Worth 1000 (Part I: Yamaha Adventures)

I'll be posting a series of blogs with the heading 'Worth 1000'. It's taken from the site www.worth1000.com which was inspired by the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words". For each blog I'm going to select a particular photo from my album and post my recollections about the time, place, and the people in the photo.

To start everything off, I've chosen this photo taken at the house in Barra. I'm in the front with my dad driving and my mom carrying Mira in the back -- we're riding the family bike which had a reputation for having a 'reverse' gear (my uncle used to win many bets when wagering that it could run backwards). We went all over the city on that bike -- even when Mira got old enough to sit with me in the front. Mira being Mira, she couldn't resist doing stunts like jumping out from the front into a large puddle. Of course, we must've looked like a circus especially when we got a chihuahua and also let her ride with us out front -- it got us into trouble countless times when the dog saw anything worth chasing and jumped right out with the bike running full speed. Then there were the times when the headlights suddenly went out and I had to hold a flashlight out front for the rest of the ride -- Sicayab to Dipolog may not sound far now with the paved roads and all but to a little child trying to hold a large flashlight steady on a road dotted with potholes it seemed like an eternity. Surprisingly enough, after more than two decades the bike still runs, its engine starting up with a strong rumble that brings back memories of days gone by.