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The Honda BR-V brings us to a place waxing creative with self-expression

The Honda BR-V brings us to a place waxing creative with self-expression

Tessa R. Salazar

In so many years of joining motoring media ride-and-drives, I’ve expected such activities to be packed with so many things to do and places to go. Sometimes, looking at the itinerary itself can already be tiring.

So, imagine my relief when friends at Honda Cars Philippines Inc. invited me and six other media colleagues to a day of experiencing the newest generation of its best-selling 7-seater compact SUV the BR-V on Feb. 13—the eve of “National Dating Day” at that—with just one destination planned.

From our meet-up place in Bonifacio Global City (our BR-Vs were already delivered to our homes a few days prior), it was a mere 30-minute drive to the Cubao Expo in Araneta City, where KatHa Lifestyle Store and Café proprietress Adrienne Uy cheerfully greeted us with that “burning” desire to teach us how to chill while making soy candles.

We had a quiet laugh when we saw the store’s naughtily named merchandise: Nipple Serum and High Vibration B*tch smudge spray. Adrienne’s creative freedom surely ran with it. Today, her objective was to help us unwind by making us learn a new skill, which she hoped, perhaps, we would eventually turn into a hobby.

I must note that KatHa isn’t just a visual delight, but a treat, as well, to my olfactory sense. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee swirled with that B*tch of a smudge spray and the scents used in the candle-making process.

All the elements in KatHa pointed to creativity, self-expression, and self-love. Yes, sometimes—well, many times—we do need to love ourselves first before we can love another. And one of the best ways to love yourself is to allow that creativity in you to burn bright. Light that fire in your belly, a college professor once told me, and you’ll never work a day in your life, because what you do for a living becomes not just work, but your lifelong passion.

Adrienne with HCPI’s Drew Abad Santos, Colene Jalalon and Lyka dela Cruz.  (photo: Tessa R. Salazar) 

I have lit several wildfires in my belly in those 30 years of working in print media. And they’re still burning. The biggest one is compassion for our non-human beings that we share this creative planet with. And I express that by not eating any animal, advocating animal rights and total animal liberation, and, of course, responsible animal companionship.

Adrienne herself seems to have found her passion in life, judging from the spirited and very thorough way she conducted her workshop. Before starting, she lit sage in order to “cleanse” the room, or as HCPI public relations manager Lyka Dela Cruz-Andres said, “cleanse the vibe.” I nudged my friend Google, who confirmed that burning sage was, indeed, among the oldest and purest methods of cleansing a person, a group, or space and of getting rid of unwanted spirits. So there. Why then, don’t we all burn sage every New Year’s eve, instead of lighting those noisy and dangerous firecrackers that seem to do just the opposite?

Naturally, we worked with sustainably sourced materials such as soy wax, amber bottle containers (which Adrienne calls “vessels”) that could make the candles burn much longer, lavender, cinnamon sticks, fragrance oils, rose buds, peonies, gold foil, the works.

Adrienne also taught us many tips and tricks in soy candle-making: The preference for cotton over wood wick for beginners; centering the wick inside the vessel; the proper melting of the soy wax (even the ideal temperature range); the importance of continuously stirring the melted wax with fragrance oil, and so on.

I didn’t realize candle-making would be such a meticulous and precise process which requires constant attention. Wondrously, with Adrienne’s guidance, we were all able to make our own (decent-looking) soy candles. Mine was even topped with lavender, cinnamon sticks, gold foil and—you may not have guessed it—coffee beans!

With the way we built our candles, I doubt if we will ever light it. For me, when the time comes that we need some light in the house in a power outage, I’ll turn on my rechargeable lamp instead. This soy candle of mine, made in the haven of a passionate, thoroughly creative individual, will sit on a shelf and be a reminder to keep those fires in my belly burning.

An MPV that looks more like an SUV (photo: Tessa R. Salazar) 
Media participants with HCPI’s Dela Cruz, Misa Abe, Attorney Louie Soriano, Maricel Quilao and Jalalon  (photo: Tessa R. Salazar) 

By the way, on the way…

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While the BR-V was in my care, I thought of the number 14 (because Valentine), and it would be so fitting to end up with a 14 km/liter fuel mileage in the city. I got inspired by two owners of the 2023 BR-V, Anthony Basas and Reynard Roi whom I got to know via my online friend Marwan Patanao, an administrator of the Honda BR-V Club Pilipinas. They both said they averaged 14 km/liter in the city.

Sadly, horrendous traffic conditions in southern Metro Manila (Las Pinas and Muntinlupa) that day weren’t on my side, and I couldn’t match Anthony and Reynard’s magic number. On my way back home late that night, though, I was rewarded with a 22.7 km/liter mileage in combined city and expressway driving.

Whether I’m stuck in traffic or cruising on the highway, I still had a relaxed driving experience with the BR-V, thanks to its many convenient features that minimize blind spots. The seat height adjustment has been refined to accommodate smaller drivers like me. The 207-mm ground clearance was also quite sufficient to better see the road. Overall, the BR-V makes a bolder, more commanding, more SUV-like stance. The engine is now more responsive and powerful, thanks to the 1.5-liter DOHC i-VTEC engine paired with a new Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) that makes the vehicle punch out 121 PS and 145 Nm of torque.

Another laudable feature of the BR-V variants S CVT and S MT is the use of high-grade fabric in their seats. As an animal lover, I fully support all efforts to replace animal skin with man-made or synthetic replacements not just in transportation, but in all aspects of society.

Just like the craftsman-level soy candles that we attempted to make this day, the Honda brand that we’re now so familiar with has been a result of a meticulous, technical, and ever-evolving process. And sometimes, what we envisioned at the start could very well end up differently, but would still be equally amazing. Who would have thought that burning sage could be part of candle-making, or that lavender, cinnamon sticks, rose buds, gold foil, and, by golly, coffee beans, would all “burn as one?” In a way, Honda has done the same. The Japanese marque was the world’s most prolific motorcycle builder when it decided to venture into unchartered territory in the early 1960s and entered the automobile business. From thereon, Honda had fearlessly ventured into many innovative endeavors—sometimes ending up with products ahead of its time, such as the 1963 S500 sports car that was engineered like a racing motorcycle, or the bold and snazzy CR-Z hybrid sports coupe.

The BR-V is another example of Honda’s fascinating evolution as a carmaker, a “candle” that’s being formed right before our eyes. Only its expert maker knows the next surprising ingredient in future iterations of the model. I’m sure it’s gonna be “wick-ed.”