Sunday, July 05, 2009

Multi-Activity-Vehicle (MAV) Mazda 5 GT

During one of the Occasion of our Gatherings, a friend who is following the entries in this seldom updated blog asked me why I did not post an entry about my recently acquired wheels...here Iggy, for you and the rest...the Zoom, Zoom forever post...

Been driving and owning cars for so many years, actually as soon as I get my Canadian Driver’s License first issued in the City of Winnipeg while trying my Luck there way, way back then, and all I got for 6 weeks was the Driver License and the rest is History.

The last car I had was a Dodge Spirit mid-size sedan, one of Lee Iacocca series of the Famous K cars, which among others Introduced to the world the Iconic Minivan...it was good and it was bad...after about four years of trouble free driving, it became a proverbial “white elephant” and one day I just told a co-worker if he wants it, can have it...and all it needs is an engine from the junk yards and his son drove it for another 5 years...so for the time being I was driving the other Family Car, my sister’s which was also the baby sister of the mid-size Dodge, the Dodge Shadow, which is also our Middle name (our Mother’s Surname, Anino) which lasted without any trouble for 17 years, until May of 2007 when it just said, I had enough and to the Junk Yard she went...the man who picked it up said that the body is still in shape-shape that he might check the problem and spare it from being chop-chop for parts.

I was just happy taking the “quite” efficient and relatively Very Cheap mode of going places, the Toronto Mass Transit System, known for its acronym, TTC (Toronto Transit Commission)..the monthly expense was lower than even the Car Insurance Premium, any car by very much.

Then a Text Message coming from our only Sibling left in the Philippines, our Brother (retired) that her daughter and her 4 years old son are both coming over as immigrants any time soon, (but decided to let them go after celebrating his 70th Birthday this September) as his other son and family, (see the last entry, a week with Francine and Emily) are already been away and the house will be an empty nest now, with just him and his wife..

So over the cup of coffee with the visiting youngest sis from New York, we talked which car best suited to move the 4 year old grand nephew and the rest of the family...I already made up my Mind to go for the Six, three rows seating Mazda 5... it is not a minivan, not a crossover and Mazda gave it a very appropriate description...MAV (for Multi-Activity-Vehicle)..

So off to the Dealer, Scarborough Mazda check the specs here>/> to make a deal, and if less than 30 minutes the deal was sealed and the car will be ready after its body rust proofing, window tinting and registration were done, about a day or two...and off to Hatboro, PA we went and it was a very Nice Driving Car, with its Low Profile wide tires, riding in Nitrogen, and all operations can be set in Auto, (wiper, headlight, climate control) and even the 5 speed Auto transmission has a Manual Option, known as Steptronic, a flip to the left and tap-tap-tap up and down the car is in Manual Mode without the Clutch Pedal...or just stay in Auto and let it shift by itself (can be shift back and forth on the fly)...Power is transmitted to Front Wheels by a 2.3 liter DOHC 16V EFI engine and though there is no specs and how many seconds it can get from 0-100 km( maximum hway speed) I timed it somewhere between 8 to9 seconds, not bad for a small engine...fuel efficiency is quite good in Highway Driving, but not in City Driving as the Car is slightly bigger and heavier than conventional sedan.

So the “Big Boy” will have to learn to accept to ride in the second row seat as compared to always sitting beside Grandpa, the driver...and has to be buckled to his booster seat...It is not advisable to have a passenger less than 12 years of age occuppying Front Seat as the Air Bags and the possibility of impact with the dashboard is dangerous for younger passenger. It is even Illegal.




The Front...you may klik at the pix to view the enlarged image in separate window...



Parking alongside the "girls" own movers (francine and emily), the Toyota Siena and the Kia Sportage.



The view from the Rear and passenger side...


Side view with sliding door wide open,(easy close door system)access to the Third row is thru the folded second row side seats pushed forward, the Centre or Jump Over, just like Francine does everytime...


The two seats middle row with hideaway tiny snack centre table for the "special passenger".




The Cabin





The Mazda 5 side view, the GT model.

Special Bonus: Lolo Natic and Lola Mart, brand spanking New Chrysler Journey Crossover...love the scent of a new car...says lola Mart (as the kids would call them)...

Friday, April 10, 2009

a week with Francine and Emily









with lolo gene and sometimes her Physician


and lola joy her Pedia...



Emy with dad and mom and lolo natic and lola mart






Emy with mom







walking Francine to the School Bus P.U. Corner (junior kin)














the house the girls call "home"












emy with "lolo"






















Francine and Emily


Got snowed on the way somewhere in Buffalo, missed a few turns and a few more misses with the first use of the GPS, but this new tech guided me and sis right to the door of our grandnieces Francine and Emily in Hatboro, PA with very little delays as it re-calculated the route as soon as I missed the highlighted 3d maps plus the play by play (turn by turn) instruction of the pleasant voice prompts of "Samantha".

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

"Kuya" Mik first visit....



A little snow (about 4 cm.) just to show 'kuya' mik what it is all about.




Let me drive this machine, we don't have this in California !!!










Niagara Falls, Ontario




CN Tower, Toronto..














Rockefeller Centre, New York, N.Y.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

and another child to carry on... 1st birthday


Well, It was a very Good Year, my first and looking forward for many, many, many more. thank you all... Emily...



Party Guests





Birthday girl Emily with mom, sis Chin Chin with Dad. My brother's grand daugthers, PA, USA

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Lest We Forget...

Lest We Forget:

11th hour, 11th day of the 11th month...WE REMEMBER



take a tour in flanders fields museum here
the Maple Leaf museum, Belgium video


If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep....

-John McCrae-In Flanders Fields




WE SHALL KEEP THE FAITH

Oh! You who sleep in “Flanders Fields,”
Sleep sweet – to rise anew!
We caught the Torch you threw
And, holding high we keep the Faith.
With all who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led:
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.
But lends a lustre to the red

Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ve learned the lesson that ye taught
In Flanders Fields.

A poem by:
Moina Michael (November 1918)

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Hockey Night in Canada New Anthem - Canada Gold...

Hockey Night in Canada has a new theme song. After a National Search, soliciting more than 1500 entries from fans and all members of the Canadian Public and the attraction of the $100,000 prize money to the winner, the winner which was decided by votes of the member of Public through Texts, emails and phones is Canadian Gold, composed by an Albertan Elementary School Teacher, beating Sticks to the Ice by a 13-year Toronto Boy.. But why the search and the dropping of the 40 year-theme song that besides from the O’Canada, the National Anthem, is the only other Canadian song that are distinctively recognizable all over the world? Also known as Canada’s second National Anthem...to find out how it all started you may start here, Iconic song sparks Hockey fight in Canada

Sticks to the Ice-- by Robert Fraser Burke--Runner Up
video

The Winner--Canada Gold--by Colin Oberst
video

...

And the Iconic 40-year-old Hockey Theme Song (a.k.a.the second Canada National Anthem) now the property of TSN (Toronto Sports Network) as re-recorded by the 54- member Toronto Symphony Orhestra for TSN.
video

If you are wondering about the announcer sign-on at the beginning of the videos, it was the voice of Foster Hewitt, Canada’s Premier hockey play-by-play broadcaster and the mentioned of Newfoundland was before the Colony joined Canada in 1949...

video