Homeward Bound

"Home is where the heart is." This old adage never felt so true until yours truly, along with riders from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan and the Philippines rode our Yamaha T-135 motorcycles, which was launched locally as the Yamaha Sniper 135, from Cebu to Vigan and back to Manila for ten days from May 17 to 27 as part of the last leg of the six-country Yamaha T-135 Pan ASEAN Touring.

I’ve ridden the Touring legs in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam and I missed riding in Thailand because I had to launch MotorCycle Magazine. Norkis-Yamaha senior vice president for marketing Manuel Gaspar "Boy" Albos, Jr. sent me to represent the country to these Touring legs, with Manila Standard-Today motoring writer Dino Directo III in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore while I was paired with teen race track sensation Maico Gregg Buncio in Vietnam.

For the Philippine leg, I was tasked to lead the convoy along with Maico, while Manila Bulletin veteran reporter Aris Ilagan, Yamaha rider Mark Chua, celebrity rider Gary Estrada and Dino constitute the local riders. Along with Hardi Fadhillah and Roy Adrianto Wibomo from Indonesia, Chuchat Sohmanee and Phattanasit Thapwong from Thailand, Tan Teik Chee (T.G.) and Kiong Chu Khee (Andy) from Malaysia, Le Huy Hoa and Hoang Tach Cuong from Vietnam and Arika Masahiko, Hosojima Shinya and Yamaura Shinsuke from Yamaha Motor Company (YMC) Japan, we were honored in Cebu with a rousing welcome party on the 16th and an elaborate flag-off ceremony on the 17th at the parking lot of the Marriot Hotel to commence the Philippine leg of the Yamaha Pan ASEAN Tour.

Visayas To Southern Luzon

Our early flag-off allowed us to catch the ferry from Cebu to Isabel, Leyte and upon docking we rode to Ormoc, where we had lunch. It was a relatively easy ride to Tacloban, Leyte, where we were treated to native dances like the tinikling performed by children in costume and welcomed by former congressman Alfred Romualdez, an avid motorcyclist who was also there to represent his father, Mayor Alfredo "Bejo" Romualdez. We stayed at the McArthur Hotel in Palo, which is near the shrine dedicated to the World War II American General’s glorious return to liberate the country during the Japanese occupation.

The next morning found us posing at the shrine then riding off to the San Juanico Bridge, the longest bridge span in the country. When we passed Calbiga, Western Samar, our ASEAN rider guests got a rockin’ and rollin’ reception due to the very bad roads after Calbiga until Catbalogan, where the mayor held a luncheon in our honor. (Your honor, sir, can you have these roads fixed, please?) We stopped to plant some trees in Calbayog as part of the Yamaha "Green Campaign" and to have some snacks at Jollibee in Calbayog, where some of the ASEAN riders, especially Hardi Fadhillah where enamored with the taste of the country’s local burger brand. The brief stops gave us some respite from the bad roads, which continued until Tinambacan town in Northern Samar and sporadically littered the road until Allen, where we stopped for the night at a resort curiously named the "Wayang-Wayang".

We caught the 3-hour ferry to from Allen to Matnog in the wee hours of morning on the 19th, had an early lunch in Sorsogon, stopped at the City Hall for photos, then headed towards Cagsawa Ruins to get a group shot in front of one of the country’s well-known tourist attraction — the Mayon Volcano. Luckily, the volcano showed its perfect cone to our lenses despite the gloomy weather. We rode to Naga under some light showers and got to the plaza where the city prepared a jazzed-up native show for us. We stayed at the Crown Hotel, where we celebrated (for the 3rd time that day) the 40th birthday of one of the Thai riders, Chuchat Sohmanee.

We left Naga on the 20th and passed through the smooth zigzag roads of Daet, where we stopped for lunch. We then sped through Calauag under heavy rains, passed by Gumaca and then reached our hotel, the Queen Margarette in Lucena by 3pm. We went to the local mall to attend a festive Yamaha show before we checked into the hotel, where we had fun and games after dinner and where some riders got thrown into the pool as part of our "bonding" process.

Sunday found us touring to Lipa, through Taal and up through Lemery, Batangas. We converged with Yamaha Automatic Club (YA/TC) at Tagaytay and stayed overnight at the renovated Tall Vista Hotel. Being good Catholics, Roy Adrianto, Maico and I heard mass with my family who drove up to Tagaytay.

North Luzon To Manila

We took a bus from Tagaytay to Olongapo because YMC officials decreed that a day of rest must follow five days of riding. Our bikes were trucked to Olongapo, which was a blessing because by then, officials of the Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC) were still giving representatives of Norkis-Yamaha and the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) the run-around whether or not they will grant a special permit to allow our 135cc motorcycles to traverse the tollways.

