Motorcycle Philippines

It all started when bullseye and bugoi had a talk at the homecoming ride in Lucban last March 3 and indeed, the CMC overnight ride to Puerto Galera-Calapan-Mindoro happened just as fast as the snap of a finger or should I say as fast as the Super4 of Sir Richard? (ang bilis )

Initially, the plan was really at the end of March 2007 but due to some members’ schedule constraint, it was agreed that we push through and conquer Mindoro the week after our March 10 quick Marilaque ride and in consonance with Jon Carlos’ 3_th birthday on March 17. Seven riders and four backrides eventually confirmed to join the tour these includes: sir Bugoi, sir Peewee, sir Eagle1 & Ma’am Eagle2, sir Budz, sir JonCarlos and wife Kris, sir Richard & Ma’am Melody, Bullseye & yours Tru(ly)1209.

And the story goes like this…

Day One (March 17, 2007)

Take off time from Petron Imus tambayan was set at 4:00am (sorry guys we were 20 minutes late). All the confirmed riders were there except for Sir Pres Bugoi (who had texted sir Budz that he’ll follow and meet us up in Batangas). Sir bullseye set the trip meter to zero for us to have a reference how long would it take us to Puerto Galera and off we go. Galera here we come.

We passed through the early morning cold summerwinds of Tagaytay spearheaded by Don Alfonso (sir Budz) and took the route of Lemery down to Bauan smoothly. First stop, Petron Bauan, gassed up, rest for a while, ‘yosi’ break and a text from Pres Bugoi was received asking for our location. Sorry Pres if not even one replied to you at once, we were then busy cornering the twisties of Lemery. Met up with Pres Bugoi at Jollibee Bauan for breakfast and made some talks if we will proceed with the original plan to take roro or otherwise. Then we realized and all agreed that this will not be a Mindoro ride if we just let our bikes sit and watch the ferries come and go, so we decided to stick as planned to take the second roro trip to Balatero port at 7am.

Arrived at the Batangas pier in a nick of time as the scheduled roro was about to leave the port, we rushed in to the payment booth and ask the port staff to put the Montenegro ferry on hold as we would like to be in Galera as early as possible to have more time to relax. We quickly paid the terminal fee of 56 pesos plus 10 pesos for the backride. Boarded the ferry, paid P630 for the roro and P172 for the backride then secured our bike in its proper place. We were the last passengers to board before they put the anchor away.

We were all very excited and great to know that it’s sir Peewee’s first time to board a ferry. I thought this will be a 2 long hours of chit chatting before we dock at Balatero port, and so we stayed outside and enjoy the sailing. It will be a frustration if this ride will not be documented in great images, so make some applause to our official photographers, husband and wife Jon and Kris. Thanks for the professional expertise you both have, in taking all our ride photos. And by the way, happy birthday sir Jon!

Docked at the Balatero port on schedule at 9am, cleaned some salt water that splashed on our bandit. Yes, you read it right, we were in Mindoro with our yellow bandit (most cared, laging may kumot) . Astig!!

From Balatero port, we had a quick twisty 6-7km run to the infamous white beach resort. At first, we scouted for some rooms to accommodate us that would fit our budget but to no avail. All rooms were already fully booked if not its too pricy because it’s a peak season so we then settled first for an early lunch at the busy VM White beach resort. The food was great and it’s a way down cheaper than that of Bora as per sir Budz. Sir Peewee, sir Budz and us decided to take a shared meal all for P148 each, we had a chicken kebab, pork liempo and a fish sinigang. Wow tsalap tsalap as per sir Peewee. Jon and Kris had a tapsilog. Didn’t notice what sir Richard, sir Pres and sir Eagle1 took for lunch. Care for a share?

After taking our lunch, time now to look for a room to stay for the night. Sir Richard got a room with a Jacuzzi, a videoke, with a swimming pool amenity at the nearby area of the VM resort but sad to note that we haven’t tried the Jacuzzi of Sir Richard (ganti-ganti lang po ba? Hehehe) because we settled for a ‘7km-low budget-per person-per night’ accommodation at the Sto. Nino Mansion. Hahahaha!!!! Thanks to Aling Shirley. But before we went to our so-called ‘mansion’, can anyone here clarify the quotes “Don’t cut the grass, just smell them!” yes sir Peewee? Hehehehe.

After settling and unpacking at our 3 storey 3 bedroom mansion, we proceeded back to VM white beach resort for our swimming sorties and sight seeing and also our much awaited CMC ride at the beach, but Sir Bugoi decided to stay behind to take some much needed sleep for a while. And yes, we had a ride at the beach as in literally ride at the beach for P100 each. Ang kulit ko ano? Pictures please, the ultimate! ung kuha ni Manong boatman.

Yes, we are not only CMC but also BBRC (Banana Boat Riders) !

Should members decide to take a banana boat ride anytime soon, it is a must that we should have our complete gears and take lesson bike 101 to prevent overshoots at the beach. Hahahaha. We had three banana boat ‘semplangs’, two overshoots and one on stand by. Like sir Eagle1 have said, we were like drowning arowanas (or butanding as they put it) especially on the last spill. I think it is much better if sir Eagle1 will do the action to demonstrate. Hahahaha!!! Or best, should sir Richard and Pres Bugoi didn’t missed out the banana boat ride, what would have been the scenario? Any guess? This is the reason why we haven’t got to use the Jacuzzi of sir Richard. Sayang!Tsalap, tsalap.

