Several months ago this 2010, a fellow climber sent me an email message inquiring about the status of geocities’ delisted tropics shores domain with a leading query“What happened to our Majayjay article and photos at the PALMC site?”
Months ago, I received a text message stating,“I set up the front lawn of our house in Don Antonio into a car wash with a request, "will you be able to help me with an electric cooler?”
A week ago, a FB friend flags in his home page, water and floods everywhere due to the storm and heavy rain fall, “JV Duque: Raining hard . . . Water rising! Please pray rain stops.”
My visit at 27 Holy Spirit Drive along Don Antonio Heights in Commonwealth Avenue Quezon City turned out to be a discussion on all including a reason why motorist should consider JV’s car wash if one resides near the vicinity.
JV has several passions: sports like badminton, cycling and climbing, design and photography, showbiz talents and training and cars and maintenance. While looking for a sideline to augment his income, he was considering any one of his interests.
His set up of the car wash project in July 2006 was an “invention of necessity” borne out of his shift in career. It was also a result of an accident when a parking attendant in ABS-CBN who JV acknowledged as meticulous in detailing and car washing reminded him several months after their encounter when he is setting up his own business. When work was taking a toll on his health, he was in search for a practical solution for pay for operating expenses. From his several passions, he finally decided to go into car detailing.
Even since, JV has stringent standards when it comes to car care. He would look under the hood and car, inside the car, under the seats, in the overlooked corners when he had his car cleaned. It frustrates him whenever he surrenders his car to a professional, he would end up teaching the staff how to wash and yet still pay.
His decision to start a car wash project aside from the fact that it entailed a relatively low capital expense was his desire to share the expertise of quality cleaning. It was not really for the revenue but for the extended service.
Starting his operations at the garage, his first few days with the ABS-CBN attendant did not draw any customer. It was only on the 2nd week when a paying customer tried him out and was satisfied. His 1st customer though turned out to be his sister. From then on, car owners from BF Homes, Don Enrique and Don Antonio Heights started patronizing the shop.
They valued the attention to details under the hood and inside the car, the quality work and the dedication of the car wash staff and the use of premium cleaning equipment. Never mind if the extended garage did not have a comfortable seating area nor the slots limited to only 6 at time. The limitations did not matter for as long as the dedicated and engaged staff would transform their vehicle to a spotless exhibit in over 20 minutes.
Car owners, trusting their staff would leave the cars, go out for a walk then come back to collect them hours later. He is proud that his staff shared the same passion for a clean and good job in cleaning and detailing cars which JV claimed is modeled after the top detailing shops in Ortigas but priced right for a cottage neighborhood shop. Materials and thorough cleaning are not compromised.
Their added value of a neighborhood store is the homey atmosphere as it is Mommy who minds the business. Having come from the Talent Center, JV uses his service orientation when dealing with difficult customers.
How does success look like for JVD car wash in the future?
- Constrained by the frequent flooding, the worst experienced in September 2009 when Ondoy dumped record breaking rains in a short span of time, he sees the car wash operating even during the rainy season.
- He looks forward to a better roofing facility to expand more slots.
- For the idle waiting time, he in envisioning a coffee shop where car owners can go online, or listen to his colorful showbiz stories or merely wander around.
- He expects his satisfied customers promoting his car wash not because it offers good value for money but because they are good at car washing and detailing that rivals the more professional shops in Makati, Ortigas or Banaue.
- He is still not convinced to earn money from this advocacy.
In his multiply account, JV defines his mission.
JVD Car Wash Services came to life in July 2006. Our goal is to provide car lovers and owners in the community with the best quality services we could offer. We aim to give our customers the comfort of having their cars pampered at the most reasonable yet competitive prices. We use Meguiar's Professional detailing products in all our detailing services.
Hearing his stories for over an hour, I wonder if it needed updating to level up to the next phase.
Bakers with a natural passion to create
Majayjay
"Follow what you are genuinely passionate about and let that guide you to your destination." -Diane Sawyer
Shooting natural or a structure? Private domain or public property? Attribute it on the surging ownership of SLR cameras and the visibility of controversies. Unknowns out rightly refuse to be photographed. Attendants of commercial displays disallow their goods to be recorded. Nature makes better subjects, as they are, innately natural.
Freedom that I relish the most are freedom of mobility and choice (of food).
Mobility is the ability to move around without any constraint tapping available resources. In the city there are several: the most common and often untapped is walking, the most efficient is the MRT Blue line that traverses from North EDSA to ESA Taft, the LRT1 Yellow Line from Monumento to Baclaran and the LRT2 Purple line from Santolan in Pasig to Recto in Manila. Popular are jeepneys, tricycles, taxicabs and a creation of the decade, the FX.
In his multiply account, JV defines his mission. JVD Car Wash Services came to life in July 2006. Our goal is to provide car lovers and owners in the community with the best quality services we could offer. We aim to give our customers the comfort of having their cars pampered at the most reasonable yet competitive prices. We use Meguiar's Professional detailing products in all our detailing services. 
How I was accepted in the 2nd batch is a tale of resourcefulness, confidence and even luck considering the civil servants have the priority. Qualification, education and professional background can truly bring one to places.
In 1960, we stayed in a house built of wood at Chavez st. in Cagayan de Oro clustered near the City Hall, Lourdes Hospital and within walking distance to important establishments and institutions. School, the Xavier University was several blocks away. So were the park and the city plaza.
In the 21st century, these structures are still around, preserved notwithstanding the pressure of progress happening at the turn of the decades. They stand side by side with the concrete buildings of newly emerging global fast food icons.
Date: 1594
Mango from Guimaras at P 85/kilo. Watermelon from Iloilo. Carabao's Milk from Bulacan at P 40 per 300 mL. Half a gallon of Buko Sherbet from Pampanga at P 200. A pack of crabs from Bulacan at P 320.
