New Year and New Skill

New Year's day was spent as usual at my cousins' place. Alba was with mom, Adrielle and me since she didn't have her family here in Manila and January 1st was also my cousin’s birthday.

We were at a farmland where 4 of my mom's siblings' family live - 3 live right beside each other while the forth one lives along the street perpendicular to the rest.

Alba and I drove what we call an "owner-type" of jeep. It’s seemingly like the Cherokee Wrangler Jeep, but it's stainless and it doesn't have any cover nor does it have the usual headlights along one of the top bars between the front seats and the backseat.

And this is how the great adventure began...

First, we had to get gas since this Jeep is usually used for practice driving and so it rarely has a lot of fuel. And since Alba was the only licensed driver, she drove it to town, which is a bit far. Now the jeep only had 1 liter of gas. It didn't have power steering for a steering wheel either so she pretty much sweated it out while I rode in front and my cousins - Jun-Jun and Chasy - rode at the back. Anyway, it was pretty wacky at first since she wasn't used to driving it.

About 20 minutes or so into driving, we were near the gas station when the jeep suddenly stopped running since there wasn't any fuel in it anymore and so we stopped... and it was just about the time when Alba was getting the feel of it. *snicker* We pushed the jeep to the side of the road while Jun-Jun got P 60 worth of fuel so we could bring the Jeep into the gas station and put in more into the tank.

After 5 minutes of sitting our merry way, I saw Jun-Jun walking towards us. And just as he got nearer, the left front tire burst and we had a flat. Nope, we weren't doing anything. We were just sitting. uhuh. We called my aunt using my mom's cell phone since I had it with me, but no one could bring us another tire. And since 4 heads are more than one, we filled the tank with the fuel Jun-Jun bought. I drove the jeep into the side of the road and up the sidewalk. Then we went ahead and hailed a tricycle to go back to one of my aunts' houses. We got Alba's car and went back to get the jeep.

Since we only had one guy with us, he had to use the non-cross bar to take out the dirty spare tire and put it in Alba' car's trunk so we could bring it to the vulcanizing place. We then borrowed the shop's jack and brought it with us to the jeep. Jun-Jun had to carry the dirty tire and the huge greasy jack into the trunk again before we drove back to get the jeep. June-Jun then had to use the non-cross bar to take out the flat tire and boy did he sweat it out!

I have to say that I was useful since I was able to figure out how to use the jack and where to place it under the car.

Then Alba and I returned the flat tire to where the spare used to be. Boy was the tire so heavy!

Once the tire was replaced, Jun-Jun drove the jeep into the nearby gas station, added fuel and washed the dirt from his hands. Alba and I followed them and we washed our hands because we were so dirty! hmmm... come to think of it, i think Chasy was the only one who went away with no grime on her hands!

Anyway, Jun-Jun and Chasy then returned the jack to the vulcanizing shop while Alba and I tailed them. We then went to Kalayaan St. and drove along the deserted elevated road of the farmland where we were going to practice driving.

When it was my turn to drive, I was doing so well - going from 1st gear to second gear and even third gear (woohoo! this was the first time i went to third gear) until I had to make a u-turn. It was a narrow road the sides of which slants into the ditch on both sides. While I was using all the strength I could muster, Alba got frightened because of what I was doing. *snicker snicker snicker* While I knew that I turned her hair white when it almost seemed like I was going into the ditch, I also pretty much knew that I would not be going into the ditch anytime soon. *snicker snicker snicker*

I was driving and trying my luck at making a u-turn, but I couldn't understand what they were asking me to do. The jeep would die and I had to start it pressing on the clutch and the brake or else I’d fall into the ditch. But then I had to press the gas so I can back up which will lead me to the other side and yet another ditch! I thought they wanted me to let go of the clutch when it was the brake that they wanted me to let go of! what a crack! Anyway, I managed to make the u-turn and frighten Alba's wits out of her! *snicker* See, I couldn't laugh since i was concentrating on what I was doing.

And then later on, I drove back to the aunt's place. Alba beeped from behind me. Since I knew she couldn't see me from her car, I let go of the steering wheel, put out my arms and make some boxing move like I was gonna have a boxing match with her.

Then there was another beep and I place my arms out again. I was gonna do the same move, but then my cousin told me to slow down and let the other jeep pass by. Heee. I thought it was just Alba again. And then off I drove on.

It was fun spending the day driving. I even parked the jeep!