This day was a total write-off—one of those days you just want to delete from your memory. We had a simple plan: drive to Argao with Jessa, Liam, and Jessa’s brother, to check the paperwork for a new piece of land we were thinking of buying. We already have land in Ronda, but this new spot has an absolutely insane view, and I was excited to see if we could make a deal happen. Since we were heading that way, we figured we’d make a day of it—hit the beach, have some good food, and just relax.
Well, the universe had other plans.
The trouble started before we even reached Oslob. I noticed dark smoke coming from the engine and a total loss of power. It turns out the bearing on the aircon compressor pulley was shot. It wasn't safe to drive, so we had to leave the car at a garage in Oslob and take the bus back home. Taking the bus in the Philippines is what I call an "extreme sport" because some of those drivers are absolute maniacs. We ended up getting home exhausted, with the car stuck 40 minutes away.
Fast forward to Tuesday. We took the bus back down early to pick up the "fixed" car. I was in a great mood—the repair was cheap (about 2,700 pesos total), the weather looked decent for a beach day, and I even had my beach hat ready. We picked up the car, started driving, and I went to overtake someone. That’s when I realized: zero horsepower. The car was spewing black smoke again.
I was furious. We drove back to the garage, and you won’t believe it—they had forgotten to reconnect the hose from the turbo to the engine. How does a professional garage forget to connect the turbo? That mistake cost us nearly three hours of driving and waiting around.
By the time we actually made it to the DNR office in Argao to check the land papers, it was already late afternoon. And the news wasn't even good. It turns out there’s a major issue with the documentation. The land was never properly registered after the previous owner passed away. Unless we can track down a specific "deed of sale" contract, the deal is basically dead in the water. There’s maybe a 40% chance we can fix it, but I’m not holding my breath.
To top it all off, when we got back to the car, the battery was flat. We’d known the battery was on its last legs, but after the day we’d had, it felt like a cruel joke. We had to get a jumpstart just to get moving. At that point, any hope of a "beach day" was long gone. I spent the whole trip in my swim shorts and sun hat, and I didn't even get my feet wet.
We eventually made it back home around 10:00 PM. I’m exhausted, I have a mountain of work to catch up on, and I’m facing a 6,000-peso bill for a new battery. This day was a complete disaster from start to finish. I’m going to finish my work, go to bed, and try to forget today ever happened.
Hopefully, your day was better than mine. See you in the next one!
