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By Ruben D. Manahan IV, Researcher
I don’t have much time to chill
out these days, no thanks to numerous tasks at work and the stress
of the daily commute. I had been praying for a chance to reenergize
my body, and the answer came in the form of a phone call.
Isuzu Phils. Corp. (IPC), which
is marking its 10th anniversary on July 31, is starting the
celebrations early by staging a road trip across the Visayas and
Mindanao, ultimately ending at the Dakak Park and Beach Resort in
Zamboanga. Now would I want to join the trip?
Suddenly, my mood lit up like
Fourth of July fireworks, the mere thought of a journey to paradise
is, after all, the ultimate post-summer getaway for me.
The journey started early morning
on June 6 at Isuzu Alabang where five of Isuzu’s 2007 model
Alterra SUVs were to be driven by the invited motoring journalists.
It would be a true test to find out if the Alterra could withstand
the rough terrain of the archipelago.
The first stop was at Turbina,
Laguna. We filled up the Alterra for the four-day road trip which,
as it turned out, was able to complete the 800-kilometer journey on
a single full tank of Shell Diesoline Ultra. That should be good
news to fun-loving Pinoys: touring the country need not be pricey.
From Laguna we proceeded to the
Batangas Pier so we could board the RORO going to Calapan, Mindoro.
IPC president Keiji Takeda and Isuzu Motors Ltd. of Japan director
and senior executive Naotoshi Tsutsumi graced the flag-off. IPC
vice-president for corporate business Arthur Balmadrid further got
the participants excited when he said, “Dakak, here we come!”
It was a long day of traveling.
At 2 a.m. of June 7, we retired in Aklan’s Sampaguita Gardens.
The second day of the road trip
began at 8 a.m., and it took us three-and-half hours to reach Iloilo.
After having lunch at Dumangas, we again boarded the RORO that would
take us to Bacolod.
In Bacolod, we only had time to
buy a few goodies and drop by at El Fisher’s Hotel for dinner
before hitting the road once more, this time going to Dumaguete.
Reaching Dumaguete, we checked in for the night at 10:30 p.m. to get
some much-needed rest.
We had an early start yet again
on our third day of journey to catch the 6 a.m. boat to Dakak, which
we reached just before noon. After a hearty lunch, it was fun, fun,
fun as we kayaked, snorkeled and jet-skied in the azure waters that
surround the resort.
The next day, we flew back to
Manila, sad to leave behind the fleet of Alterra—which were going
to be shipped back through 2GO, Aboitiz’s courier service. Through
the Alterra, we were able to experience paradise, which I hope it
won’t be the last time.
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