We had to go to LJ’s hometown, and since it’s also his birthday month, we just made a trip out of it. I wasn’t too confident to drive as I still lack sleep, so LJ decided to take the bus, he’s from there anyway, so how hard can it be, right? Goal was to get to the Grand Hoyah inside Subic Freeport to stay for the evening, and leave for Matain the following day to be able to get to the St Anthony de Padua Parish.
I wouldn’t say it was hard, but it was a long and restless trip, we were able to catch the Victory Liner Bus bound for Olongapo/Iba and it left the Cubao terminal close to 3:30pm. We arrived in Olongapo past 6:30pm, but if you’ll be taking a car, you will definitely get there faster if you eliminate the stop-over and take the SCTEX. The Victory bus took the NLEX Angeles Exit and stayed on the national road for the rest of the drive. We also had a 15-minute stop over in Lubao, Pampanga’s Double Happiness. Victory’s bus also provided free wi-fi, which helped fight the boredom.
It was already dark and raining when we got to Olongapo. To be able to get to Subic Freeport, you can take the taxi, but we opted to ride a jeep. The jeeps in Olongapo are colored according to their routes; we rode the yellow jeep which will take us closer to the Freeport’s Gate 2, this route can also get you to SM Olongapo – a smaller development compared to the other provincial SM malls, but it does have the basic supermarket, department store, cinema, some choice restaurants and staple fast food chains.
By entering through Gate 2, you will pass by the Harbor Point mall, this is a new Ayala Mall in Subic. We didn’t see a lot of people when we went there that evening as compared to SM, probably because it was a weeknight and it was also raining.
We were supposed to stay at Grand Hoyah, I even called before we left Manila to make sure they still have available rooms. Unfortunately, because of the rain, we had to stall and run for cover. While walking to the Grand Hoyah, we saw that the hotel right next to it, Mango Valley, which showed a promo rate of Php 1,600. Their regular rate was Php 2,800 but we can get the promo rate which will mean sans breakfast. I can survive with no hotel breakfast if it means saving Php1,200, thank you very much. *grin*
To read my hotel review you can go to this blog page or Trip Advisor.
It was inconvenient to go around the Subic Freeport without a car, except for the taxis, there are no jeeps, trycs or shuttles. For dinner that evening, we walked to Harbor Point to have a birthday dinner for LJ.
The following morning, we walked 20 minutes to get to Meat Plus, passed by a chapel, and also dropped by the PX store. It took us another 20 minutes of walking under the sun to get out of the Freeport. If ever you will be crazy enough to do the same thing we did, don’t forget your umbrella, sun block and wet wipes!
To get to Matain, we rode the yellow jeep back to the Olongapo town proper, transferred to a blue jeep. You can ride the blue jeep if you are bound for Barretto, where most beach resorts are, like Wild Orchid, By the Sea, and Suzuki. You can also ride this jeep to get to White Rock. We got off in front of Matain Elementary School and walked to the church. The parish office is across the street, facing the front of the church.
Going back to Manila is basically the same route in reverse. Took the blue jeep back to Olongapo, and rode the Victory Liner bus to Cubao. We didn’t really need to go back to Olongapo since we can just wait for the Victory’s bus from Iba, but those trips doesn’t take the SCTEX. The SCTEX route about 30 pesos more expensive, but this also mean fewer stops and faster travel time.
Will we take the bus again to Olongapo? If we don’t intend to go around Subic Freeport, then it’s a yes. Except for the inconvenience of going around the Freeport area on foot, the rest of the trip was quite easy. The jeep routes are simple enough to understand, they are basically IKOT jeeps, so if you get lost, just ride the same jeep and go back to your starting point.
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