We stopped at San Fernando, Pampanga where they hosted a sumptuous lunch and got to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) headquarters, where we were welcomed by SBMA chairman Felicimo Salonga, who we will be forever thankful to for giving the world his talented daughter, Lea Salonga. (Obviously, I’m a big fan.) We were also treated to a jungle survival crash course at the JEST Camp, a big dinner party at the Golden Dragon restaurant and the movie "The Da Vinci Code" at the Cineplex.

We rode to Dagupan, Pangasinan (the Bangus capital of the Philippines) the next day, lunching at Sta. Cruz, Zambales to the sight of pretty ladies dancing sexy native and modern dances and gassing up at Caltex, Alaminos, where a large group of bikers guided us into town. We reached Dagupan before heavy rains fell in the afternoon with Mayor Benjamin "Benjie" Lim, along with throngs of bikers from different groups in Pangasinan, warmly welcoming us at the Dagupan grand stand/plaza fronting his office. We stayed at the Star Plaza, which is also owned by the Dagupan Yamaha dealer principal and had a grand night of food and music.

From Pangasinan, we rode north the next day to Candon, Ilocos Sur for lunch and onwards to Vigan, which was the northernmost destination for the Philippine leg. The ASEAN delegates were wowed by the old world charm and the hospitality of the Ilocanos in Vigan. The day after, we took an early morning ride around Vigan, through the Heritage site and then back into the highway, through Candon and stopped at San Fernando, La Union for lunch. We turned left at Urdaneta, rode through Guimba and reached Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija by 4pm. Befitting the "Sniper" moniker of the new Yamaha, we were treated to a morning of target practice shooting using live ammunition at a private shooting range the next morning.

After our shoot fest and a hearty lunch, we left Nueva Ecija for Dau, which was an easy 80 kilometers away through Tarlac. On the May 27, we rode out of the Woodland Hotel in Pampanga and took McArthur Highway going to Manila because the clowns at MNTC didn’t allow us to use the toll ways in spite of the big tourism promotion it could have had on the ASEAN riders. (Oh, well…) We endured the slow pace through McArthur highway through San Fernando until San Simon, Pampanga and through the towns of Bulacan, stopping only at Malolos for refreshments. (We slowed down because we were early for our 3pm scheduled arrival at Greenhills.) When we reached the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan and got into EDSA, some of the Filipino riders and some Norkis-Yamaha staff in our convoy couldn’t contain their excitement, and we started honking our horns to show our joy.

We took EDSA all the way to Ortigas and got to the Yamaha show grounds at the Greenhills Shopping Center parking area at 2:45 in the afternoon. Most of the riders did tire-spinning, rubber-burning donuts as this was the last leg of the Pan ASEAN touring series and because this will be the last time we will be seeing our beloved Yamaha T-135/Sniper 135 Pan ASEAN motorcycles, which will be shipped back to YMC, Japan and dismantled, inspected and studied by the engineering department. Nevertheless, we smoked the tires until we melted the threads and still, the bikes kept going like the champs they are. My bike’s odometer read 14,817 kilometers and it still performed as good as the first time I rode it in Indonesia six months ago.

The arrival of our convoy was the culmination of the ceremonies launching the Yamaha Sniper 135. That evening, we were treated to a rousing Farewell Party at the Crown Hotel Galleria Suites, where three of the riders — Roy, Hardi and Chuchat — were honored for completing the Touring legs from Indonesia to the Philippines. The mood was festive yet sad, because we came to realize that this was the end. As riders, we have bonded together and jived well with each other that we hoped we can have another ride together, perhaps in Japan. (Hopefully, YMC is reading this. Hint, hint.)

The Touring leg also allowed me to view the country with a different perspective. Regular readers of The Philippine STAR may note that I have always criticized government officials for being laidback regarding road improvement and safety, but after riding through the other ASEAN countries, I saw how attractive our country’s rustic natural beauty really is, especially how those tree branches that crisscross and provides shade on the highways seem to wave hello to travelers on the road. The ready smiles of Filipinos as they greet our convoy, the warm hospitality of the people we meet along the way and the beautiful sites that dots the archipelago all add up to proclaim that there’s no place like the Philippines.

And indeed, there’s no place like home.

The organizers of the Yamaha Sniper 135 Pan ASEAN Touring Philippines would like to cite the efforts of Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno in ensuring the cooperation of local government units; Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) Secretary Leandro Mendoza and undersecretary Col. Reynaldo Berroya for facilitating the special permits for the road operation of the T-135 Pan ASEAN units; Department of Tourism (DoT) Secretary Joseph "Ace" Durano for the coordination with the tourism officers along the route; and the Philippine National Police (PNP) stations, particularly the Traffic Management Group (TMG) under Chief Superintendent Errol Pan, in ensuring the safe and speedy passage of the Pan ASEAN convoy. And thanks to the inaction of the MNTC, we rediscovered the sites along historic McArthur Highway.