Tough Tivoli completes noble Christmas mission
CALAUAG, Quezon—I left Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, with my beloved, the writer-journalist Sol F. Juvida (she always deserves mention because of the many impossible things she does, and she still keeps on doing, for me), last weekend for deep down South.
It proved to be the longest land trip we’ve ever had.
We took off at about 9 a.m. onboard the XLV, the amazing SsangYong best seller from South Korea a.k.a. Tivoli.
I Lov It! The ride, I mean.
“I Lov It” is, of course, the
jumbled letters of T-i-v-o-l-i.
Simply put, “I Lov It” more than saved an otherwise killer of a day for us, almost spoiling an end of the week splash of fresh sea air off the coast of Lamon Bay in Quezon province.
The trip to the country is one of the treasured luxuries I always yearn, especially when the drudgery of asphalt jungle living starts to set in.
But that’s going ahead of the story.
Curiously, there was no traffic jams this time at Edsa. It was a breeze for us to reach Slex. No hassle. No nothing.
As our habit, each time we travel back to SFJ’s roots, we stopped for coffee, toasted slices of Cinnabon raisin bread and Cinnabon sticks at Slex.
When brunch beckoned, a quick grab of chicken was irresistible at the KFC nearby.
We had all day to kill. No work to do upon arrival at our destination that was Calauag, Quezon, SFJ’s land of birth.
Monstrous traffic jam
SO today, we took our own sweet time enjoying this before-lunch ritual. It’s been a luxury we’ve enjoyed, been enjoying, for the longest time.
We left Cinnabon at minutes past 10 a.m.
We exited as usual in Santo Tomas, Batangas, next skipped Mary & Grace Restaurant, as we had always done for quite some time already. I don’t know. Maybe, we’ve lost appetite for its famous
bulalo ever since they’ve jacked up prices of practically all of their viands. Sad.
But only minutes after leaving Slex, we encountered this monstrous traffic jam along Maharlika Highway going to Bicol. It took us almost two hours to get past Santo Tomas, Batangas.
Reason?
Nobody manning several intersections going to Alaminos, Laguna.
Road repairs are left untended, with pylons and other signages like “construction going on” and “men at work” scattered all over. Parking lot
THE road-widening projects already completed are virtually useless to travelers. They are being used as parking lot of residents living on both sides of the Maharlika Highway.
Blocking mostly the paths of vehicles are tires, rocks and other structures placed in front of establishments, mostly vulcanizing shops doing their trade practically on the highway.
From Alaminos to Candelaria, Quezon, the tricycle remains as King of The Road, not moving to the right one bit even if honked at a million and one times.
Many town mayors contribute to the problem, as they rarely lift a finger to address this malady. Ah, I’m sick and tired of calling their attention.
“That’s not the mayor’s problem but the police’s and highway patrol group’s,” said one mayor.
Oh, yeah?
Noble mission
ANYWAY, what brought the Tivoli to Calauag, Quezon, which is about 292 kilometer away from my home in Commonwealth Avenue in QC?
It transported medicines and vitamins to Calauag for a muchadmired charity work by the National Association of Calauagenians (NACS), The Young Professionals (TYP) of Calauag and Calauagenians Global.
I give credit to SsangYong president Dave Macasadia for his nohesitation green light in allowing me to stuff the medical boxes into the Tivoli. Germain Alilio, Dave’s on-the-go lieutenant, also immediately gave his 101 support. Thank you, guys.
“We are very honored to extend help to such a noble mission as providing medical support to our less fortunate brethren,” said Dave.
God bless you both, Dave and Germain.
With guys like you, I won’t mind driving for almost 10 hours—crazy traffic and all—just to fulfill a commitment to be of service to others.
Tivoli, I Lov It, indeed.
PEE STOP The medical mission volunteers with the purest of hearts for the downtrodden included NACS members Liza Batao-Vito, Dr. May Eudela, Rachel Vargas, Millette Pulgar-Earnshaw, Loida Juta, Dr. Susan Pulgar-Ong and Sol F. Juvida. From TYP are kindred spirits Agnes Limcuando, Shirley Lim, Susan Reyes Ang, Gemma Okamoto, Myra Aguilar and Dr. Tess Flores Mendoza. Letlet Aguilar of the Rural Health Unit of Calauag was also of big help. For his part, Calauag Mayor Luisito S. Visorde graciously hosted a sumptuous lunch for everybody, with his chief of staff Gerty Salvatus unselfishly orchestrating everything. More than 200 children beneficiaries of instant medical help were also recipients of free medicines and vitamins in the Christmas project backstopped by Calauagenians Global. Merry Christmas!