other a goodbye hug

Alas, all good things must come to an end. Our office, in its bid to lower costs, has decided to let go of nine out of ten parking slots and one of them was P5-45.

Goodbye P5-45, may your new parker be as happy with you as Rufus was.

How would Rufus look with a top load?

Last Sunday, while driving along Aguinaldo highway, we stumbled upon a Red Picanto driven by a woman. That by itself is not surprising but if you would look closely, her Picanto has a top load!


Rear isometric view

Long have I considered putting such an addition to Rufus, unfortunately I am worried by the following items:

• Would it look good?
• How will it be installed?
• How much load can be carried?
• Will Rufus be damaged if its overloaded?

Side view

I was lucky since I was with my wife when we saw this car and she seems to like the idea too. Actually, she was the one who was taking pictures. I actually had to race with this car just to get good pictures of her. :)


Rear view

Here are pictures of Rufus and the other car as a before and after shots. Comparing with and without so that we can decide to either go utilitarian or simple beauty.

Joshua with Rufus

Hmmm. I miss my son ... time to go home. :)

I'm having one of "those" days

Oh well, things are not going my way today.


Apple Logo

First off, I woke up late with a cold and a headache with my wife still asleep (she's pregnant so I can't blame her). I had to scramble out of bed, get some water heated for the wife and leave the house without breakfast cause were going to be late.

Then since were already late ... we have to face the normal morning traffic. It became intolerable because my stomach kept reminding me that the only breakfast that I had that morning was the toothpaste I accidentally swallowed.

OK, I've dropped off my wife in Manila who immediately left me for Deli France. She loves me but its not advisable to be in between a pregnant woman and breakfast.

So while driving along Buendia Avenue, I was directly behind a car who accidentally hit a bicycled messenger. Unfortunately, I was hemmed in and the MMDA who responded to the accident flagged me down to actually asked me what I saw of the accident. OK, nobody was really hurt but the bicycle was damaged, the messenger was angry and the woman driver looked terrified and close to tears.


Basement Parking

OK, I'm now in the office building to find out that there are NO more available parking slots. I was driving around for 15 minutes from basement 4 to basement 7 (with a few other lost souls) hoping to be lucky enough to spot a vehicle exiting the parking area. In the end, I decided to just park the car beside a wall.

The funny thing is, after parking besides the wall, some of the drivers who were cruising the basement parking also copied my parking style. :D

Oh well ... I hope Murphy's on vacation today otherwise I'm fracked!

Color coding blues

The license plate for my picanto ends with the number 6. Which means (in the Philippines) that Rufus cannot be on the road every Wednesday at 7am to 10am and 3pm to 7pm. Thats how the government is managing rush hour traffic.

Normally, I have a parking spot in the PBCom Tower on Ayala Avenue. Sometimes, for one reason or another, I would be late in getting up on a Wednesday morning and I have a choice of going to work without Rufus or waiting for the 10am to 3pm window period. Unfortunately, this window does not exist for the areas of Makati and Pasig ...


Creatively parking in Harrison Plaza

This would mean I would have to park in my wifes office in U.N. Avenue in Manila or be really creative and find a nearer parking space to Makati.

Anybody knows a good parking area just outside of Makati?

Its the rainy season ... again!

Hello people of the Philippines! The summer is over and the rainy season is here.

I am particularly aware because I live in Bacoor, Cavite. The water is salty and flooding is expected. This, coupled with the start of classes, means Rufus (our picanto) is going to be stuck in traffic on a puddle of salty water.

A week ago, I was actually caught in a flood after a nasty storm in Pasong Tamo, Makati. If you've never driven in Makati, please stay away from the area of Pasong Tamo near Makati Cinema Square when its raining. Me, I had no choice. I was parked on the street during the storm since I was waiting for my wife's OB appointment. So, while waiting, I was getting a bit nervous because the flood is now past the tires and about half the radius of the steel rim. What actually worries me more is that everytime another vehicle passes by, a wave is formed and rocks Rufus.


Rufus getting an underwash then an undercoat

So, as soon as I got time, I took Rufus to a Petron gasoline station for an undercoat. First off, the attendant underwashed my car, cleaned the engine, air-dried the car and then sprayed the 3M undercoat. He then lowered the car to wipe clean the vehicle again. It seems that since the undercoat is sprayed, some of the oils that was in the undercoat floated and stucked itself all over the car. Helping in wiping down the car was fun and I guaranteed myself that all of the oils have been properly removed particularly on the windshields and head lights.

All in all, the operation took an hour and cost me PHP1,800 (around $34USD) and a bit of security against normal Cavite rusting. :)

NOTE:
While wiping down the car, I found out that the lower right side part of the our front bumper was dislodged from its mounting. I believe it was dislodge while parking on areas that have that square stone which prevent your car from parking too near the wall. You should check your's. :)

A weekend at Concepcion, Tarlac

We went to Sitio Tabon, situated in Baranggay Santa Monica, Concepcion, Tarlac to visit some of my wife's relatives. The road to Tabon was rough and dusty, although some parts already have roads good for single passage. At some point, I feared that the dust and lahar would trap the tyres of the car, but fortunately, the road was still passable even for a small car like the Picanto.

The town of Concepcion, Tarlac is just 106km north of Quezon City. With the new North Luzon Expressway, the trip took roughly an hour on a Sunday morning. The sight was refreshing - after all you don't get to see this scenery in the city.

Upon arriving at our relative's place, we were greeted by some turkeys that do not seem to mind the imposing red car that was moving at less than 20km/h due to the bad road conditions; but we were able to arrive at our destination without any problems. The locals were also looking at the car with gusto. I heard some kids at the next door saying "tingnan mo o, ang liit ng kotse" ("look, the car is small").

Turkeys are a smart lot; they are proud animals and don't mind being watched at all. They were willing participants in a flash photo shoot I made for my daughter. The trip to Tabon was long and rough, but our KIA Picanto was able to get us through and enjoy a good weekend in the province. We will defintely come back again.