R2 Dito

My car is not really a car but rather a jeep with airconditioning. It was imported from south Korea and it's real name is Asia Rocsta R2. Older models of the Rocsta is much more like the American Wrangler Jeep. Mine's a much younger model and is more curvier. It has a 2.5 Liter Mazda R2 engine (not a direct injection type). It gives enough power to move its thick metal body. It's a 4x4 type of vehicle with manual differential shift found at the front wheels. The transmission is manual so it's less fuel consuming compared to the automatic type. It's a 3-door just like other jeep type vehicles with the third door at the back for baggage compartment. It has a small form factor so I don’t get much difficulty with horizontal parking. Its much like if an SUV to me than a car. It has 15" wheels and the maximum tire size that can fit into it is P235/75 R15. Before, I bought second hand tires which only takes a year before problems occur. That is why I prefer to buy new tires since the life of a tire is a maximum of 4 years. If it lasts more than that then consider yourself lucky. I like Bridgestone more than any other brands. If you take a look at their website they have more tire technology than other brands. I think they are more durable and does not wear off easily. My Father's Pajero uses Dunlop AT3 tires and compared to my Bridgestone the wear quite significant after a year. Also during our last Baguio trip, the Dunlop just went drained on us. We went flat for 2 times while we’re on the road. Good thing we had some spare tire as replacement. I never experienced this on my Bridgestone tires although the R2 had lesser mileage compared to the Pajero. It seems that old tires really do degrade but Bridgestone for me degrades the least.

My R2 is the most reliable second hand vehicle that I drove. It has thick metal body and stable chasis makes it more stronger than the C-RV. It's quite shaky on very bumpy roads. It's suspension is the basic leaf spring on both front and rear that is why I don't want it to be on the expressway and EDSA. They offer a quite rough ride but they are the toghest. The good thing about this is that the front wheels are the only ones that needs alignment and it doesn't cost much. It already has power steering so you only need one hand when backing up. Aside from that is that the turning radius is shorter which makes U turn slots a breeze. It's Mazda engine already had travelled 160,269 kilometers on the dashboard. I use Castrol GTX Diesel to lubricate it and has two oil filters under it to replace on every oil change. It does have minor oil leaks but the engine is quite robust. It had undergone a lot of pressure and it never let me down. This vehicle is tough and very reliable just perfect for us 3: my wife, my son, and me.

Baguio Trip Part 2

We took the alternate route to climb Baguio. Instead of passing the Lion's head we took Marcos Highway which was a more relaxed climb compared to the old Kennon road. I only use the "D" or drive in the automatic transmission of the Pajero since it was the only option that I knew. When we were halfway of the climb my Son signalled us that he really needs to wiwi immediately that is when I came to a stop. The weather is quite sour with a moderate rainshower when my son had his time on the corner of the road. I came to help him since I was afraid for him to the thought that he was pissing near the road. Then I came to notice smoke coming from our vehicle. The tires were hot and when the rain touched it the water evaporated causing it to emit smoke. That was the time that I decided to use the "2" gear. After that we climbed slowly but surely making sure that we won't have any problems with our tires. At last we finally saw a "Welcome to Baguio" sign and I was relieved knowing that it won't take long for us to arrive at our destination. My father made a reservation for us in one of their staff house which is located near Baguio's Export Processing Zone so we have no problems looking for a place to stay. Finally after getting lost a number of times in Baguio City we fnally arrived in the staff house. We were welcomed by the caretaker and escorted us in our rooms. We were supposed to occupy 2 rooms but the room that we had was huge eough to accomodate two families so we decided to take that one big room. After settling down and fixing ourselves up due to the long trip, we went out for lunch. It was already around 3 in the afternoon amd boy we were starving. The first restaurant that we went to was located along the road. My friend saw this in the internet and according to him was famous. We decided to check it out. The price was not very expensive but is a little off our budget. My friend told me that its on him that's why I agreed. Inside the restaurant was very elegant and the utensils were shiny like it's a fine dine Restaurant. But my friend's wife did not liked it in there not because its expensive but it's too elegant for us. It's not the "Barkada Type" (Filipino style friendship or something like that) of restaurant. So we looked somewhere else. Good thing that we found a restaurant which serves Sisig and other Filipino local foods.

Baguio is just a small city compared to Manila that a tour can only last within a day. It's just that it was crowded at that time when we got there. We were already warned that there were so many people going to Baguio during the holy week. But we were prepared. What we were looking for was adventure and not moments of silence.