Archive for the ‘Pinoy Iskuterista’ Category
January 9, 2009
Corinne Burgos is one of the very few local female Vespa riders. Just last weekend, she participated in the 1st Petron Econo-Endurance Run — a motorcycling event mounted to determine two things; [1] the most economical 4-stoke motorcycles available in the Philippines and, [2] the best endurance riders in the country.
The event, which is in line with the governments Department of Energy move to conserve energy and promote the clean air act, had its participants ride the distance of 1,000 kms. The route will start in Manila and end in Baguio City via Nueva Vizcaya, Cagayan, Ilocos, & La Union province. A fellow Vespa Club member — Joseph Santos — also joined the run but as an unofficial participant since he rode his 2-stroke Piaggio Skipper.
Support from the local Vespa community were felt by the two participating Piaggio riders; from the send-off in Manila, to the mandatory stop in Ilocos, upto the finish line in Baguio. Truly, the Vespistis showed up in vital points during the run for practically a Meet & Greet and photo ops with Team Vespa. 
Below is Corinne’s re-telling of her most tiring and rewarding motorcycling experience as of yet. Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Local Scene, Photos, Pinoy Iskuterista, Rides & Travels | 4 Comments »
June 6, 2008
Tomorrow, June 7, 2008 ( 6.7.8 ) will be the wedding of our friends Tonton & Kitty. The groom is my Vespa buddy while the bride is a W@Wie who’s been exchanging emails and text messages with my wife for their wedding concerns (special thanks to management & staff of Fernbrook Gardens and Josiah’s Catering for extending valuable assistance to our friends!)
Due to some equally important occasions within my family, Benz & I will have to miss witnessing this couple exchange their ‘I dos.’ 
But I would not let the event pass without posting these great pictures of them. I don’t really know if they’ve seen it already. I went straight to Parc Cruz, their photographer for their pre-nup/engagement pictorial, to specially ask for these. Special thanks to him & Apot for bearing with my pangungulit just to have these amazing shots in my inbox.
Here’s my favorite:
Here’s another shot, this time a closeup of the soon-to-weds. Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Art Vespa, Photos, Pinoy Iskuterista | 8 Comments »
March 6, 2008
I was scouring my hardrive and searching the Vespinoy forum looking for a picture of Bimbo & me to go with this blog entry. The irony is that I found out that we have none together. hahaha! 
The images below are the best pics that I could find taken last year during the Vespinoy Christmas Party. Notice the subtle ‘good & evil’ theme (more like Mara Clara! hahaha). I was hoping to show you the faces behind the voices you’d hear in the podcast episode I’ll be discussing below.
mean & evil Bimbo aka Vespinoy and friendly me. bwahahaha!Three Thursdays ago, Bimbo & I went on a conference call via skype with Dave Mangano of sctrcst.com who wanted to touchbase and know what we’ve been up to lately. Bimbs & I have done separate episodes for this scootering podcast/internet radio but it was our first time doing it together. Of course, I felt less pressured doing this one since its my second time and I’m with somebody whom I’m very comfortable with. Bimbo (I now call him “AmboyG”) always had an easy time doing interviews like this with his impeccable American accent… hahaha It was a very relaxed and free-wheeling interview. I hope you have fun listening to it as much as we had when we recorded it. Listen to the episode here. Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Local Scene, Personal, Pinoy Iskuterista | 4 Comments »
February 18, 2008
Raoul Floresca – Features Editor/Creative Director of Scooterista magazine — posted in the Vespinoy forum about this interesting graphic shirt. This is the first of a series of shirts that they plan to produce to promote safe riding. Here’s the design:
Here’s what Raoul has got to say about the shirt: Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Local Scene, Pinoy Iskuterista, Rider's Tips | 13 Comments »
February 13, 2008
The story below has already been posted in the Vespinoy forum and Bimbo’s blog. But I personally felt that this particular story in the lives of Allan Malubay (scootzilla) and Shiela Montaño is meant to be shared to as many people as possible so I’m spreading the love especially in time for Valentine.
Here’s Allan telling their story.
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Hello Vespinoys! I just want to share with you the story of how I got my first ever Vespa. Let me first tell you how I got “bitten by the bug” as they say.
