Archive for April, 2008

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CaliRana Ride: Scooting by Lake Caliraya!

April 14, 2008

Yesterday, I got an early morning text from my mom & dad saying that our lake shore resort — CaliRana — in Lake Caliraya is part of the “10 Awesome Family Destinations“ list as featured in Sunday Inquirer Magazine. The piece was written by the guy behind popular travel blog: One Awesome Planet (thanks, Anton!).

That reminded me to tick off one item in my looong list of To-Dos: blog about the CaliRana Ride we had last February with my Vespa buddies. We weren’t the first group of riders to get there though. My brother’s mates in Xplorer Philippines had been there twice before (see their club gallery: March 2007 | Nov 2007).

Here are some pics from that weekend trip with the Vespa boys.

At the CaliRana parking lot. My wife has always been fascinated with the way riders park the bikes/scoots in line and facing just one side. She once asked me if we talk about the way were suppose to park every single time and I told her no since we just follow how the first guy parked. The reason why the scoots face the same side is because that’s the way to lock the handlebar.

Here’s the view from the parking lot. Lake Caliraya is actually a man-made lake built by American engineers in the 40s. The water is pumped-up from Laguna de Bay to this mountain reservoir to generate hydro-electic power in the area. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Local Scene, Photos, Rides & Travels | 21 Comments »

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Has backriding gone to the dogs?

April 11, 2008

Although we Filipinos are not nearly as ‘talented’ as our Vietnamese brothers in fully utilizing the two-wheeled vehicle over and beyond its intended use, the image below just yearns to be shared.

The photo was taken with a phonecam by a rastaman while driving his SUV along C5 road (a national highway, mind you!) this morning. He said, the bike was running at around 60-70 kph and never slowed down while cornering.

It looks dangerous though. I bet it’s like watching a circus act. Dangerous but amusing none the less!

Pinoy biker and his dog

Here in Manila, a helmet is required by law for all riders and backriders. The thing is, the law didn’t specify if it applies to other species in the animal kingdom as well. :D

Awwoooo!

-o-
{▫}
J0HNRANA

john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com


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Posted in Local Scene, Photos, Topic Off-Vespa | 6 Comments »

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All roads lead to Angono for Vespa Jamboree!

April 9, 2008

The Angono Sccooter Boys are at it again. And the event this weekend (April 12 & 13) promises to be BIGGER and BETTER than last year’s Angono Round-Up. For one thing, Vespa riders have the option to camp out and stay overnight!

Here’s the itinerary they posted for the two-day event: Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Advertisements, Local Scene, Rides & Travels, Topic Off-Vespa | 7 Comments »

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Vespa boys at the Playboy Philippines launch!

April 4, 2008

DaveM was right after all. It didn’t take long for me to find the connection between my Playboy post and Vespas. The morning after that was posted, I got a text from Dennis Floro (a Vespa buddy & Petron honcho) asking if I wanna go to the April 2 launch. Apparently, he had been personally invited by Beting, the local edition’s editor-in-chief, and he extended that invitation to me as the Vespa Club president, and to Clifford Certeza who is my counterpart in EuroScoot. The catch is, we have to go formal for the occasion. Dang!Vespa riders never go to rides and round-up in anything more than t-shirts. But I guess, we can make exceptions just to get our hands on a maiden issue of a fine literature for free. :D

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me, Cliff & Daddy D

Siete Picados was packed for the night’s program so we stayed at the cocktails area overflowing with booze and babes. I was told there were three girls dressed as Playboy Bunnies but never got to see them. I saw my buddy Norman of Sexy Times Crew (who’s always present to cover events like this) and colleague Jervy Santiago of Black Mamba Prod. (the lucky guy who took the picture of the cover girl). I only learned that night that the publisher of Philippine edition of Playboy is my batchmate in San Beda (BSC ‘93) though I didn’t bother catching up with him that night since he was obviously busy. Maybe some other time when I ask for a free subscription. ;) heheheAfter the launch, we headed to Metrowalk for the weekly Vespinoy Wednesday Round-up still in suit & tie looking like dorks and posed with the scoots for this souvenir shot. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Local Scene, Photos | 6 Comments »