Wednesday, June 08, 2005

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 Posted by Hello

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?

Monday, June 06, 2005

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 Posted by Hello

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. :)