The ride to Baguio took about eight hours inclusive of our stopovers: breakfast in Hacieneda Luisita, gas stops in Tarlac and La Union and a couple of pullovers for a spare tire change in Pampanga (Pal) and Marcos Highway (Dian). We arrived in Pine Breeze at lunchtime. The place had some nice Ifugao huts good that could fit three people but we all opted for the less-adventurous concrete dwellings as we know that the evenings could get very cold. The rest of that afternoon was pretty laidback. Some took their siesta, others went with Vicoy (a Baguio-based Vespa rider) for a short ride around the city and the rest stayed for some cold beer and warm chitchats. The evening served as socials with the rest of Baguio riders dropped by to welcome us. We got to know the faces behind the handles and avatars. It’s weird to have seen the scooter of kennonballer (can’t get any Baguio-er than that!) before I’ve actually met him. I saw it in bad shape last year due to an accident but I didn’t know how it exactly happened. That day, I saw him limping and finally heard his story. We also learned from the Bagiuo boys that motorcycles are not allowed in Session Road!
the out-of-towners with the Baguio riders
(photo courtesy of Dennis)
The Baguio / Mt. Data Highest Point (in Philippine Highway System) Ride was scheduled January 26 to 28 (Friday to Sunday). I knew I wanted to join the ride since it would be quite an experience for me and PYKE. But frankly, I was more anxious than excited not knowing how is it gonna be like when the group’s not riding: spending an entire weekend with a bunch of different people I hardly knew with only our love for Vespa as a common ground.
To make a long story short, I got to Baguio on an eight hour ride on my Vespa. Here’s proof:
It was such a GREAT weekend, but not without an incident. I stared the ride with frustration and disappointment from things of my own doing. Read my story… Read the rest of this entry ?
It’s Friday and we’ve reach the end of this blog’s Iskuterista Series. I want to thank all these five guys for making this blogging week a fun and memorable experience for me. But this doesn’t mean it will be the last time I’ll be featuring local Vespa riders here. The local scene is full of more interesting personalities and I’ve barely scratched the surface.
Fittingly, I saved the fairest scooterist for last. I’ve been hearing her voice thru the airwaves since she’s been a DJ on FM for quite some time now. Reading her bio in her station’s website, I’ve learned that she’s also been an FHM Babe (she even has a stalker story about this guy who asked for her to autograph his FHM copy and eventually caused a commotion in the station. Link to that story below). I do remember seeing an that issue where her fellow DJs (Tina Ryan and Miles) posed for the mag, but I hate that I seemed to have missed her in there. For the lucky ones, go rummage through your collection and check out the October 2006 ish — Pam Anderson on cover! If I find that issue, I’ll post a scan here! hehehe For now, let’s content ourselves to a more wholesome (it’s a mere headshot from her station’s website for crying out loud!) of this pretty and friendly lady DJ.
By this time, you may have already noticed the popularity of the PX model among Filipino Vespa riders. The three guys in this series all saddle on a PX. The observation of fellow rider, Boo Blanco, sums up why this is so….
The PX-150E is the preferred vintage scooter of our local riding scene and this is not merely due to the lack of availability of other models. The PX offers a superior balance of performance, reliability, convenience and retro-style that can’t be beaten by the rarest vintage scooter and the most advanced motorcycles. It is no wonder that the PX-150E is the largest-selling Vespa in Piaggio’s history and may no easily be found in the shadows of New York’s skyscrapers than in the back-alleys of India and the islands of the Caribbean.
I myself knew I wanted a PX from the start (actually I knew the classic look but didn’t even know what it’s called at that time). At the time I was looking for I ride, it came to a point that I actually emailed Piaggio Asia Pacific out of desperation and asked when would the next batch of PX200 will arrive. My inquiry was then forwarded to their Philippine representative and got a reply from this guy.
Nani (or Dr. Scoot to readers of Scooterista magazine) is actually one of the first people I got to talk with regarding Vespas. He entertained my ’stupid’ questions over the phone about the PX model since I really knew nothing about it. The only thing I know then is that it was the model I wanted. He told me about their Vespa shop in Leon Guinto, Manila and urged me to visit them soon so I could see the Wasps there and them firsthand. In retrospect, our whole conversation may have sounded like a consultation with a doctor. Later that day, I was able to find a second hand PX and brought it to the shop the next day so Nani could take a look and give me his assessment. The rest, as they say, is history.
Here’s one cool Vespa guy I have yet to meet. I knew who he is being the Editor-in-Chief of Scooterista — a local magazine that promotes the scootering lifestyle. And my being in the business of weddings, I also know that he is married to a celebrity (YES! that info is courtesy of another magazine the title of which I can only hint about ). I got Manu’s email from Bimbo, his brother-in-law. You see, the local Vespa scene seems to be separated by only three degrees; meaning, if you don’t personally know a certain rider, then you definitely know some other rider who knows that person.
So I was able to send an email his way. But it did surprise me how accomodating the guy is. He even helped me in getting the email addresses of the other Vespa riders I wanted to feature but have no way of contacting. Thanks, M!
I first met this guy at the bus stop in Bontoc, Mountain Province on my first time trip to Sagada with some friends. I was then wearing this “iScoot” shirt (designed by Marko) and this guy in dread locks and rasta bonnet (immediately I knew he wasn’t a mathematician!) asked where I got it. Turns out he also rides a Vespa. What are the odds of meeting a fellow Vespanatic up in the mountains eventhough there isn’t an actual Vespa in sight?
