Going overdrive with Toyota Roadtrek 11

TO UNDERSTAND how Toyota’s Roadtrek 11 shifted into overdrive, you have to drive to the end of the three-day sojourn to one of Northern Cebu’s best-kept secrets. There, amid celebrating motoring journalists and Toyota officials, the event, which carried the tag “Eat, Sleep, Drive, Repeat,” was capped by a surprise concert featuring rock icon Ely Buendia. Yup, that Ely Buendia. The iconic and charismatic former frontman of the equally iconic Eraserheads. Any event—even something as mundane as observing the ennui of passing cars from a building window—becomes a celebratory feast the moment Ely Buendia straps on a guitar and fronts a mic.
But to nutshell a glorious staging of the Roadtrek (my second stint in the annual sojourn, and even if the first—in Boracay—rocked my world, this one managed to blow away expectations) into just a mini-concert would border on criminal. So I’ll stay away from Ely Buendia’s performance as much as I can.

Let me just say that when the rock star opened his playlist with “Higante,” it was more than apt. Roadtrek 11 proved again just why Toyota continues to lead the local auto industry in sales of several car genres. It is, indeed, a giant in the Philippines and the cars on display for the trip to Daanbantayan were proof.

The Vios TRD, Wigo, Yaris, Altis, Camry, Innova, RAV4, FJ Cruiser, Fortuner and Hi-Ace LXV were “raffled off” for use by this year’s set of trekkers, and our team, featuring Inquirer officemate Jong Arcano and Ardie Lopez, a talented creative director whose skills we milked the entire travel-cum-contest trip, fished the Fortuner for the first stage of our drive.
(Pardon the interruption—Ely Buendia’s second song: “Alapaap.”)
The first stop of Roadtrek set the stage for competitiveness among the country’s top motoring journalists. At Canso-X Adventure Park, which is nestled in cloud-kissed Balamban, we seriously contemplated strategy for a game that featured pyramiding 10 cups using rubber bands. It sounds silly until you try it. It takes a lot of skill. And we won the contest.

The clouds gave way to a drizzle when we left. I thought the rest of the challenges would be easy. After all, we did spend a dizzying part of the ride also trying to fashion out “puso” shells out of coconut leaves.

I was wrong. I think I may have been wrong about us winning the challenge, too.

(“Maling Akala.” That was Ely Buendia’s third song. But I digress.)

From Balamban, the drive took us to San Remigio Beach Resort. Having split my childhood between Cagayan de Oro and Cebu, San Remigio brought back memories of my siblings and cousins spending un-chaperoned nights of booze and laughter there. The challenge we faced was a modified version of pick-up sticks. You fish sticks out of a cylinder holding up plastic balls and try to minimize the number of balls that fell through the divider made up of the sticks you were trying to pull. Yup, you had to be there.
Jong, Ardie and I knelt, cajoled and fished sticks out. We fared well in that challenge. Finished second—or third. It was there that we reshuffled vehicles. This time, we picked the Hi-Ace LXV. While transferring our stuff from the Fortuner to the plush Hi-Ace, we had a chance to look at our puso wrappings. If any gothic author would want to write a version of Frankenstein where the monster is a grossly put together in puso wrap, we have the perfect specimen for inspiration.
Still, with our decent finishes in two challenges, we were pretty proud of how our trip was going. Plus, stretching out in the luxurious seats of the LXV, with Ardie taking on the wheel, really made us happy. Joyful, even.
(Which reminds me, Ely Buendia dove into that popular E-Heads calling card, “Ligaya,” for his fourth song of the night. His fifth song was a cover of the Beatles’ “Something.”)
We drove into Queens Island Golf Club, where the challenge was to identify Toyota models by catch phrases with letters corresponding to fonts used by said models. That, and identifying the Cebu delicacies on our table. I volunteered on the delicacies, claiming I was from Cebu anyway. Truth is, I knew I’d suck at naming Toyota models even if I’ve owned only two cars all my life—both Toyotas.
(Ely Buendia also covered another dreamy Beatles ditty: “Here Comes the Sun.”)

I think we fared well in the challenges at the quiet golf course. After which, under the blazing sun, we had our official team photo. As we left the course for our next destination, Jong looked at me and asked if I had a mental count of how many bridges we had crossed thus far, a quiz that Roadtrek organizers said would figure into the race for the overall crown.

The chorus of Ely Buendia’s seventh song for the night streamed into my head: “Wag mo nang itanong sa akin/Di ko rin naman sasabihin.”
When Toyota Motors Philippines drove us to Kandaya Resort in Daanbantayan, where we would stay for two nights, the awe factor jacked up several notches. The beautiful resort was the place you bring people to if you want to pamper them. And just like the way Toyota pampers its customers with luxuriously built cars, its officials gave motoring journalists the pampering of their lives.

I was so amped up, I called TMP’s officer Sherwin Chua Lim “pare” when we discussed how we could help Toyota boost the Vios Cup, a motorsports event that I feel deserves far better media treatment than it is getting.
Or I may have not called him “pare” but was just making up a segue for “Pare Ko,” which was Ely’s eighth song for the nightcap.

A feast of a dinner featuring Cebu’s finest culinary treats (lechon, lechon and more lechon)—and a room service massage later, I went to sleep with a silly grin on my face.

(Ely’s ninth song, the popular pick-me-up anthem: With A Smile. He followed it up with the song-with-a-twist-in-the-end “Magasin,” another of E-heads popular hits).

The next day, I got the chance to snorkel around Malapascua island, whose picturesque scenery looks like it jumped out of a magazine shoot (see what I did there?). I love snorkeling. I love going to beaches. Every trip my wife and I make for vacation (even out of the country) involves a beach, and inevitably, snorkeling. And when you hit the waters with Yohei Murase, TMP executive vice president for Marketing, you somehow feel, well, made.

Especially when you get to the snorkeling spot on a (expletive deleted) yacht. The pack of motoring scribes got together and really lived the life on the yacht, breathing in the sea breeze and the scenery that Northern Cebu had to offer.

(Note to self: Ely’s 11th song was “Come Together,” another Beatles hit).

After a couple of days of eating, sleeping and driving—on loop—and taking on challenges such as social media tests Dubsmash and meme creating (where Ardie again painstakingly tried to keep the team afloat on his shoulders), it was the awarding dinner time. Together with TMP officials, the journalists had a fun time partaking of the Cebuano feast and the overall ambience created by Toyota executives who treated us to a slice of Roadtrek heaven.

(I have nothing for “Hey Jude,” the iconic Beatles song that Ely played for his penultimate song on the playlist.)

Having Ely Buendia to cap the night was the perfect icing to that slice. And somewhere over social media, I vowed never to drive any other car again. As Ely was playing his final song for the night, I promised to hug my trusty Vios when I got home. (I did.)

Also, I uttered a silent wish. Please, Toyota, don’t let Roadtrek 11 be my “Huling El Bimbo.”