Araw ng Makati Parade
May 30, 03

Yesterday, we attended the Araw ng Makati Parade. I was informed by the organizers that the parade would proceed rain or shine. Though yesterday morning only had some slight drizzling, by noon there was already some serious rain. There were only around 12 confirmed participants and I thought that the rain would scare away a good portion of them. By 1pm I was headed for Shell Fort (I even had some fun chasing and being chased by this black '80's 560SEC Benz which had mags which looked as though they're 10-12 inches wide!). I was prepared to go to the parade all by my lonesome self if necessary to represent the club. Just as I was thinking that I received an encouraging text from Ricci informing me that Jeric, Joji and he and his wife were already at the Shell Fort waiting for me. Whew! Thanks guys!

As I pulled into the Shell Fort, I was surprised to see that there were several car clubs that had chosen that location as an assembly point. The station was positively overflowing with various cars from the Benz club, the Mini club and and some others that I'm unaware of, plus our club. Later we were joined by Zaffy and JR, Carl and his wife, Santy, Collins, "Manong" Romy, and Keith. ChitoF and Allan called to say that they were stuck in traffic on EDSA and I asked them to just meet us at the starting point of the parade behind the RCBC tower, likewise with JoeyA. One of our new members Dennis also called to ask about the assembly points but he called at around 3pm when we were already at the starting point and he was still in Greenhills, so I told him not to bother anymore as he surely would not make it considering the traffic status on EDSA.

The traffic in Makati was horrendous because of the closed off Ayala Ave. and we made the mistake of taking Dela Costa St. where the traffic was being re-directed. Nonetheless, we made it to the parade starting area albeit a little bit late. Some members Jeric, Joji and Ricci made the smart decision of running on the opposite direction of some one way streets taking advantage of their car passes and allowing them to reach the designated place 15 minutes earlier. During the parade it did not rain at all and we were treated to a nice breeze during the event. Nice, but uneventful. A day before the parade I was asked by the organizers to desist and restrain our members from launching any exhibitions and so I requested everyone over the radio to keep their clothes on, also I asked JoeyA to refrain from performing his 360 power slides.

After the parade we proceeded to Dencio's to have merienda where we had a great time just talking, eating, drinking, kidding around and hanging out. I casually mention to Manong Romy that the dinuguan at Red Ribbon is really good and he readily and generously offers to bring some over to the Shell Fort one Friday night. Manong, please give us advanced notice on when this will be so none of us will miss it! This gave rise to another idea to hold one of the 4th Sunday breakfasts at Red Ribbon in Greenhills at the corner of Connecticut and Missouri Streets which has more than ample parking which will also give the club plenty of exposure.

After Dencio's a much smaller group, headed back for Shell Fort. A bit later some of those that headed home after Dencio's decided to turn back because of the outrageous traffic jams around the area. By this time it was already approaching dinner time and it was getting hot and humid at Shell so we decided to try the new West Lake restaurant behind Shell discovering that it's also a nice place in which to hang out. However, the restaurant is open only 'til 10pm. Nonetheless, we were again growing in number being joined by other Friday night regulars. We head back to Shell again where we discover that Rolly has brought his black 928 and Manong Romy again joins us bringing his newly acquired Tommy Makinen Edition Lancer Evolution (which Ricci informs me is almost an EVO 6.5 because of it's improvements). We ooh and ahh and ogle at Manong's new toy but despite begging he didn't treat to any rides - awww man!

By 11:30pm I was bushed and I was ready to head home but still more club members were trickling in. I'm sorry if I left early, but all in all it was a great day! Thanks to all of you. And my heartfelt gratitude to those that participated in the parade: Ricci, Jeric, Joji, Zaffy, JR, Santy, Keith, Carl, Keith, Collins, Chito, Allan, and JoeyA.

Thanks for not letting the club down despite the inclement weather!

joeyb


 

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