We headed north on the North Luzon Expressway after filling up the gas (Cost: PhP1100). The drive was fairly uneventful.
We had dinner at a ChowKing in Balanga, Bataan (Cost: about PhP500 for four people). The city was crowded with jeepneys, tricycles, and pedestrians.
Another hour later, we arrived at National Power Corporation Training Center in Bagac, Bataan. Marie had arranged to get me a discount at the hotel. The Training Center used to be the housing complex for NPC and Westinghouse employees who worked at the nuclear power plant. My dad was one of them. My sisters and I lived with him there from 1979 to 1982.
The hotel is old and sparsely furnished. The suite assigned to us had a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, and two bedrooms each with its own walk-in closet and its own bathroom. Each bedroom and the common area had an air-conditioner. The kitchen had a stove but no pots and pans. The dining table had placemats, four glasses and a pitcher and no utensils. The small refrigerator sits just inside the front door. But the one good thing about the hotel is that every other socket is a 110V socket and the rest are the standard 220V.
After checking in, Marie and I walked around the complex and found the old apartment where we used to live. The building is still there, but it's abandoned and run-down. There's a big tree right in front of it now. The carports across the way are still there.
Only 15-20% of the units are still occupied. The single-family homes are also mostly empty. Only a few houses have occupants. The smaller gate to the apartment complex has been sealed, and one of the apartment buildings is in ruins because of a fire. (I later found out that the recreation building is now empty, but the swimming pool has been maintained and is open to guests to the complex.)
I would have to come back when it's daylight to take pictures of it to show my dad.
The apartment we used to live in (third unit from the left, with the tree in front). more pics
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