Visiting Zambales Amidst the Rains (062013) - Day 3

The next morning, we woke up pretty early again, around 8. Since this is our last day, we decided to just stay in the resort. We had Filipino breakfast and planned to swim in the pool but it was full (no pun intended hehe) of other guests, mostly kids and a few parents so we ended up just checking the beach. 

Seeing the beach, now we know why the pool was occupied. Since there were rains the past days, the shore was dirty, especially the part in front of our resort. To my horror, adding to the dirt was a canal with its water flowing to the beach! I was wondering why the sand near our resort was excavated, only to realize that the water in it was actually from a canal nearby. Wow. 

Only a few people, some guests of other resorts probably without pools, swim in the beach. Good thing, we were not that much into swimming that day, so we just walked and enjoyed the heat of the morning sun. :)

We left for the terminal around lunch, slept most of the bus time and woke up with rain pouring in Manila. Though we didn't get to go to Tree Top Adventure and Ocean Adventure, we were happy about the trip, mainly because it was our first alone-vacay :) 

Visiting Zambales Amidst the Rains (062013) - Day 2

The next morning, we woke up at around 8 and had breakfast courtesy of our resort. The breakfast was Filipino and filling. We left the resort at around 11 and had lunch at KFC SM Olongapo and bought some snacks for Zoobic Safari. We went to Harbor Point in search of a cab that will take us to the zoo. There are no public transportation going to the tourist spots (Tree Top, Zoobic Safari and Ocean Adventure) so we didn't have a choice. We found an FX in the taxi bay and the driver agreed to take us to Zoobic for the price of P1200. Yes, cabs there are pricey. Good thing the driver that we got was kind enough he even acted as a tour guide, saying something about the places we we're passing going to the zoo. 

The first animal that greeted us when we arrived there was an adult Pot Bellied pig roaming around freely. Entering the park, we we're welcomed by the roars of a baby tiger obviously not wanting to take photos with the tourists hehe. 

Tourists are grouped and we were around 15 in ours. The first part of the tour consisted of the aviary, the reptiles and other mammals.

A train took us to the next section of the trip. There was a some sort of museum which housed a number of stuffed and preserved animals. It had a strong smell of chemicals so some members of our group just stayed in the train. 

What I was excited about was meeting the tigers. It was just a little disappointing because when we were there we only met 2. I thought there would be more of them freely roaming around. *sigh* The jeep ride in tiger territory was only a few minutes. We met more of the tigers in their breeding cages. 

The last part was the dance of the Aeta's and a visit to the crocs. :) The zoo trip took us around almost 3 hours. Good thing it only started raining when we we're already back in the cab. At 7 pm we were already back in the resort. We decided to just eat dinner at the resort and ordered their seafood kare-kare, rice, onion rings and juice. Though it was a little expensive, it was worth it as the kare-kare was really delicious. We ended the day with a massage for one, which I happily took :) 

Next day: Checking out the beach

Visiting Zambales Amidst the Rains (062013) - Day 1

June is the birth month of Hubby and the next month, our anniversary so being the wanna-be-traveler that I am, I planned for a simple get away. Ever since we got married (almost 2 years now) we have not yet traveled alone, always with companions. Last Malaysia - Singapore trip was with college friends and the Bohol - Cebu one was with my folks. Since Hubby is not a fan of getting too many of his VLs, I planned the short vacation to fall on a Friday - Sunday schedule. 

I have a coupon from Belle de Jour that gave me a 30% off on a resort in Zambales and since I also want to visit the Tiger Safari and Ocean Adventure, I emailed Subic Grand Seas Resort inquiring about their rates and my usage of the coupon. They also offer packages that will allow you to visit Tree Top Adventure, Zoobic Safari and Ocean Adventure without the trouble of reserving the tickets yourself as they will take care of that for you but unfortunately, the packages can only be used if I don't use my Belle de Jour coupon. I calculated the rates and because the 30% savings on the coupon is much greater than what we can save using their packages, I opted to reserve the tickets for Zoobic Safari on my own. 

A typhoon has just passed and even though we boarded the Victory bus to Zambales at around 12 in the afternoon sunny, we arrived at a pouring Subic at around 5 pm. We took a jeepney to the resort which was an P8.00 fare away from the bus station. 

The resort was within the populated part of the area and it was near convenient stores, restaurants and beer houses hehe. I was actually expecting it to be in the "quiet" section as was the resort we had in Bohol but I was wrong. Subic Grand Seas reception area and interiors made up for the trouble it caused me to book for a room. I had to email them a few times and even call 3 times a week before our trip because they're not prompt in answering inquiries. Maybe they're just not into emails because the staff was actually polite and friendly. 

Since it was raining when we arrived, we went directly to our room and Hubby just had the chance to take pictures outside when the rained stopped. 

