Philippine Travel Notes

What a grand place! This is not inside the freeport but is at the very end of the long coastal town of Subic. If you know White Rock Resort, well Club Morocco is way farther up the road. This place is some 30-minutes drive from the naval base. While on the main road (the national highway), you take a left turn at some clearly marked intersection to a road that leads to the resort. You will notice though that ads or signs about (or leading to the) club is very sparse along Subic. Thus, don't hesitate to ask around. And don't worry, like anywhere else in the country, people here speak English. In fact, there are a lot of foreigners who live in the town of Subic (probably the ex-servicemen who found their wives and settled here)! There are two approaches to the resort and it is better if you pass through the hills. Just watch out for the signs leading there. The upland route is concrete and will give you a good panorama of the bay and the islands beyond, while the lowland route is...

My second time in this place, I was totally disillusioned and I was so ashamed that I had to literally drag a friend to this joint! How did it all happen? Here is the funny story. It was about 10PM, on a Saturday. My friend and I were deciding on which place in Subic we should visit for dinner. I was quick to suggest and very enthusiastically exclaimed Pier One should be it! So we went there! My friend did not at all tell me, but I can make from his face that he was kind of uncomfortable – even irritated being there on a Saturday night. Background why I decided to choose and brag about Pier One - Subic : I first visited the place last May 2004. I arrived there 9PM or so with several friends. I was instantly wowed! It was a far cry from Gerry’s Grill on the other side of the strip where I, my family and friends are very used to. Right in front of where we parked was the entrance or what you might call an empty façade devoid of the grand trimmings – except that there was some kind of a p...

This is different from the Legenda Suites, ok? For those not really in the know, the " suites " are those buildings on a hill just above the airport near the monkeys and the bats, while the " hotel and casino " is this building beside SBMA Offices along that thriving entertainment strip by the water's edge - almost exactly on the other side of the bay from where the air-strip is! I would usually stay at the Legenda Hotel (particularly the Garden Units near the church) when I'm in Subic. This time however, I chose to check-in somewhere else, not for anything else, but because it was offered to me free! But I still went in to check-out the place even if was staying somewhere else! At 7:30PM Saturday, I was surprised to find that the hotel was not bustling with a lot of humans! I went into the casino just to check out the "people". Spent P200 worth of 2-peso-tokens and another P200 worth of 5-peso-tokens. All these were devoured by the slot machines i...

Just an update on Subic's Legenda Suites! Went to 'deliver' a friend booked at Legenda Suites. The place look worn and lonely on the outside, but inside (at least in my friends' suite) the same old spic and span tidiness is maintained! The upholstery of the couch is old from wherever you look at it. On closer inspection it even had a little hole (probably a cigarette burn) making way to a view of the foam! But yes, it is clean... no stains... and does not smell of anything offensive. The bedroom is fine as usual, the sheets white clean with a fresh scent! Outside, the building's paint need a re-touch, the plants are not well maintained, grass sporadically thriving in many of the flower islands, fallen leaves strewn everywhere... but I liked it! It did not have pretentions of a fine 5-star. Its like a visit to your old provincial abode! And yes, I ate macopa, which I personally handpicked from a tree at the parking lot just in front of the check-in area! This place i...

AMAZING must be the one word that most everyone (esp first-timers) can muster to describe the place. Compared to any other place in the country, I must say, this place is truly, yes, amazing! Some friends could only say: " ang saya-saya! " I have visited this place in the late ‘80s but we stayed at a fine resort far from White Beach. We only visited White Beach during a quick day-tour. Thus, I may fairly say, I am new to this vacation spot. Here are my notes on the recent sojourn: We arrived on a Friday declared by the government as “holiday”. So we were in for a 3D2N visit. The boat’s arrival at White Beach felt like arriving at Boracay – boat hits smack to the sand, crew lays down a wooden plank, passengers disembark through the plank on to the beach and walk up to dry land where the resorts, restaurants, bars and stores are lined toe-on-toe. However, unlike in Boracay, as we disembarked, there were not so many people in the clear and really tempting blue-green waters....

This place is an inevitable headache that one must endure on the way to Calapan, Puerto Galera or the western Mindoro destinations. Expect these: Upon getting off the bus or whatever kind of land transportation you come in, you’ll be accosted by a crowd of hawkers who will pester you with their wares – generally foodstuffs that they themselves advertise as “pasalubong”. How the hell can you be looking for pasalubong when you are just on your way to your vacation? Bad trip! And mind you, they do not just yell at you for their various kakanin but they will thrust those, right to about a few centimeters of your nose or eyes. And they will follow you wherever you go – even into the comfort rooms – literally! One would think it a relief that the Batangas government or whoever is in charge in that place have fenced off their newly built building that will soon serve as a “grand” port. So, those noisy vendors will drop from your ears when you enter the fenced off area going towards the check-...

Readers should all be aware of this when going to Puerto Galera or any of the destinations en route to Batangas City! There is an anomaly that the bus company (or probably just their employees and without the management’s knowledge) has been perpetrating. Last February 25, 2005, being a holiday, I, together with three of my friends decided to go to Puerto Galera for a much needed weekend break. We decided to take a JAM/Tritran bus by reason of its station being conveniently located at EDSA near Kamuning which happens to be nearest our residences. This decision to take Tritran ruined our weekend! We were at the bus station as early as 5:30AM so we can take the 6AM trip. We happily rode on bus number 727, a yellow JAM liner. The aircon was great – even too cold and the bus was clean. It got readily full to capacity so we left by just about 5 minutes past 6AM. Upon departure, the “conduktor” distributed tickets without asking for our money yet. After he has given tickets to everyone, he c...

Yes darling, the travel industry has a queer way of writing our names and let us attempt to dissect why this is so! You will discover they have good reason to do so and the whole thing is really at times funny! Unlike in a movie house or a bus, an airline passenger ticket (or computerized reservation for ticketless airliners) must bear the name of a passenger. Why so, that is another topic we should discuss in another article! Anyway, the ticket declares whom it belongs to. The name printed in the ticket should and must be the only person using this ticket for travel. It is (so far still) non-transferrable. Any other person cannot use it (unless that other person bears exactly the same name - which actually happens!). Note that henceforth, that name on your ticket will be your name as far as the airline is concerned, whether you are at the airport or inside the aircraft. By international convention, airlines and travel agencies around the world follow a strict rule when writing names o...