My Kombi

MANILA, Philippines — An adventure – that’s what this column is about.  Writing in a major newspaper that’s about to celebrate its 112th anniversary is an adventure. No matter where you are, driving is an adventure. Acting is an adventure because you get into another character. Of course, extreme sports is an adventure that needs no explanation.

Driving is a daily adventure especially if you live and work in Metro Manila. I drive out to get something from the supermart, and I meet tests of patience and driving skill.

I drive to work following dozens of routes to the many places where my work takes me – and a major adventure happens in a 20-km drive!  There’s a new one-way street I didn’t know.  There’s a new unloading corner; a new counterflow lane. I take a wrong turn.  I wonder why I am slowing down in a lane that’s really too far from the U-turn slot, but it turns out any lane lead to a U-turn when you look unafraid. A traffic aide recognizes me and takes my picture with his phone.  Etc, etc, you know what I mean; we in Metro Manila share the same adventure everyday.

So I look forward to Sundays, when I can just take pleasure in driving.  I always remember Sunday driving to be comfortable alone or with a friend beside you, and good music.

With less traffic and a comfortable pace, I can see more places I should check out. But that special day seems to be getting lost. Most Sundays have become ordinary days when it comes to traffic condition. You drive with stress in the cabin.

I don’t think I am old enough to say this – remember when Sundays were cool to go for a drive? Now I find myself saying that many times! During the holidays, Sundays were really bad days to just drive around.  You were out there because your mom, wife or girlfriend asked you to drive her to the mall, or you just forgot – so you went out for a drive. Those Sundays can get the bad side of anyone slipping out.

Sometimes, Sundays can surprise you and the road is wide open, the feelings of the good-old-days come back. I notice the new cars around me; I watch a young man driving too fast with what looks like his dad’s car; I follow a classic car that’s been restored. Around me, my music is like a passenger, it talks to me.

Sundays should always be like that. I put on a playlist. When it’s raining, I like Frank Sinatra to be my passenger.  I feel younger when the sun is out, so with me in the car are reggae and old school hip hop.

On long trips – and I take many of those with my family, I drive my Volvo. When the sun is out and there looks like no chance for rain, I take the ’62 Kombi. I have no favorite car, only a special car that gives me an emotion when I need it.  The Kombi gives me a sense of pride because I coached that car to go on the road again! It came to me looking like it had enough of the road.  Now, it looks like a proud icon of the Hippie Generation.

No one recognizes me in the Kombi. No one expects me to drive something that was made in 1962.   I like the feeling of being “lost” in that van. Gives me a lot of time to enjoy driving – and enjoy the company of a friend.  It’s not much fun driving alone in such a big car.

But turns out, the Kombi is not “lost” in the traffic of vehicles!  People, especially children, are attracted to it -- they give me the “Peace” sign, like giving a salute to the hippie generation icon. There’s always a lot of smiles around when the Kombi passes by -- it’s a celebrity-star on the road!  I feel like I’m driving the Yellow Submarine.  I take pleasure in that kind of drive.

Can driving for pleasure disappear with the times?  Many people I know now hire drivers to take them around – so that they can do other things in the car, like work, or check Facebook in their gadgets.  But most of them say they want to keep away from the stress and the risk of road rage. Will they perhaps drive on Sundays? Not if the roads look like the rest of the week.

So, will the pleasure of Sunday driving become history?

E-mail your comments and suggestions to motoring@mb.com.ph.