A lot of things happened on just this one day on our trip to the Enchanted Kingdom amusement park in Santa Rosa, Laguna.

The moment I arrived at the parking area, I got pretty excited that EK was now offering a real karting track there. I guess I got too excited as I managed to lock my car with the keys still in the ignition. Great, of all the times it had to happen, it had to be at 11:30 am in a baking-hot parking lot.

Luckily RG and Tantan were there to commiserate. I was also rather lucky that a driver happened to walk by, his van parked a few spots behind mine. He told us it had happened to him already on his employers' Corolla. I managed to find a bit of thick-gauge wire lying about a few spots away as well, which would be instrumental in getting my keys back.

We spent around 35 minutes figuring out three basic solutions until we decided to bypass the lock altogether. We popped open part of the driver's-side window seal in hopes of hooking the indoor locking mechanism with the hook-shaped wire and getting it to raise and unlock the door. With a bit of patience Manong Driver were able to open it at last.

We offered Manong Driver a doy pack of juice and I was going to give him PhP200 as a token of gratitude. He politely turned it down, telling us maybe we'd meet again and I could do him the favor this time.

Now, although I was grateful to Manong Driver for getting my keys back, I was also aware of the potential risk my car faced, being parked so very close to a guy who just happened to help me pop my door open without a key. The last thing on my mind was getting my keys back but losing my car in the process. Being on the cautious side, I just moved my car away to a parking slot a bit farther from the entrance.
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The day at EK started out slow, but went pretty well. I was with Tantan, Edrix, Pam D., Leia, Joseph, Rachel and Kate the whole day. Some rides had ridiculously long waiting times and queues, which themselves sometimes just weren't worth it for entertainment value.

Two notable rides were the Rio Grande Rapids and of course the karting track. We loved the Rio Grande Rapids so much we had to ride the goddamn thing twice. While I managed to avoid getting wet on the first run, I came out thoroughly soaked on the second---down to my buttocks, back and feet. It was fun overall. I just wish I brought an extra change of pants, underwear and some slippers at least. It wasn't fun driving home in soaked pants and wet feet, although it was quite satisfying to perform heel-and-toe with my bare right foot.

Which leads me to the karting bit. That's pretty much the prime reason why I got so excited upon entering EK. I patiently waited in the queue after paying the PhP170 single-seat go-kart rental fee (relatively cheap!) and getting my rented balaclava. I could feel my pulse racing with years' worth of anticipation. Finally, goddamnit, I'm going to get down and dirty driving in a go-kart!

Balaclava and helmet on, I plopped my butt down on a go-kart and headed out into the night. It took me a bit of time getting used to the funny-modulating left-footed brakes and the unassisted steering, but when I did, I began learning the track layout. Those countless hours of playing the Gran Turismo games certainly paid off. In about two laps I had determined a good racing line through the corners, being gentle with the brakes upon entry and with the gas on exit, and brushing the concrete curbing to keep my speed as constant as possible.

The batch I had gone out with had some pretty good karting stalwarts and it was pretty much impossible for me to keep up with them. But for my first time out I think I did very good. The 7-minute rental allotment got me 5 or so laps (I didn't really keep count) and I learned how to overtake slower karts responsibly on the tight little circuit. I had asked one of the stalwarts before our run and he told me 7 minutes would get him 6 laps or so. Had I become more aggressive and used more advanced tactics (like shifting my body weight into turns), perhaps I would have done better.

Now I'm a genuine kart fan. Darn.

Did I mention Tita Vik was also there at EK? I saw her mint-green RAV4 parked outside when I was making my way back to my own car.
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The drive home was characterized by a couple stop-overs at gasoline stations looking for a place to eat. I had to leave the guys early though as I didn't want to get berated for not bringing my keys to the gate at home. I was on the SLEX running northbound, enjoying a general air of spirited driving as I kept my speed above 80 km/h for most of the journey, with smooth and predictable legit passes.

I love driving...it's damn obvious isn't it?