From Bataan to Zambales

We agreed to meet at 9am at the hotel, but Zaldy, Annie, and her uncle all arrived around 8am. I was still getting dressed and packing.

My hotel bill was cheaper than I figured: PhP1500 for each night in the VIP room and PhP600 for each night in the regular room, for a total of PhP4200.

We got gas and filled up the tank of the minivan for PhP1100. (We used up less than half.) Then we were off.

We headed towards Morong, the minibus took yesterday. Still bumpy. Then Annie's uncle remembers taking a turn by the high school in Morong. (It was at least ten years ago the last time he took this route.) It was the same road the tricycle took yesterday. Then, we ended up at the gate of the Bataan TechnoPark again.

We thought we took the wrong turn, so Zaldy got off to ask for directions. It turned out that it was the right way. There was another way around, but Annie's uncle knew that the other way was steep and unpaved.

The guards came and peeked into the van and it was the same guard we met yesterday. I waved and said we were heading towards Subic. He smiled. He called it in again to ask for permission, but the guy in the other end is stricter and declined. The guard Benitez asked again for our sake. He said it's "ma'am kahapon" (kahapon means yesterday). The other guy complained that, if I knew I would bring my own vehicle today, why didn't I ask for a sticker yesterday. (Of course, it's not my own vehicle and I had no idea we were coming this way.) Benitez kept asking. After about a half hour of that, the guy on the other end grudgingly agreed to let us pass through just this once.

We got to the fork and turned left towards Subic. It was U.N. Avenue. Then, in just a short while, we were out the other gate. We got a great view of the ocean as we crested the mountain and headed down.

We passed through a botanical reservation which was also gated but was not strict at all. The road was lined with bamboo on both sides. Annie's uncle remembered that monkeys used to sit on the side of the road, but we didn't see any this time.

At the start of Subic proper, Annie's uncle zoomed past a stop sign, in spite of Zaldy's warning. A uniformed man at a checkpoint nearby waved us down and cited him about his violation. He said that they're strict about traffic laws in that area. But since Annie's uncle hadn't been this way for a very long time, the policeman let us go with a warning. However, before we left, he asked where we were headed and asked if we would take a hitchhiker. His fellow guard rode with us in the back seat. He seemed friendly enough. Zaldy asked him some questions about the area and about a trucking facility that he knows about (Zaldy works in the trucking industry). we passed an auction lot for vehicles and farm equipment and we asked him about it. He said that the vehicles are auctioned in sets of four, not individually. The next auction would be in October. We dropped him off at the third stoplight, where we turned left.

We got lost several times. There were forks with no signs. When there was a sign, it usually only indicated the nearer town, so you had to know which towns were on the way. Zaldy got off to ask for directions a few times. when we finally got to Subic, Zaldy said, "Alam ko na." (I already know.) He meant that the surroundings are already familiar to him. He said, "Kahit nakapikit ako." (Even with my eyes closed.) But he half-jokingly added, "... mawawala pa rin tayo." (... we'll still get lost.) And he was right. He had to get off one more time at an intersection to ask which road went to the town of Iba.

Beyond Subic proper, there was a large cemetery on the mountain side by the side of the road. The sarcophagi and monuments are built nearly on top of each other in a complex mass of blocks.

From then, we passed the smaller towns of Zambales. Zaldy pointed out the historic home of former President Ramon Magsaysay who was born in Zambales.

We arrived at Vicar Beach Resort around noon. I recognized the scent in the air as soon as we got out of the minivan. It was the scent of the summers of my youth. The beach in the back was wide with its coarse gray sand. The waves, I'm told, were relatively bigger than usual because of the coming tropical storm. The beach is littered with seaweed and the foam of the waves are brown in places because of silt picked up by the waves. The wind was strong but warm, moist, and salty.


Flowers around the beach resort. more pics

We met my mother's cousin Auntie Arsing who owned the resort and her husband Uncle Oscar. We had lunch, then Annie and her uncle headed home. They would take the longer route taking the highway.

Zaldy and I took a tricycle to the land where my mom grew up. The old house is gone. My mom's brother had built a concrete cabin which has fallen after his death. There were several nipa huts in the area, and we stopped a uniformed student to ask who lived there. She said that the occupant had moved to the back and that it was empty. Zaldy explained that I owned the land and was looking it over. She asked what my last name was. She didn't recognize it, but she recognized my mom's last name. She said that I must be related to her dad Rudolfo. They lived just behind the lot.

Then we took another trike to say hi to my mom's other cousin Monica who lived with us while my sisters and I were kids. We call her Auntie Baby. (Well, she's the baby in her family.) We found her in the elementary school where she teaches. We chatted with her a while and she promised to pass by with Rudolfo.

We went back to the beach resort, and Zaldy and I chatted for a while. At 3pm, he headed back to Manila.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the waves and enjoying the wind. I ventured towards the water and got my feet wet.

As I headed back, a slight-statured man walked by with his wares of native jewelry. He looked at me and gestured if I wanted to take a look. I walked towards him and I looked at his wares. I asked for prices and I asked for a volume discount if I bought a lot. He kept taking out more merchandise. He was offering a necklace and bracelet set of cultured pearls for PhP500 and another set made of black pearls for the same price. I declined those. He also showed me necklace-and-bracelet sets made of coral. He was asking PhP150 for each set. Then Auntie Baby arrived with her husband and Rudy. As they approached, I called out that I was shopping. When they found out how much the man was charging me, they started haggling with him. He conceded, since they know him.

In the end, I spent PhP800 for:
- four sets of the coral necklace-and-bracelet sets (for PhP100 each)
- three other necklaces made of shells and wooden beads
- four bracelet coils made of coral beads
- three adult's bracelets and four children's bracelets made of wooden beads and seeds

Not bad for $16!