Getting Burned while Watching the Speeding Grease Monkeys

my hubby is a grease monkey. he loves to work on cars and thus 1/4 or our garage is filled with tools and equipment. i have yet to brave the grease laden contraptions to put to rest my OC conscience which i know is far from happening! hehehe!

hubby’s love for fixing and modifying motors engines, leads to the inevitable racetracks, sometimes as a participant and sometimes as a photographer.

this year, hubby had not participated in any race because his partner ruby has a clutch to be mended so donning his photographer cap and lugging a ton of equipment, we got up early on a sunday and headed to Meycauayan Bulacan for the Autocross 2009.

When we arrived, the makeshift racetrack already had cones set up. the venue was a big empty lot with streets and greens, a lot like a village waiting for houses to be built.

a tent was set up for the Club Mitsu boys (and gal -thats moi)

thanx to DY’s ever supportive dad, a big fan powered by a generator was at hand complete with cushiony chairs! (ok, only a girl could get excited about cushiony chairs! hehehe!).

other cars arrived, mostly driven, some carried on flatbeds

soon the drivers finished the registration procedures and got instructions at the announcement booth.

drivers were to race the track in pairs, both going opposite directions but running the same course. they were given 2 runs and a penalty of 2 seconds for each cone they carnaged.

while waiting for the race to start, we went to check out the car show at the sides of the track where a couple of interesting rides were parked. the last time i had seen a Lamborghini in real life was at a museum in Germany back when i could still count my age with my own fingers so this was a treat!  i had wanted to ask the owner of this car if i could sit inside so hubby could take my picture but hubby said that was silly -ok fine!
so less i embarrass him in front of the racing community, i had to restrain myself and appreciate the eye candy from its outside! hehehe!

finally the race started and one by one hubby’s CM buddies were called to the starting line

this is DY who championed in one of races that day! congrats DY!!

next to run was DM

and then SA

we didnt get much pictures of TM because hubby was shooting the video cam during his run
(and i was at the sidelines keeping his he-avy camera under the umbrella – dakilang assistant).

here’s a shot of TM getting ready to race against DGL.  it was a close race!  yay for TM who quietly amazed the crowd as he flew in just a few measly seconds after DGL.

DGL is a multi awarded racer from Cebu. he wowed the crowds during the trial runs with his speed and loud engine revving.

i overheard he was a drag racer (eavesdropper! hahaha!) who ships his car to manila or where ever a race is held.

a few minutes of light rain frustrated some of the racers due to the slick on the track but that didnt stop the event. it was a crash of one of the cars that took nearly an hour to clear that broke the momentum of the race. luckily, no one was hurt aside from the car (and most likely the driver’s ego).

we stayed for as long as we could but when the skies looked like it was going to pour some more, we decided to head home, the dakilang assistant with burned extremities because she forgot to put extra sunblock on her arms! ooooucch!

all meat outing

Family outings always make pleasurable memories. A few weekends ago we took a trip to subic for some much needed bonding time. Plan was to try the steak at meat plus cafe (care of our gracious benefactor! *big hug!*) & just hang out.

This was hubby & my first trip on the NLEX after its much needed renovation. It was a relief to see that the roads were smooth & devoid of the pot holes & mini road hills we were familiar with. Upon reaching the end of the NLEX we entered the SCEX which featured more beatiful roads and scenery. Vehicles traveling this long stretch were wonderfully obedient to the few road rules, well, most of them at least. With me in the front passenger seat hubby displayed toned down driving, although i could tell his foot on the gas was trying its best not to do its reflex pedal to the metal on seeing beautifully paved straights & curves.

After 5 toll ways & more or less P200 of fees, we passed the sentry’s standard to enter SBMA.

We headed for a quick cup of coffee then off we went to meat plus cafe.

The place was simple, not quite the common fast food restaurant, but something more like a diner. A menu is posted behind the cashier counter but if you’re there for steaks, you could actually choose the cut from a freezer on the right of the counter & have them cook that for you.

Waiting time was about 10-15 min after which our steaks started to come in

The steak was thick and colored perfectly with crisscross grill burns, the inside was pink as this carnivore likes her meat medium rare (and fatty!). This was served with mashed potatoes, gravy and mixed vegetables.

Eat up quickly because the steak gets cold fast.

Our niece ordered burger

Although we didnt get to taste this, were guessing it must have been delicious because i just turned my head a few seconds & it was gone, all down the GIT!

After lunch we roamed the groceries (and hardware for the boys) and when the steak had settled in our system, we headed for treetop for some outdoor adventure for the kids.

This place is situated in the more heavily wooded area of subic although a lot nearer to the malls than zoobic & ocean adventure.

A big canopied tree house serves as the registration area & lounge for the less outdoorsy visitors like the one writing this entry.

The more adventurous ones would be harnessed and depending on their pleasure be hoisted on swings, ride trough tree tops or dropped down from a certain height.

Fees are around P300 to P500 ranging from a slow swing ride through the trees, a few seconds of fast gliding, or a stomach churning rappelling drop.

Snacks & drinks are of course exuberantly priced in this area so it would be good to bring your own water & chips if your on a budget. A nice ice cream or yogurt shop would have been great but then again, that’s just me and my cravings. After all, people do go to the treetop adventure for the adventure & not to eat!

Out of town trips are always a favorite of mine, but definitely made more fun with family around!

