24 July 2006

See you around, Blackie! See you around, 500 pesos!

Last weekend was an unforgettable road trip. We brought Blackie (a Honda Civic) to Baguio so my wife can use it. I can no longer afford the car here in Manila. Rent parking space at the apartment (2,500) plus rent at work (2,000), and rising petrol prices is really getting into my meager allowance. So, bye Blackie and see you around!
Blackie was even acting up when we were driving (I have night blindness so I have a driving companion with me); a couple of hours before leaving Manila, it was overheating! To think that I had it checked before the trip. It was ok again starting from Tarlac til Sison, Pangasinan where the road finally leads up to the mountains. Then on uphill climbs we had to stop every now and then to let Blackie rest. It was like he didn't want to leave. But for sure he'll eventually settle down and love the cool mountain breeze.

***

Speaking of things I will be seeing around, I only have 500 pesos left in my pocket to last me this week! It's like a Mission Impossible of sorts racing in my mind.

"Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to stretch your remaining 500 pesos regardless of business trips and cab fares. And you have to eat three square meals a day and snacks to quell your ever-grumbling stomach."


To stretch the Ninoy Aquino bill, I will have to:
- eliminate cab fares altogether. That means going to work on time. Aaargh. Waking up is difficult in this rainy weather.
- sleep early I guess.
- No fancy take-outs! No Jollibee or McDonald's or Wendy's or KFC either. My, how nutricious my regular food intake sounds.
- Influence my friends to treat me out to lunch
- gatecrash parties for dinner fare

I wonder if I will indeed last til weekend. Friends, Romans, Countrymen, help me! :-)

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:26 am

    i hope blackie lands into good hands...

    hehe, natawa ako sa mission mo... kaya mo yan!!! go!go!go! watson... :)

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  2. Kaya mo yan... although that's easier said than done :) good luck though :)

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  3. Anonymous8:48 am

    Watson, gumatang ka iti adu nga Top Ramen. Just kidding.

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  4. bye bye blackie mamimis ka namin

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  5. grabe, hindi man lang namin na-meet si blackie. now, cherry will forever think that he is an urban legend car!

    so, how is your 500 pesos holding up?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks lino!

    Salamat sayote queen! Uy peborit ko sayote sa tinola!

    Joshua, malamang noodles na nga ang dinner ko.

    Backpacker, bago adventures ni Blackie ito. :-)

    Meowok, wahahaha naalala ko nga. Hindi nyo man lang nakita. Nag-post ako about my 500 pesos.

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  7. Baka manibago sa klima si Blackie sa baguio, sanay sa init yata sa Manila..hehehe.

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  8. gagawin ko ren yan ser kaso in dirhams! hehehe.

    quite a hard challenge but i wish you all the best ser!

    good luck!

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  9. That's a nice car you have there. My Honda Civic, also named Blackie by my wife, is currently in the shop having a new bearing put in the transmission. It's the first breakdown I have had in the ten years that I have owned it and technically it never broke down. I took it into the shop before it could.

    (I assume you checked to make sure your radiator was full of fluid to see if that was causing the overheating problem?)

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  10. Sorry to hear you had to sacrifice the car. Thought about "downsizing" to a scooter or small cycle? I hate driving my car around here, but I glory in scooting around on my Chinese made American Voyager. For instance, this morning, I'm on MacArthur Blvd and the traffic is "parked." But not for me. Give me 1.5 feet of space between cars and I'm through it, although I almost got squeezed between a car and a jeep. I had to "goose" the throttle to get me out of that one! And although gas has gone up for me, it still only costs about 150 p to fill up, and that lasts for about 4 days. Parking? No sweat. I can always find a tiny spot to call my own.

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