Us chosen ten were paired off with ten celebrities. I was teamed up with Rovilson Fernandez who is a certified health buff and a veteran when it comes to adventure races like this one. Our team was associated with the word “power” since we were the only all-male team in the race. But the thing is, the wireless adventure is not really just about power or strength.

The Soul of Manila Wireless Adventure officially began on May 26 at Shangri-La Hotel in Makati. From there, we received the N95 “multimedia computer” which everyone used for the two-day race. We were officially sent off to our respective vehicles (with drivers) at 1pm and our first task was to shop for chopsuey ingredients at the Salcedo Village Market.

Using the N95’s Bluetooth we first have to get an Excel file of the item list from the designated marshal. Getting the file was fast but looking for the marshal took a minute or two of our time. Then, we had to use the N95’s converter feature because the weight of the items in the list is in pounds. Apparently, I didn't knew that to press and hold the menu button displaysn the following applications that are running on the N95, and doing it gives you the option to jump from one running application to another.

After completing the task, we called our driver to pick us up and rushed to Bola Cafe at Greeenbelt 3. On the way, we opt to get a photo of Ninoy Aquino's Statue along Ayala Avenue, which is one of the several bonus tasks that we can do during the whole race. This was also the first chance for us to use the N95's 5-Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Optics, and it was great. It was easy to take photos with it, and the quality was very clear. The only problem was that the N95 takes about 5 seconds to finalize the photo before you can take another one.

Once finished, we came to Cafe Bola about an hour before the said schedule and waited. This was the chance for me to explore some of the other features of the N95 and I found out that the office application are same as that of the E50, except for the barcode reader and wireless keyboard features. The navigation features were very interesting although they are not that useful for the whole race since we relied on our own knowledge of the streets of metro. I also tried out the video and editing features of the phone, which reminds me of the N93i, but is much more faster because the phone has more user memory available (about 142MB).

Despite this, we weren't able to use the feature yet, as our challenge at Cafe Bola was to document Margarita Fores' cooking demo in photo and video. I was impressed while taking video since the N95 was able to shoot a fairly good clip. The only problem was that the battery took its toll and lost a few bars. Rovilson took charge in taking photos and noting down the ingredients which we stored again in the N95's notes.

Conpleting the task, we went straight to Vintage Pop store in Araneta Center in Cubao. Befor doing the next challenge, we took time to accomplish two bonus tasks - taking a photo of the Araneta Coliseum and the muscovado sugar at Cafe Bola at the branch here (one of the ingredients used in the cooking demo). And even before we started the challenge at Vintage Pop, a special task for more bonus points came up at the strike of 4 p.m.. There was a document file in the N95 containing the last five line's  of Hotdog's "Manila" and one of us (which was me) had to sing along with it and record it. So I opened the file, tuned in to RX 93.1 and sang the last lines while Rovilson recorded it.

Now, the real challenge here was to be creative with the N95's photo imaging feature and we were given a PDF file containing the five items in the store that we can use for our photo as subjects. The N95 also has an image editor and it has various ways of personalizing your images like adding pre-installed clip art images, boarders, or you can change the color saturation. So we personalized our photo, printed it via Bluetooth, presented the masterpiece to interior designer Miguel Rosales for his approval, and went to the next challenge.

Good thing we signed up first for the fourth slot in the next challenge at Sencillo bar at Esquinita at Sgt. Esguerra Avenue. This gave us time to run through a series of photo shoots of specific buildings for more bonus points as rain poured, which really put the N95 to the test. Taking a quick meal, we rushed back to the Sencillo, and waited for our turn. The goal here is to get a minus one audio from the marshall via bluetooth and use the N95 as the music player for the bar. I connected my N95 to the console using the AV cord supplied in the package. Surprisingly, the audio quality was very good. While the singer sang our song, Rovilson took a one-minute clip of her and our task was done.

Perhaps the most tiring part on the first day of the wireless adventure was capturing the night life using only our N95s. There were two places to do this - Saguijo Bar and M Cafe - and we split the tasks of cameraman and editor. My experience with mobile film editing gave me the (still-painstaking) job to edit a two-minute video from the various clips Rovilson took. Editing was done on location, in the car, and at the hotel. It took more than two hours but it's worth it because director Lino Cayetano (the judge for this challenge) praised our short masterpiece. After that, the first day of our wireless adventure was history.

The next morning we had to wake up early to get our phones and have them charged. Many of us racers noticed that the N95 is a power-hungry device and were more challenged on conserving its juice even the supplied car charger.

The second day was more of using the N95’s imaging feature as the main and bonus tasks were to take photos of specific landmarks like the façade of Greenbelt 4, San Agustin Church, the Walls of Intramuros, the Manila Clock Tower, the Rizal Monument, Manila Bay, and scenes like laughing kids, Manila traffic, blooming flowers, and balloons sold at the Rizal Park.

The first main task was to get to the top of the Manila City Hall’s clock tower and take panoramic shots of Manila. After this, we went straight to Hit Productions at Makati for the recording session but we weren’t able to get a slot since most of the teams registered earlier than expected. All that’s left for us to complete is the challenge at Quiapo and Fort Santiago.

The task at Quiapo area was to get photos of specific items that are sold by the various vendors within the area. Again, the N95's camera feature was put to the test as we shoot and run around the area on a busy Sunday. After taking the photos, we had to present it in a slideshow with the music "Limang-Dipang Tao" in the background to tour guru Carlos Celdran. To finish the day, we headed straight to Fort Santiago, make a small video clip showing Jose Rizal's "Famous Last Walk," and use the N95's video editor feature. To end the 2-day race, we surrendered all the materials that we've gathered and wait for the results.

But the adventure didn't ended there. The winner of the N95 Soul of Manila Wireless Adventure was announce on at the culminating party last May 30. Team 5, composed of Kat Juan and Ed Capulong were proclaimed the winner of the race. Not only do they get to enjoy the N96 multimedia computer, but also the cash prize and the trip to Amanpulo.

The race didn't just put pressure on everyone who participated, but also on the N95. With the numerous photo, videos, editing, connectivity, and recording that it took for two consecutive days, it proved itself to be one heck of a device that can do almost anything.