Youthful Nissan off-roaders revel in Pangasinan and Zambales wilderness
There was a moment in time when I was usually one of the youngest members of the motoring beat participating in a media drive in the far outskirts of some unknown place in the country. Now in my 40s, (though I may look much younger than most of the other budding journalists out there), I’m far from that fledgling yet proud hack that I was many moons ago.
Now wiser and more mature, meaning being less flexible, and having to face the harsh reality of a dwindling memory, I just take everything in stride.
Just like the recent media drive in the provinces of Pangasinan and Zambales composed mostly of a youthful crop of journalists in their 20s and early 30s.
Real freedom
Famous American aviator and military man, Charles Lindbergh once said: “Real freedom lies in the wilderness, not in civilization.”
Yes, for a couple of days we basked in enjoying “freedom” from all the hustle and bustle of the metro. We were literally wallowing in the fresh sea breeze, soft sandy beaches, amazing camaraderie, sumptuous delicacies, and the panoramic view of greenery, and the mountains of Pangasinan and Zambales.
These, however, meant that we had to sacrifice sleep, more time in beating deadlines, other businesses, not to mention time with kids and whatnot. “The prize of freedom,” eh?
Nonetheless, all these were worth it as we were under the expertise of off-road experts Joel Pedro and Beeboy Bargas, together with their team and, of course, the men and women behind Nissan Philippines.
Off-road special
The two-day escapade all the more proved to be more meaningful when Nissan Philippines president Juan Manuel Hoyos said, “We’re celebrating the end of our fiscal year with you, guys. This is special. It’s our way of saying ‘thank you.”
“We have a big reason to celebrate since we were able to sell 500 units of the Nissan Patrol. This year, we’re targeting to reach 1,000 units.”
Furthermore, according to him, the Japanese carmaker was able to grow by 35 percent in 2023 compared to the local industry’s 17 percent, which meant that Nissan Philippines outperformed most other car companies. The company sold more than 27,000 units. Thanks to its pickup Nissan Navara and midsize SUV, Terra.
Speaking of these two vehicles, the Navara and Terra performed exceptionally in tackling the off-road terrains of these provinces up north of Manila.
On our first day, we started as early as 4:00 a.m. and flagged off from the Nissan dealership in Balintawak, Quezon City. From there, we drove for three hours to Mangatarem in Pangasinan wherein we were able to enjoy breakfast with the town’s mayor, Ramil Ventenilla.
After an appetizing meal, we boarded the convoy and traversed through “Daang Kalikasan,” and unto the mountains, before we took a 30-minute pit stop at the peak to relish the majestic 360-degree view of the horizons.
Our adventures then continued, passing through various uneven terrains and countless rural roads that the vehicles both conquered with a cinch. Overall, we drove for about 10 hours before capping our day at Crystal Beach Resort in Zambales, wherein we ended the night with a brief yet fun fellowship.
The next day, I believe, would be a “drive activity to remember” as organizers prepared a fun game of “Fox and Hound” at the sandy lahar-stricken beds of San Narciso, Zambales. It was an “offroad driving” game wherein we were divided into three teams. Scattered around a 500,000-sqm “off-road playground” were five orange pylons for each team. The objective was to get the pylons and gather all five of them back to the starting point. The team that was able to complete the task with the fastest time would win.
It was a game of coordination, teamwork and–of course– off-road driving skills. Here, I was tasked to drive the Terra unto the sandy terrain. Though, I must admit, I needed a refresher. Even though my off-road driving skills were a run-on-the-mill and a bit off the edges, still, I had a lot of takeaways, like how important the gears were, the traction, amount of revs to use, and just plain feel of the terrain and many others. For me, in all my near-two decades of covering the beat, it was my first time to experience such and I was just ecstatic to be part of all the fun.
To cut the story short, having the fastest time in completing the task, fortunately, our team won.
“We sometimes take for granted the off-road capability of the vehicle,” said Hoyos.
“Here, our engineers have really taken their time to develop the product. At Nissan, we take off-roading seriously that’s why as much as possible, we always try to showcase them through events like these,” he added.
“With our years of experience, here you can see how the vehicle reacts, how resilient and capable it is.”
In the end, they say adventures like these are meant for the young ones and those who are young at heart. But I say I cherish moments like these as they remind me of how I enjoyed being “young once.”
