The Road to Ford Fiesta's 1st Anniversary!

10.16.2011 – The early mornings are not the usual thing for me to get up. But I was all set up and ready to go by 7:30AM. There were still a lot of unfinished things I would write up but time is of the essence. An unexpected Friday was just the beginning of something good when you put your heart one thing it will happen. It took me a while to recover all that has transpired yesterday and none the less quite a memorable experience. The travel was good but moving from one place to another was quite a sluggish thing.

Jump after the cut...

The wait for a jeepney ride was taking forever and taking the bus at the station was like it was Friday morning but it’s a Saturday and everyone was a bit of a hurry. There’s like fifteen minutes it takes to reach the main destination and it doesn’t begin there.

Arriving on MC Home Depot was a sight for sore eyes in a searing heat that can’t be explained, but it’s better to have this weather than a rain fall that can flood some certain areas.

By 9:15AM I arrived and the crew was still trying to go through the traffic worse than I had experience. So for a few minutes of that time I decided to do a Toy Photography carrying in my bag is the 1:18 scale replica of the Ford Fiesta, which was superbly detailed to its actual counterpart.

There was a message from both Koji Moralez and Neil Almighty to come up via the parking ramp of the MC Home Depot since the warehouse is still close. There I trek up the building through the parking ramp slight lighted similar to being inside a deserted alien a reminiscent from a science fiction television show. When I got up to the roof deck it was indeed light at the end of the tunnel. The parking lot is not that big but just right to house more than 100 Ford Fiestas that would fill this venue for that special celebration.

The team is consists of three radio DJs from 99.5RT and the staff from the station’s office. While they set up the final meeting with Ford, 99.5RT, and Brand on Demand (a company that handles the motoring side that you might call it the PR counterpart in blogging).

I decided to take some early shots on the set up of some notable Ford Fiestas as well as that stealth black custom Ford F-150 that entered the parking bay earlier prior.


Team Koji

I’ve known Koji since my college days and the time I became a student DJ where he was sort of my mentor. He moved from Love Radio, Campus Radio, and currently 99.5RT we never lost bumping to each other unexpectedly. So it’s obvious I became part of his team together with two people from Brand on Demand to meet-up with the owners of Ford Fiesta at the Shell Mindanao Avenue.

It was unexpected that we were about to leave already and I took the backseat beside with the lovely Yanina Dris our female companion in this ride. Together to round up the team is Hajjie Faustino our driver who will be handling the designated Chili Red colored Ford Fiesta. It’s partially customized with the 99.5RT sticker on both side but not like the RT Fiesta that’s on display at the roof deck of MC Home Depot which park beside with the DC Shoes custom version not entirely close to Ken Block’s.


Travel Time

The ride heading to Mindanao Avenue was not an easy one but Hajjie knows his way zooming past the other vehicles along Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA). Yani was in her beauty nap past asleep assuming that both have been in one event Friday night for the Louie Vitton gig which BMW which was the company they handled.
We arrived in less than an hour and immediately Hajjie has set up the tarpaulin from Ford Philippines. The weather was bad and so is the traffic along Mindanao Avenue where there was a car that broke down in the U-turn slot.

Everyone was quiet on the way to the designated venue to gather the Fiesta drivers and it took some time to get to know the team. While Neil is assigned at the MC Home Depot in Ortigas Center and Marf was at the Macapagal Avenue we were mostly the “fun” crew. The arrival of the Fiesta owners was slow but gradual. Some came alone and there were three cars arriving simultaneously.

The next thing you know there’s a meet-up happening and the birth of the community begins because of one interest – Driving a Ford Fiesta. Similar to other hobbyist it starts with one common interest and there you see a community that thrives to be part of the society.

The hobbyist talked about their set ups and some discuss about the improvement of their cars. In-between the discussions Yani and Hajjie approached each driver who just recently arrived. My designation was the team’s photographer while Koji gives the updates via live feed on radio. The beauty of the Ford Fiesta lies within one of its features which is the Bluetooth where it can pair up your mobile phone to the car’s main radio/console and you can do the hands free while you drive option.
Leaving Mindanao

When everything was all set the team did not hesitate to leave to the exact time of 1PM. Twelve cars lined up at the Shell station in Mindanao Avenue like there was something big is brewing. Before you know it we were about to leave the venue set on returning to MC Home Depot at the Bonifacio Global City. The ride was not that smooth unlike any convoy and prior to that I was given the opportunity to take some snaps while the cars lined up along Mindanao Avenue.

It was one of those moments when you’re amazed by the sight of Ford Fiesta lined up and traveling in unison. The last quick stop we had was checking who got left behind and had a breather. We checked the other teams from different area boast more cars but unlike our team we were having fun.

The Arrival

When we arrived at the BGC the Fiestas from different groups where all parked and ready to go for one last push in heading to MC Home Depot. Koji doing his live feed got out and went to Neil’s car unexpectedly as I followed. Marf was in the car with another model who was assigned to his team. But I decided to return to Hajjie and Yani to the Fiesta we were assigned to as we head back to the roof deck.

From here the adventure ends but the party starts for the celebration of Ford Fiesta’s 1st Anniversary and I didn’t miss a single thing. Definitely a “fun” ride that made everyone’s Saturday simply Fabulous.