What to do on Father’s Day

If diamonds (along with gold and other precious stones and metals) are a girl’s best friend, then it is carbon-fiber, titanium, magnesium, aluminum and other high-strength, low-weight materials that are the male gender’s essentials.

From golf, fishing rods, tennis and other racket sports, and onto cars, motorcycles, boats and the like, these aforementioned materials are what constitute the bulk of said objects’ construction, even if men fail to realize it. The more expensive and exotic-sounding it is, the more desirable these items become to men.

With the upcoming Father’s Day Weekend, it’s a good idea to sort of bond, or rekindle lost ones, with our fathers, likewise with fathers to do the same to their offspring. Many rites of passage occur during these times, when men pass on knowledge, wisdom, heirloom or what not to their next generation, and we should always grab the opportunity to have some quality and peaceful time with our fathers and with our children.

So what does man’s essentials have to do with male bonding? Duh!

A short road-trip with your father/children is always a good idea. Today, we’ve got a good number of cars to take on road trips, from family-centric cross-over SUVs, to luxurious limousines, to mad, rad sports cars on the market. These road trips can lead to a good hearty meal (always my favorite, mind you), to perhaps a round of golf, which utilizes the latest carbon-fiber, kevlar and other exotic weaves, much like the latest supercars from Lamborghini, the Aventador, or the engineer’s wet-dream, the LF-A from Lexus, is made primarily of.

If golf is too slow for you, then perhaps a fun drive through your favorite twisting roads, such as those leading to and from Quezon and Rizal provinces respectively, to Metro Manila, or down south going up to Tagaytay via Laguna or Batangas (the latter being the less traveled and more challenging, if a tad slower in my opinion), or a highway storming run up NLEx and SCTEx to end up in Subic for some good grilled seafood and steaks, or to Clarkfield for some good old American burgers is always a good idea. If you find yourself in Subic, you can also enjoy a spot of fishing.

The point is, thanks to these previous and exotic materials, the men of today have more useful and exciting things to spend their time and money on, and with their kids (even the missus), without transgressing any moral boundaries when one has too much time and money, replete with boredom in their lives. Well, a speed limit is perhaps a grey area when it comes to moral boundaries.

Another way to spend some male quality bonding time is to work on cars. If women love fine wine and the classy bubbly, then men love lubricants from the likes of Mobil 1, Motul, Castrol, Shell and even the more basic lubricants from WD-40, plus a host of other chemicals that clean up corrosion, improve electrical contact points, liven up rubber (silicon spray) or even clean up that classy chassis (the car, not the girl’s) with waxes and other specialized cleaning and detailing products. A priest once told me that owning lots and lots of expensive toys isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it’s when these toys become a means unto itself, rather than a means of sanctification and attracting other people to God, that it becomes a sin. I’m not sure about attracting other people to God (given my looks) , but working on cars is definitely something everyone, family and friends, can learn a thing or two of, and get excited about in the process, while enriching one’s self.

In summary, today there is a lot of materialism around us. Let’s not lose focus on what these material things are really meant for: a means to make our life better, by allowing us to live safer, more efficient and more interesting lives so that we can spend more time with our loved ones, or use these material things to bring us closer to our loved ones by participating in an activity where everyone can join in, using these objects. And if they’re made of carbon-fiber, Kevlar, titanium, aluminium, etc., it’s a lot more desirable and exciting to do so.

Advanced Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!