9 thousand crab and other food adventures

the fourth day of our trip was dedicated to eating the famous singapore chili crab.  so we headed to vivo where we were just in time for lunch.

no signboard seafood restaurant was well recommended.  and we found out why.

the crabs were huge! and the chili sauce that it bathed in was deliciouso!

as you can see the plate is as big as the waiter’s waist!

even the home made bean curd was yummy and satisfied my taste with a crunchy texture.

we were however taken a back when our bill came…..hence the title of this blog! harharhar!  for a while my conscientious hubby was walking along dismayed.  i jokingly told him he should have porposed to me at such a grand restaurant and not after a hotdog at 7 eleven (hehehe!).

we then headed off to buy my camera…

i got an LX3 which i thought looked really good and according to hubby, had really good features.

(this was taken with my omnia)

the photos it took were ultra clear!  i was sure i could take good pictures with this camera.  the only detriment is my laziness to learn the technical side of photography.  that is why hubby is there for me! hehehe!

the next day, our last day in singapore hubby was determined to get his hands on the ever illusive (heart attack causing) sup tulang.  so we headed off to newton and found our red bulalo!

for all of you who fight over the utak when you have bulalo for dinner, look no further, there are 6 marrow laden bones in this dish!  the color may mislead you to think that this is super spicy but its not.  it has just the right amount of heat and mysteriously the marrow does not get sebo even when its not hot.  hmmmm…

we ate this with carrot cake which we found out had no carrots at all…..it was made of raddish and oyster sauce.

and seafood fried rice.  this is ultra yummy!

we gulp this down with the help of sugar cane juice.

the satisfied hawker-eaters left with orange fingers.

more malls

and then my kaya toast

before heading back home to get our things ready for our flight.  *sad*

being the final day of our trip, i tried to see if we had tried everything we wanted.  we still had not tasted the ba ku teh and the singapore sling but we surely will be able to one of these days.  we loved singapore so much that we might just be back very soon……..

F1 night race

The four F1 fans headed to the raffles mall to eat lunch before the big race.  We ate at shozou a japanese restaurant themed like a food court with a card to swipe when you go around to order. After we stuffed ourselves we headed to the gates for the most awaited event of the 2008 Formula 1, the Singtel Grand Prix!

First dilemna was where to put ourselves so that hubby could take good pictures and still get a good view of the big screen.  After around two hours of trying to figure out our game plan, the early birds found a space with a ledge we could stand on.  The true pinoys that we are, we were ready with a picnic mat and all!! Hahaha!

Next dilemna was which cap i wanted.  First of all they did not have a renault cap (remember 15th & 16th positions) and next the only cap they had that came close to piquet was that of fernando alonzo and to make matters worse, it was a mercedes when he used to drive for mc laren where he gained 2 world championships…ok so i took it, first of all it looked good, secondly it was cheeper than the others, and lastly it represented my 1 & 2 teams, renault (alonzo) and mc laren (mercedes).

the weather was so hot and i could not resist the airconditioned abode of the esplanade during our 6 hour wait.  we also took this opportunity to get my sis her requested pasalubong of a picture of the merlion

here it is totski!

and so the roar of the engines were heard (you would not believe how deafening it was!  i had ear plugs on and still my ears hurt in the beginning!) and off the race started.  exciting things happened but was just seen on the screen as our curve turned out to be a safe one (hehehe).  piquet crashed (he was fine) which set off a domino effect of drivers getting penalties for going to the pits and masa running off with the gas hose and finally….

FERNANDO ALONZO WINNING THE FIRST F1 SINGAPORE NIGHT RACE!!!! Whoohooo! can you imagine, my renault won?!  what are the odds?!!

the tired F1 fans exited the venue tired and hungry as were everyone else.  we had to walk far to get something to eat and ended up at burger king! duh! hehehe!  we then took the last bus home where i fell asleep with my aching injured feet….

Uniquely Singapore

finally, spare time to blog about our trip……but please bear with me as some of the pictures are with hubby.

We arrived at the changi airport in style as we got upgraded to business class ü the plane was overbooked as pinoys could not pass up the chance to see the first F1 night race.

What a lovely country! It is like home only better. Public transpo is safe and efficient and is so easy to learn. We were commuting like singaporeans after a night of instruction! Of course that may have been due to the fact that the country is so small.

Our first agenda, SHOPPING!!
You will not believe the number of malls in this island! There’s a mall specifically for sporting goods, for electronic items, for luxury articles, etc! We of course headed first to the electronic mall with my full consent because I GOT MY OMNIA! ÜÜÜ

We had our late lunch in the food republic because, i confess, we got lost in the maze of interconnecting malls (hehehe!) by that time i was so hungry i was ready to pick a fight *mrs grouch*  I tried the prata which i had with cheese and mushroom and the teh tarik which i found out was the hot milk tea.

Pangs had beef noodle which was really yummy too!

We then had dessert of watercrest juice and this fried bread with read beans inside (I though this was ultra yummy, but then of course any fried bread is yummy to me!), and soya milk.

I had passed up the chance to taste their kopi o because i had a bout of chest pain due to our tourist walk around town.  We ended our day with hubby’s bag purchase (who says guys are not interested in bags?! Mwahaha!).  He got this nice camera laptop bag from lowepro.  Then we went to have a light dinner in a noodle house with a mongolian concept.
The two new singaporean shoppers headed home satisfied Ü