Chasing sunrise with the Ford Territory

I usually sleep at 12 midnight when I’m at home. If I’m still doing a lot of things, or in the mood to catch up with my series, I end up closing my eyes around 2am. So imagine my surprise when Ford Philippines told us during an 8pm dinner that the next day, we had to wake up at 2am for our drive. 

We attended Ford Philippines’s first media drive since the pandemic began and this is for the Territory. The itinerary is to drive from Binangonan, Rizal all the way to Tanay which is an hour or so away to see the sunrise. Normally, I’ll be in a bad mood with such a schedule but this time it’s different. Aside from not seeing the sunrise from the mountains in a long time, they asked us to bring one more person for this drive. So I brought Cherry, my girlfriend, along for the free date and it made me see her in a different light. 

We need to arrive at our lodging in Binangonan by 5pm on a Monday. I underestimated the time it would take to finish my other errands on the road so we ended up catching the traffic in Ortigas Ave extension onwards, arriving an hour late to our destination. Good thing the Territory Trend lent to us has an electronic parking brake with auto brake hold despite being the lower variant. Otherwise, my right leg would’ve been murdered by the stop-and-go traffic. 

After the long drive to Binangonan, we first settled into our room. Cherry and I shared the suman that Ford gave us as a welcoming gift and enjoyed dipping it in the coco jam that’s included. It was locally sourced but suman never tasted as good as that night.

The next day, we had a light breakfast at 3am and started our journey to chase the sunrise. I used to be irritated with the wide center consoles of midsize crossovers but that day, I appreciated it. It gave enough room for Cherry to get food from the second row which made me realize, if there were kids in the backseat, she could attend to them easily despite being infront. 

We were doing 60 on the twisties of Rizal and the Territory was very stable on the corners. The light steering also helped in making the drive very pleasant despite the distance but the real MVP of the drive was the LED headlights that lit the dark roads of Tanay. Being in the mountains, there were long portions of the route with minimal lighting and the headlights made me confident in tackling each curve. I also pulled back the sunroof cover because in roads where there were streetlights, I enjoy the light going past above me. I’m watching too many films I guess.

Arriving at the entrance to Viewscape Nature’s Park, there was a big rise from dirt to concrete, then in just a couple of meters, another huge drop from concrete to dirt. Cherry and I looked at each other and she said “Yep, we can’t go here with our small hatchback.” 

After that was a couple hundred meters of unpaved road composed of dirt, gravel, and uneven paths. The Territory again proved its worth by being very steady where other crossovers would’ve been bouncy to make up for the rough terrain.

Once all that was over, we were greeted by grey clouds. It drizzled a bit just before we arrived so despite the brightness in the area, the sun was nowhere to be found. But just a few minutes later, cracks formed in the clouds and rays of sunlight landed on the still foggy mountains. We just stood there mesmerized at the light giving color to the forests and mountains beyond us when the skies started parting ways. The sun finally shines on the Ford Territory and at that moment, Abdellatif Kechiche was right – blue is indeed the warmest color. 

Once the morning set in, we proceeded to do the ‘light’ trekking on the path below that led to a small cave. I was a fool in thinking there’ll be an alternative, easier way up but nope, we had to go back up the same way we got down. The path literally took my breath away but it was all worth it. Cherry and I had been planning on doing something like this since we became a couple 9 months ago so even though my heart was racing, I enjoyed seeing her smile from the experience. 

When we finally got back up near the campsite, we pretended the farm was ours, like we’re a couple of highschoolers. Then we basked in the morning sun, the view of the mountains, and the peace from the song of the birds. After that we had our hearty meal as we cooled down from the drive and the trekking.

All this time since the launch in 2020, I kept thinking that the Territory Trend is just a ‘push’ model, meaning it’s just there to make you realize that for P33,000 more you’ll get a much better car with the Titanium variant since it’s loaded with features way beyond that margin. But frankly, the Trend is more than enough. The only thing that bugged me was the lack of auto up and down for the driver’s window but apart from that, it was a really nice package. Adequate power, very comfortable ride, quiet cabin, and spacious in all areas especially for the cargo. 

More than the car though, I realized that some journeys won’t be as fun if the right person isn’t beside you. I’m really glad that Ford thought of allowing us to bring one more person because having Cherry in that media drive was a really memorable experience. It gave me a preview of what it would be like to get to the next level with her, but we’re still far from that. For now, it’s all about more memories together.