It was one of those spur-of-the-moment ideas that popped out of my head. I thought of it as a "little" way to celebrate my birthday, going somewhere I haven't gone before. Because my birthday fell on a work day and we were not yet allowed to take leaves at that time, I had to schedule it during my restdays. Luckily they fell on a weekend, so I'm happy.
I originally had some "grand plans" as to how to spend my vacation. I originally wanted to spend an overnight stay and do some touring galore of the many sights there. But circumstances and a hit from reality changed those plans. It even came to a point that I considered cancelling my plans. But the adventurer and wandering spirit in me did not let me do so. I just had to make some adjustments to my plans, but other than that, it was all systems go. So I settled to spend just a day in Subic, do a quick tour, perhaps join in activities I can participate in while I'm there. Unfortunately, going to Zoobic Safari and Ocean Adventure cannot be squeezed into my itinerary, which was a bummer. But I had some other plans...
It was a Saturday morning (around 10 am) when I took a Victory Liner Bus all the way to Olongapo. Normally, it's a 2 hour ride from Manila to Olongapo. But since Victory Liner buses have a number of stopovers, including a long lunch stop somewhere in Pampanga, the trip took a little more than 3 hours. Kinda frustrating, but it's a price I had to pay for not having my own car to drive all the way to Subic. Too bad we didn't drive along the new Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway. Though I only got a glimpse of it as we were crossing through the intersection, the new expressway is nice enough for one to do some leisure driving over the weekend and just marvel at the sights along the way. It was also nice to see the surroundings at your window as the bus passes along the mountainous landscape of Bataan, reminiscent of one of those trips you take to Baguio.
Victory's terminal in Olongapo is somewhere in the downtown area, so it was a good opportunity for me to do a little roaming as to what 'Gapo has to offer. Downtown has nothing much to catch my fancy, except for the famous "Ulo Ng Apo" landmark. I suppose tourists aren't there much for what Olongapo City proper has to offer, now that those girlie bars that made it (in)famous are now virtually gone. If not the Subic Bay freeport, tourists would usually frequent the beaches north of Olongapo, most especially White Rock.
I took a yellow-coded jeepney, which is the code for jeepneys disembarking near the Subic Bay freeport gate. It's basically a short walk from the unloading area to the gate. Nearby is the transport terminal, where there are vans and coasters available to take you to your desired destination in the freeport. Some of them even offer free rides, especially to the duty-free stores in the area. I took one of them which took us to Royal Subic Duty Free Store. I was feeling hungry, and I needed something to satisfy my sweet tooth cravings also.
At first glance, the Royal Subic Duty Free Store looks like an ordinary supermarket. But the store boasts of the number of shoppers visiting there everyday, especially at that time. I've heard a lot about duty free shops, but this would be the first time I would be actually buying some items in a duty-free store. While there are locally-produced goods available, most of the products there are imported and are priced in US dollars. Nevertheless, the prices are substantially lower compared to buying them at a regular supermarket. As someone who always is on the lookout for bargains, it was something I cannot let pass by. I bought a large pack of Chips Ahoy cookies (not the pathetic ones made in China) and some Snickers chocolate bars. Good thing I never had a toothache or tonsillitis afterwards.
Nearby is the Puregold Duty Free Store which has fewer patrons. No wonder 'cause the prices there are higher than in Royal Duty Free. There's also a Home Depot-style store and an outlet store for some US clothing and shoe brands. There's no presence of an SM mall there...yet. So at least the retail establishments of Subic and nearby Olongapo are still sleeping well at night.
So what is there to do in Subic if you won't be going to Ocean Adventure and Zoobic Safari, which are arguably the most famous destinations there? In my case, I spent it roaming around the freeport area, passing by the industrial parks which are set up in the area. There's also the Subic Bay Yacht club and the Boardwalk area that you can visit as well. But the highlight of my Subic excursion is experiecing kart driving for the first time at Subic's Le Mans Go-Kart Race Track. For only P400 you can experience 10 laps of pure fun and adrenaline kart racing has to offer. For someone who doesn't have a driver's license nor the driving skills, I had a great time in front of the wheel and feel the adrenaline of being a race kart driver. Now I have the confidence and skill to be an accomplished driver. The only letdown for me was not seeing the pretty racer and owner of Le Mans Michelle Bumgarner there.
It was around 6 PM that I took the Victory Liner Bus back to Manila, along with the stuff that I bought at Royal Duty Free. Despite my short excursion, it was still a memorable experience for me to be able to finally visit Subic after all these years. With it lies my wish to visit it again and be able to fully experience the beauty and wonder Subic has to offer.
Posted at 12:04 am by
wastedspace