Two years ago when I was reading Scooterista Magazine, I was able to read this article where the Ochoas were sitting on a Vespa GS. From how I remember, it was an interesting and beautiful scooter. Then I saw in the ads section of the same magazine that there’s this store named 2211 which distributes Vespa scoots. I was already planning to go there to get some back issues and to sign up for a subscription, so I asked my fiancée Shiela to accompany me and check the place out.
When we arrived there, we saw the same scoot I saw in the mag, and Michelle (2211 staffer), confirmed that it was the same Vespa GS I’m talking about. I asked her if i can take pictures of it and maybe sit on it as well. When she allowed me to do so and I was on top of it in no time, I said to myself that one day I will also have one of these in our garage. However, the price tag did not seem to agree with me, and besides, Michelle said the GS is not for sale because it already belongs to a collection and the price is more than P100k. “What? A P100k for a scoot?” I blurted. You have to forgive my ignorance then because I only had Asian scoots and I had no idea how expensive a Vespa scoot can be. But even so i said to myself one way or another i will have a Vespa. After that I started my Vespa collection from t-shirts, stickers, keychains, bags and diecast figures but the actual scoot I continued to save for.
After two years of logging in to Vespinoy.com and MotorcyclePhilippines.com, I still don’t have a unit of my own since my budget is still not enough and besides, I’m also saving for my wedding, and one of my plans is to have our prenuptial shot taken with a Vespa. Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Local Scene, Pinoy Iskuterista | 5 Comments »
October 17, 2007
Bimbo Isidro (aka Vespinoy in the Vespa community) has been interviewed by DaveM of sctrcst.com – the scooter internet radio. They talked about the joys of riding around Manila and in the countryside giving listeners abroad an idea of the pleasures of being a rider in this beautiful tropical country.I did an episode for the same podcast, but mine pales in comparison being so nervous and all the entire time. Bimbo was cool the entire time! Here’s the said episode via sctrcst.com. You can click play and listen to them here directly or download them in your iPod.
If you missed the episode where I was on the ‘hotseat’, you can read about it here.
A big shoutout to DaveM for this chance to promote the riding scene here in the Philippines. We are hoping that more Pinoy riders will be featured in the show in future episodes.
Mabuhay Sctrcst.com!
-o-
{▫}
J0HNRANA
john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com
Posted in Newsflash!, Pinoy Iskuterista | 3 Comments »
October 15, 2007
UPDATE: (11/09/07) Rex won the GO GREEN Vespa Video Challenge! Read more about this great news here. Congrats Rex!
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Though I’ve committed in today’s Blog Action Day focusing on the topic of environment, I’ve decided not to take the serious and preachy route, but instead veer towards a more fun and and free-spirited mode.
But how can one reconcile in taking care of the environment and the leisures of riding a Vespa? Well this short music video will give you an idea as it entertains.
The guy who wrote and sang that catchy “Vespa Vespa” song is a Filipino and he’s our featured Rider for today. He’s the same guy who won $50,000 in last year’s Yahoo! Talent Show by submitting this home-made video which was even reported in ANC.
The YouTube music video posted above is an entry of his for another contest: the Go Green Vespa Video Challenge which is aimed to spread the Vespanomics message. This early, his entry looks like a strong contender. Let’s get to meet the guy behind the talent. Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Music, Pinoy Iskuterista, Rides & Travels, Vespa Tidbits, Videos | 10 Comments »
October 1, 2007
Allow me to start this profile by featuring an artwork of this painter cum rider. In the art circle, his works are easily identifiable for the skyward perspective and split-eyes of his subjects. The artwork below is his self-portrait with his two-tone green Vespa.
Some talent, huh? Now let’s get to know more of this visual artist. Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Art Vespa, Pinoy Iskuterista, Rider's Profile | 9 Comments »
June 5, 2007
photo by Dino Lara
I had previously blogged about Vespa weddings with pictures of couples across the globe riding a Vespa on their big day. But at that time, I haven’t personally known anyone who has done it. That was the case until the Nikki Confiado (the groom) got hitched late last May.
Nikki is one of my Vespa buddies but I have yet to personally meet him. In fact, it was PYKE (my scoot) who ‘introduced’ him to me when they met each other in Rockwell last year. I know that sounds weird so a little back story is in order… Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Photos, Pinoy Iskuterista, Vespa Spottings, Videos | Leave a Comment »
January 26, 2007
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.
Now, let’s see her answer our short Rider’s Profile questions. 
Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Celebrities, Local Scene, Photos, Pinoy Iskuterista, Rider's Profile | 3 Comments »
