I HAD just had a memorable weekend for three reasons. One, the weekend was spent in Baguio City. What other place in Luzon can match the aura and charisma of the nation’s summer capital? Yes, it is a bit crowded now.
But, as always, if it is the City of Pines you will be transported in, the lure of its magical mountains will be as irresistible as wine and cheese and French bread enjoyed with your dearest in a nippy evening; just the two of you, whether in your house or outside of it, it doesn’t matter. The place, the company, will take care of itself—as in the universe always unfolding.
Two, in this sojourn upward North, I had the Lexus RX350 in my fingertips, this model being indisputably one of the most elegant midsize SUVs, if not the most elegant ever, in the market today. But aren’t all Lexus models like that—elegant to the max—if you’d care to ask Lexus Chairman Alfred Ty? My RX350 made heads turn wherever we went, whenever I tried to park it—in front of restaurants, by the church patio, at the spacious and spic and span parking lot of the ever-plush Baguio Country Club. It did not stop drawing attention from everyone nearby, a forceful proof again to the Lexus reputation of pursuing perfection to the hilt.
Three, before you start entertaining the idea that I own this immaculate white RX350, quit it. In my dreams, I pray it’s mine. But it is the property of a friend of mine, who requested me to drive the newly bought beauty. It is when friends—true friends, that is—make a request that it is hardest to refuse. For, that’s what friends are for, as the line of a song goes: you just don’t say no; you just can’t say no. Between friends, there is no hesitation whatsoever or friendship has not been forged at all.
Having said the above, I must also add a fourth reason why the trip to Baguio was an affair to remember: It also heightened the bond of friendship among Michelle and Allan Cammayo; May and Ramon Uy; Pia and Marvin Velayo; Sol Juvida and yours truly—not to mention Norbing Lamayan, the smiling dude who drove the Fortuner, the handsome backup of the RX350. Indeed, nothing beats togetherness among friends.
31-km odometer
THE RX350’s odometer read 31 kilometers when we took off in Quezon City, after a hearty, home-cooked breakfast of eggs, sausages, dried sword fish and beef tapa.
Why, it didn’t take us two hours to reach the famed Matutina Restaurant in Urdaneta City, where the most succulent bangus is cooked any style: fried, sinigang, grilled, paksiw, etc. To get to Matutina, we had to exit in Carmen, Rosales, instead of in Urdaneta near Binalonan, Pangasinan.
Travel time to the North has been considerably cut, thanks to TPLEx (Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway). When completed, the 87-km TPLEx, a project of San Miguel Corp.’s President-COO Ramon S. Ang, ends in Rosario, La Union, from Tarlac City. The has put Baguio City nearer to Metro Manila folk.
Grapes in Bauang
FROM Matutina, change pilots. It was my turn to take on the controls of the RX350. The RX350 was my finest drive in years: Smooth, effortlessly manageable and maneuverable, light as a feather at the wheels.
Its 275 horses packed inside a 3.5L, V6 on a 6-speed automatic transmission make this luxury midsize SUV an absolute elixir, as it is even an all-wheel drive. With that rock-solid résumé, its price of P3.898 million becomes a sizzling steal, indeed. Our next stop were the grape grounds in Bauang, La Union. No, they are not vineyards, only grape plantations. There was grape-picking, where a kilo is worth P200. The grapes weren’t that sweet. Still, I bought two seedlings to give it a try at my backyard garden.
Raining cats and dogs
IT was raining cats and dogs in Naguilian, La Union, on our way to Baguio. The RX350 had its baptism of fire the harsh way, indeed. But it handled the elements well.
A thunderstorm had impaired visibility but its lights pierced through the gray-dark, fog-draped terrain on the zigzagging trail. The wipers worked triple time in the blinding rainstorm without me adjusting anything, slowing down depending on how much rain was pouring. It was a joy to behold wipers flexible enough to adjust to nature’s way.
BCC’s fabled Hamada
ARRIVING in Baguio at minutes past 5 p.m., we had an early dinner at BCC’s fabled Hamada, the Japanese joint with its jolly cooks entertaining customers with their frying pan-, rice-bowl tossing antics. There was good wine to flush down sushis and sashimis, steak, shrimps and salmon. We hit the sack early, waking up early to catch the first Mass at Saint Joseph’s. Then, after a big meal at the famed BCC buffet breakfast, we were on our way home, briefly passing by the wet market for Baguio beans and other delectable Mount Province produce. Again, I handled, gently again, my friend’s RX350—insisting that I should finish what I had started or we were not friends at all.
The leisurely ride for home, stopping for late lunch, again, at Matutina’s, saw us glide back in Quezon City at dusk. After slurping on a native chicken soup laced with soft coconut meat, followed by a sip of vintage wine with the RX350 owner’s family in their abode, it is hello good-bye. Parting, indeed, is sweet sorrow. Till then, RX350, America’s best-selling midsize SUV of all time.
PEE STOP. I am not surprised that mud is hurled with impunity at the Land Transportation Office’s new car-plate policy, which is money-intensive and hassle-laden, as well, to our hapless motorists.
Have pity, P-Noy.