Life at the beach was exciting, enjoying, fun and much much more fun. Fabulous! Sir Budz had a henna tattoo and also Sir Eagle1 together with Ma’am Eagle2 (nice meeting you ma’am), while sir Richard and Ma’am Melody had a nice relaxing massage along the shoreline, refreshing indeed. And Sir Jon and Kris had a quickie ride late afternoon. While others took the time to buy some souvenir items.

To sum up day one, we had a group sunset walk, (“HHww” holding hands while walking except for Sir Bugoi) while hunting a place to dine. Wondering who’s the partner of Sir Peewee and Sir Budz? Hehehehe.. To note..this is only day one adventure heheheh. I need to write a quick ride report because sir Jon won’t post pictures unless day one is reported. Hehehehe!

Day Two

After planning our itinerary for today’s ride to Tamaraw Falls last night, we have rested and regained some energy to go on with the Galera-Calapan Mindoro tour.

March 18 6am, Sir Bugoi texted sir Richard that we will take the Calapan port instead of the original plan of going back to Balatero port. Sir Richard confirmed that they will follow us at the Tamaraw Falls.

So everyone rev up the throttle and proceeded to the exotic but breathtaking view of the falls. Quick stop at Petron gas station and gassed up, check the odometer reading and clocked at 145kms. But before reaching our destination, we traveled a long and winding rough road that tested the durability of everyone’s MC. Good for sir Bugoi that he brought his trusted XLR. It was a 6km offroad journey. We were relieved when we first saw a brand new cemented road and thinking that our misery will be over but to our surprise its only a 100meter or so of cemented road. Naaahhh!!! Here we go again. Bump in, bump out and so on. But along the way, we discovered this beautiful and awesome view from the top that showcases the real beauty of Puerto Galera. It was a picturesque sight that a stranger of the place surely can’t miss. As always, it’s an opportune time for sir Jon and Kris to get a great shot and angle of that place.

And after the posing and clicking, we continued the wiggling and waggling. As the saying goes, no pain, no glory. Undeniably, it was a glorious discovery of the enchanting Tamaraw falls. All except for sir bullseye (still recuperating from the 6km rough ride) took an early morning dip on the ice cold basin of the falls while waiting for the duo, sir Richard and ma’am Melody.

An hour or so, one by one started to dry up and gear up. Took a cup of noodles (pantawid gutom lang) because we planned to take a brunch at the Calapan proper.

Minutes later, the sound of the Super4 is roaring nearby. Yes!!! They made it. Hahahahaha. That was the time that an XRM underbones beat the Super4. Hehehehe.

At around 9:00am, we were all ready to tackle the twisties of Calapan. Roads are evenly paved and perfect for more twisties. The ride was as smooth as the road and its playtime for sir Richard like a king of the world. We reached the arc of Calapan and posed for some more pictures. Touchdown at Calapan at around 10:30 am, but first we have to source out where to buy a sparkplug for sir Budz’s raider. Then we proceeded to the town proper and look for a place for an early lunch. Its chowtime or should I say its Chowking time (except for sir Jon and Kris, jabee). Hehehehe. After a full stomach, sir Budz suggested to go back to the MC store to replace his sparkplug. We were nailed most of our times in Calapan here at this MC store. Had anyone chance upon the name of that store? This ‘out of the box’ mechanic messed up sir Budz’s raider. Hmmm I am beginning to doubt the expertise of this rookie-looking mechanic. We were stranded for almost 2 hours waiting for sir Budz’s MC to be fixed. But in fairness, ‘for sale’ cars in this shop had a great and nice set up.

While waiting, sir Bugoi had a talk with local guy and represented himself as one of the coordinator of the Calapan jamboree. The man (sorry didn’t got his name) accompanied sir Bugoi at the pier to possibly get a discount on our roro fee.

After a while, Sir Bugoi texted us if we could make it 1pm at the pier, unfortunately sir Budz MC still doesn’t work and its almost 12:30 so sir Jon and sir Richard decided to go ahead. Sir Bullseye asked the mechanic if he could fix the MC because we have a roro ride to catch.

Last 15minutes before Starlite ferry set off ashore, I heard the rev of sir Budz raider. Yaaahooo!!!! We can still beat the time and decided to gear up. Hey mister mechanic, are you saying what???? The air filter???? Naaahhhh…Next time na lang.

Sped off to the Calapan pier, spearheaded by sir Eagle1 followed sir Peewee then we noticed that sir Budz was hardly catching up. Go sir Budz. Go!!!!

Whew!!! That was a fastbreak!! Last 3 seconds!!! Again we were the last to board in. It’s a double feat, two in a row.

The sailing took off and time of relaxing and enjoying the view as we pass by Verde Island.

Docked at Batangas pier about 3:30pm. Sir Jon and wife Kris decided to stay behind to look for some acquaintance who worked at the pier. Sorry sir we never had the chance to say Thanks and Goodbyes.

The ride way up to Tagaytay was spearheaded by sir Eagle1. We passed by some MC rider groups along the way. Touched down at Tagaytay Mahogany market around 5pm. As Sir Pres mentioned, Mahogany market is the club’s touchdown point, our final stop in our every ride down south. Odometer check: 263kms. After taking our much needed meal, we then decided to call it for the day and make it home but sir Eagle1 and Ma’am Eagle2 decided to drop by the church.

Sir Budz, its good to know that your bike finally reached home.

Time check: Exactly 7pm. We’re home safe. Everybody is safe.

To everyone, thanks for the great and surely a memorable ride for all of us.

Ride safe always!

More pictures can be viewed here