When we had the chance to go outside, we scouted for a diner to eat, and since Hubby googled a diner recommended by others, we went to The Coffeeshop which was a 10 minute walk from where we were staying. It looked like a school cafeteria inside but it was almost full when we entered. They are famous for their humongous serving of Tacos, so we ordered one, (if I remember right) a burrito, and because I was famished, an order of sisig and 2 plain rice. We were not able to take pictures because we forgot to bring the camera with us. The picture below is from travelbook's website. 

The taco was really huge and good but sad for me I didn't have more of it because I started with the sisig and half the burrito. The taco cost us only P90, the burrito P90ish as well so if you're going there, order the two. The sisig tasted like minced porkchop, and was overpriced at P180. It left me disappointed as I was expecting it to be at least as good as the sisig in Supreme's (a local restaurant near the in-laws' house in Sto. Tomas, Pampanga) considering its price versus Supreme's P80 per order. 

After dinner and because it started drizzling again, we went back to our room and had a massage for two at around 9pm. Room accommodations in Subic Grand Seas come with a free massage for one but since I used my coupon, we had a couple massage. :) 

Next day: Zoobic Safari

For The Birthday Boy

Today, I filed a leave at the office so that I can be a cook for the day :) It's Hubby's birthday and I wasn't able to buy him a gift (last year's was a wallet) so I decided to clean the house and cook something for two. I wasn't really a morning person (and I suffer from Insomia) but today was an exception. Woke up just in time to make a quick breakfast for him. When he went off for work, I started fixing things in the house and went to Market! Market! a little past 2 in the afternoon to do some groceries. I was definitely going to make pasta, probably a soup and buy cake and a wine. That was the plan. I went straight to the grocery and checked around for things that we might need other than the ones for the dinner later. You know how one can get lost in the grocery right? <guilty face> So when I checked my watch, I was surprised to see that I've been walking for almost an hour already with only a box of milk, a few canned goods and bread in my basket. Realizing I don't know yet what soup to do, and being in the vegetable section, I opted to make just a salad instead. I got some lettuce and looked for croutons. Unfortunately, they only have one brand of croutons which was a little expensive (P120/pack) but I got it anyways. I grabbed a few mangoes and went to the wine section and bought one. Wanting to make it a little special, I went to this Japanese store and bought 2 of what I though were wine glasses. (Only to find out later that they were just water glasses, as pointed out by the Hubby. Haha! Malay ko ba?) Red Ribbon was at the far end from the supermarket but I still went there wanting to buy their Tiramisu cake which was good when I had it during my lead's birthday. However, that day, they ran out of stock so I ended up with Black Forest which was actually too sweet for my taste. 

I got home a little before 6 and started cooking the pasta right away. Of course, I took photos of the wine and the food before the birthday boy arrived. 

After all the preparations, I was dead tired but it was all worth it. For my birthday boy. :) Happy birthday, dear. :) 

Thinking about mortality

No, i'm not usually morbid, but the bombing in Serendra II made me think about "going home" again. We have no TV, so I probably wouldn't have learned about it had papa not texted me if I knew about the explosion. I work in Mckinley so he must have thought we've been informed about it since we were just 10 minutes away from where it happened 

According to the news, at around 8pm, unit 501 of Serendra II exploded causing a concrete wall to be thrown off and crushed an Abenson delivery van passing by, leaving the driver and its 2 passengers dead. It collided with another vehicle but the driver was unharmed. Others were injured - passersby and a tenant in the same building. 

This unfortunate event got me thinking, maybe for the driver and his passengers, it was just an ordinary day at work. Little did they know it was going to be their last day here. I was wondering, if this was supposed to happen and nothing can be changed about it, had they lived their last day differently? 

It sounds morbid yes, but I remember Father Orbos would usually say to treasure everyone you're with today because you'll never know, maybe next year, next month or tomorrow, you won't be with them anymore. He would tell the mass goers to think about the people they were with last year who are now gone. 

Most of the days, I wake up feeling bored thinking it's going to be another tiring day at work, not focusing on the fact that I was given another chance to see my loved ones and to be with them. I often get drowned with how busy I am, I often forget why I work and for who I work, and because I know that I can get away with not praying and just whispering "Lord, thank you for today. Sorry no quiet time, I'm so tired", thinking that I still have tomorrow to make up for it, I would often sleep prayerless.

What if one of my busy normal days, I die? Have I been doing the things that are really worth doing? Have I loved enough? Have I  served the Lord enough? Or did I just drown in the many things I thought were important? I hope not. I hope that everyday I be reminded that these are all temporary, and will fade away. 

So today, I promise to put my permanent blessings first over temporary ones - relationships over achievements, because it is true that when you pass you cannot take anything with you except your faith and the love you had. 

<Image from this link>

""Show me, LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is." - Psalm  39:4 NIV