This month's HCP EB seemed a little different from those of recent history. True, the venue was new (Blue Wave instead of The Fort), but other than that this one seemed a little more special.

Rain did not spoil the EB this time around, so members and newbies were free to mingle out in the open. Came across a few new faces myself and I got to venture outside my usual Tropang City barkada. Some new dude in an EK Civic sported a brand new Top Secret Gold paintjob (what a damn cool color!), with a sweet-looking Momo steering wheel and gorgeous Recaro SR V bucket seats in red and black. A couple of old-but-sorely-missed members made their welcome return appearances as well. A few petrolheads tested their cars on the free roads.

Racer Mikko David was on hand to record the proceedings for the local motorsports show "Slipstream." He toted his camera and tripod around, hovering around the crowd and the more notable engine bays of some of the members. Later on he asked for a white Honda of every model (EG, EK, ES Civics; CB Accord; RD2 CR-V; SX8 City) to be arranged in a semicircle around HCP president Juno Ongteco, while the latter explained to viewers what HCP was all about and invited members to join in.
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After the shooting was done, Mikko and I talked at length about the situation of the show and the local circuit racing industry in general. He told me he was looking for a scriptwriter and any other help he could scrape up, as he was basically a one-man production house as of the moment and he still hasn't been paid for his work (4 episodes' worth). I expressed interest in the show a couple weeks ago, and he invited me to come along on the race weekends to watch and get a feel of how the Subic races were held. He also requested a little creative input on my side, and if my schedule permitted, some scriptwriting duty as well.

Mikko's a likeable guy and it's obvious he loves circuit racing. As we may all know, though, the guy also has to earn from what he loves and he needs more than a little help and support. I'm mulling his offer over, actually. I'd like to help project local motorsport as something accessible to everyone and not just some rich man's hobby. If "Slipstream" can also encourage people to get their adrenalin rush from the racetrack and NOT on public roads then I'm game for it as well.

Only concern for me now is how to break this to my parents. Going to Subic is no joke as it's kinda far, but Mikko assured me there's a house where we can stay overnight there. My dad's aware of how much I love cars and so he's encouraged me to look for a career that revolves around them. This just might be it. It might not pay well, yes, but the experience is what counts, no?
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After the sun went down we trekked over to Gerry's Grill for dinner. There were a lot of us HCPers on one long table and it was really fun having all these people around to talk to. Had to split at 8pm though.