My So-called Subic Trip

March is about to end so I decided to avail of the free overnight stay in Subic International Hotel as the offer is good till March 31 only. This is the prize I won last December in MART's Christmas party.

Met Sam at Victory Liner station in Pasay early morning yesterday, bought tickets, got in bus and spent most of the morning on the road. Got to Subic freeport after lunch. Upon entering the gate, we realized that you really need a car to get around.

We walked for two blocks under the hot sun without any idea where the hotel we're staying at is. Allowed Sam to choose the directions but we were still lost. Out on a whim, saw a bird fly to our right and jokingly told Sam we could try following it as we've already tried her logical approach. The bird was right, the hotel was to the right.

The hotel was in the middle of the freeport ... which makes it far from the bay. There are no public transportation in the zone, and renting a car is expensive. Not up to taking a long walk to the bay, we stayed in the hotel the rest of the afternoon sleeping, watching cable TV, sleeping, calling room service for dinner, eating, watching cable, and sleeping.

Why? Sam just got back from a trip to Taal lake with friends, I was tired from work. It wasn't how I envisioned we'd spend the day.

Availed the free breakfast this morning, walked around the freeport and realized we like Subic. We could not enjoy the beach as the part of the sea near the Boardwalk is contaminated with chemicals coming from the Subic Export Processing Zone. We had to satisfy ourselves with taking pictures.


Subic Bay's patrol ride horses. This horse is Gloria.


A group of janitors taking a break nearby temporarily placed their brooms and dustpan at the statue of James L. Gordon. I took this picture because I thought it was funny.


One of the nicer hotels near the bay.


Sam taking a rest in one of the cafes.
After lunch we hopped on a bus bound for Manila as Sam promised to attend a friend's conducting recital.

Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar

Food in Chinatown

Sam and I was in Binondo this morning. We met at SM Manila, which is near Lawton. Had lunch in a Taiwanese restaurant that sounds like Yin Foo something. Her classmate Judith once brought her there and so she wanted to eat there again. She did most of the ordering, the only thing I had input in was the Yang Chow rice.

We had black chicken soup for starters and the chicken was really black - I learned that the skin of the local variety of chicken turns black when cooked. The soup's supposed to have medicinal properties much better than ordinary chicken soup (haven't heard of chicken soup's effect? why else would the spiritual books be called chicken soup for the soul?).

Then we had oyster omelette. I found it funny that the last time I ate out, I was also eating oysters. I don't know what you call the other dish, but it was basically "litid". It tasted good.

Sam being Sam, she ate slow because she likes to talk a lot while eating, I had to switch to chopsticks so that I won't finish ahead of her... I mean, you get more in your mouth using a spoon versus using chopsticks, right?

As we left the restaurant, we passed by some fruit vendors. We saw something that looked like a cross between an apple and a peach but is smaller than both. I asked the guy what fruit it was, I think he said macam. Funny thing is, when I asked what it tasted like, he told me he didn't know. I chided him for that and asked him how could he persuade others to buy that fruit?

Afterwards we went to Polland. I bought one Ma Chang and out of curiousity bought one pack Ube/langka hopia. Next stop was Bee Tin grocery. I bought some dried fruits (mandarin peels and champoy), and chorizo Macau, dried Tapa strips (sweet and chewy), and Haw flakes. I was curious at the liver chorizo but the salesperson (she must be hired help, I think if I asked the Chinese owners, I would have gotten an answer) didn't know what dish I could put that one in so I didn't buy. At Salazar street, we went into Salazar bakery and I bought some Mongo and Baboy hopia, plus the Lotus one which has salted egg inside. I had us detour to Eng Bee Tin Deli (there are many outlets of Bee Tin in China Town) to buy Ma Chang and different flavors of hopia which is supposed to be the best kind compared to Holland, Polland and Salazar.

It was around 2pm when we finished and we felt the hot sun.