We hitched the same van to Sagada and since that connecting trip took an additional four hours or so, it was inevitable that our occasional chitchats (we were all asleep half of the time) led to the ‘what-do-you-do’ line of questioning. We learned that he’s a professional photographer and being in the company of FHM addicts, the name ‘Jake Verzosa’ instantly rang a bell. Suddenly, he’s the coolest guy around! For what man wouldn’t want a job taking pictures of gorgeous, naked barely-clothed women and get paid for it. In fact, most men would take that job even without a paycheck!
Just how good a photographer is this guy? Check out this self-portrait below. I’m not a photographer so I don’t really know how hard or easy it is to achieve that shot. But it sure took out the ’stillness’ from a still shot. I do wanna learn how to do that!
Since I started this blog last year, I’ve featured numerous personalities who ride a Vespa; but not one of them is a Filipino. It’s not that the Philippines hasn’t got any interesting Vespa riders. In fact, through the regular Vespa rides and nightouts, I have met artists, directors, writers, DJ’s, band members, National athletes, and company bigwigs who share the same joy for riding.
For this week, I’ve decided to feature Pinoy scooterists for a change. This will be my Iskuterista Series for the Rider’s Profile section of this blog. These people are known in the local scootering scene, and in one way or the other, promoted the scootering lifestyle in the country. I’m glad that these guys agreed to be featured here especially since I’ve yet to met a couple of them personally.
I’ll start with this guy. If the image below looks kinda familiar, that’s because it came from the same series of shots as the familiar head banner of a pioneering blog for local Vespa enthusiasts.
If you stumbled upon this blog, chances are you spend more time in front of the computer than watching TV. But that doesn’t mean we have miss out on the good things the boobtube has to offer. That’s the reason why torrents and YouTube are so popular nowadays.
As a rider, there was an episode that I have long been wanting to catch which was part of a series shown in the Discovery Channel. I wanted to see it way before I started blogging. In fact, a clip from that show was what I featured in my very first post here. The series is called “Greatest Ever” which ranks the Top 10 machines through thorough research and interviews from experts. They had episodes which featured Sports Cars, Tanks, Fighter Planes, Helicopters, Weapons and Construction Machines. I’d never seen any of those (they never interest me anyway). But the episode on Motorbikes is what I wanted to catch. I’ve only seen the segment for Vespa (which ranked no. 8!) and was curious what the panel said about the other bikes in the Top 10; who wouldn’t be?
The other day, I finally found the complete set of links to the other nine segments from that show and I want to share them here. The bike declared the Greatest Ever was a surprise. I thought it will be won by the Ducati but as it turned out, it wasn’t just about speed. The no. 1 barely does 40 kph, but it still was voted by the experts. Interesting, isn’t it?
I’ll be posting the video clips here and place the specs/stats of each bike featured as provided here.
Harley Davidson Knucklehead
Year: 1936
Power: 36 HP
Engine capacity: 1,340 ccm
Weight: no info
Top speed: 145 km/h
Rank: 10th
So are you really up to spending the next hour or so watching the remaining clips here? If so, let’s proceed with the countdown from no. 9 to numero uno!Read the rest of this entry ?
If professional wrestling is touted as the soap opera for men, then I say that American Chopper- The Series (check Discovery Channel Asia for airtime sched), is THE reality TV for men. There are no strong female leads in this show; it’s all about Teutul patriarch and his son who runs a business creating custom motorcycles (aka choppers) in their workshop called Orange County Choppers. It’s an interesting watch with all the conflicts, shouting (courtesy of Paul Sr.) and sulking (courtesy of Paul Jr. aka Paulie) as they rush to meet deadlines in creating one-of-a-kind custom choppers. The original idea for the show is to focus on the two Pauls but his youngest son (Mikey) proved to be popular with the show’s fans with his witty comebacks and comic relief. His presence is said to have a calming effect on his dad, who almost never shows the same kind of frustration he feels for Paulie.
Though the family are known for their custom bikes, the two Teutul siblings have also been spotted riding scooters, with Mikey seen a on one more than a couple of times in the show. On the latest TV spot promoting the show’s transfer to TLC this coming January 18 (in the US at least), Mikey appeared on a Vespa while the rest of the family stuck with their own creation. See the clip below (thanks to Steve of thescooterscoop.com for the heads-up on this one).
Cool! No matter how funny or oddly unfamilar it looks, a Teutul riding Vespa just need to be profiled so here goes. Read the rest of this entry ?
This product’s ads are always humorous and full of hot women and sexual undertones overtones. Well, its aimed at the market it caters so who can blame them? But I have to admit that feminist groups wouldn’t have a hard time bashing their commercials.
This one was originally shown in Argentina. It’s a creative way to demonstrate mixing two Axe variants to come up with a third scent. The original title of the ad is “Choques” or “Crashes” as it’s English version is called. The Vespa scooter had a good exposure on this one. Though the ad’s funny, young kids might be bothered with the several ‘human explosions’ in this ad especially when one girl jumps off her balcony and ‘crashed’ on another. Parental discretion advised.
I first saw this 60 seconder posted in Vespinoy. Nice song, ey? It’s called “Yard of Blonde Girls” by Micah P. Hinson. Here’s the lyrics so play the video again. Read the rest of this entry ?
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