Welcome to Rali’s Grill and Bar, home of the best REAL burger in town. So says the sign in this roadside restaurant. I’m having my second breakfast here in Subic.  The first breakfast occured 2 hours earlier along the NLEX.  Don’t get me started.  I wasn’t exactly here to take them (Rali’s) to task on whether they have, in fact, the best REAL burger in Subic, nor was I even here to taste their food.  I was here because, well, for lack of a better reason, I was bored.  I’ve been working from home the past two days and apart from the unmade bed in my room or the unbelievably messy computer monitor staring at me 24/7 I haven’t really seen much of the real world lately.  Working from home, while entirely idyllic to a whole lot of cubicle dwelling corporate types, can be quite lonely.  You don’t see a lot of cleavage nor do you get to do a lot of real time chitchat with officemates.  I do the occasional skype and some google talk, but apart from that, there’s practically no physical contact that places me in the direct vicinity of somebody else’s bodily projectiles.  Whatever that means to you. So to shatter the images of monotony playing in my mind, I made a spur of the moment decision to do a quick roadtrip.  A destination that’s not that far, just a few hours drive from Manila.  Subic was the obvious choice.  I was actually watching Jack Bauer suffering from the effects of a weaponized chemical something something in 24 season 7 at 1 in the morning when I got my so called epiphany.  I took a quick shower, grabbed my spanking brand new laptop (not mine actually), charged Bruno (my trusty Canon DSLR), and prepped Bamboo 2, that deliciously awesome iron horse carriage that’s less than a year old.

NLEX/SCTEX At Dawn

Driving down the North Luzon Expressway was a breeze at 4 in the morning.  There’s barely enough traffic and nothing was impeding my assault on that long superhighway stretch.  What made driving more exciting was the fact that I don’t have any money in my wallet.  I have a few bucks left but I was pretty sure it wouldn’t cover the cost of gas and the NLEX toll fee.  I had exactly P800 bucks, but with the fuel level indicator already blinking, I knew I had to gas up and find an ATM machine real soon.  I stopped by the first gasoline station I passed and asked the gas attendant to fill’r up with P500 worth of the least expensive unleaded fuel.  I now had P300 left and getting desperate to get to an ATM machine as I still have to pay for the NLEX & the SCTEX toll fees. I arrived at the NLEX toll booth without passing by any ATM machine.  I kept thinking what excuse I would give to the authorities if the toll fee exceeds 300 bucks.  Thankfully the NLEX end to end toll fee was only P138, leaving me with P162.  I was driving real slow hoping against hope that an ATM machine would miracurously pop out of nowhere, you know, like an oasis in the middle of the desert.  But those things only happen in cracpot movies and of course after a 45 minute drive the SCTEX toll booth was looming large in the horizon.  But it seems the heavens was smiling on this home-office-locked/bored road-tripper as I was only charged 128 for the SCTEX toll, which meant that after all the expenses associated with getting to Subic without the aid of an ATM machine, I came out on top, with still P34 to spare. I’m not really sure if the numbers are correct so don’t bet your life on it.

At Rali’s Grill and Bar

Rali’s didn’t happen by accident.  Sometime in the past, the significant other and I had dinner here.  We’ve just returned from a road trip and we were craving for meat.  We happened to pass by Rali’s and thought the ambience was romantic so we pulled over.  I haven’t returned since.  So when the urge to drive to Subic struck me, I knew Rali’s was going to be my destination. Rali’s as I’ve mentioned is a small bar by the sea.  It’s beside the fishing point of recreational fishermen who just go through the motions of casting their lines and hope something bites.  I’m not sure if they really catch anything here aside from sunburn but I’m not really sure.  I could have brought my fishing gear I suppose but seeing that my fishing buddy has decided to abandon me by going home to Cebu, I wasn’t really that motivated to fish. This little resto however is a perfect place for breakfast, even if you have to come from Metro Manila just to enjoy the atmosphere.  The food is not really that spectacular but the ambience is.  You get fresh air, and you get to stare at the granite sea which I swear cleanses the mind.  Call it detoxification of your polluted brain or whatever.  Just come.  There’s not much people around so if you want to have some privacy with somebody you want to keep private (if you get my drift), this is the place to be. Rali’s is along Argonaut highway inside Subic Bay Freeport.  If you’re driving from Manila, just make a left when you reach the Petron junction. You’ll reach it in two minutes.  Just watch out for those colorful banners to your right.

I didn’t expect my return to Anawangin, Zambales to be in such a terrible state. My head was like a pimple that’s about to burst, I was awake for more than 30 hours, and I was drunk like a proper alcoholic; having been drinking for 6 hours straight. Ok, perhaps there was more talk than beer, but still, I was pretty wasted.

It all started with a send-away drink for a colleague who was set to fly to distant lands on a Sunday. As Filipinos, it was a matter of national pride for us to make sure that our guest, even to the very last minute, enjoyed her stay in our islands. But since my colleague had been working her ass off for our company the whole time she was here, she really didn’t have time to see the sights. She only allocated a day (Saturday) for her shopping ritual.

So after work last Friday, we were pumped to give her a good time, drinking, a little crash course on Filipino humor and of course, Filipino hospitality. We were determined to make her drink until the sun comes up. As nightshift folks, our drinking started at around 1:00AM and by the time it was around 7AM, after a whole lot of talk and more beer, some drunken guy asked our visitor point blank if she’d rather spend her last Saturday in the Philippines shopping or sprawled in a tropical beach. She said beach. A show of hands ensued and it was agreed that four drunken colleagues will be heading out to Zambales to take her to Anawangin. Unfortunately, one of those who raised their hands was me. I didn’t really wanna go but seeing that most folks were raising their hands, I decided what the hell, might as well go crazy for once.

We didn’t pack for anything. We just followed the road and took turns driving. We reached Subic around 12 noon and bought our swimming outfit there. We then proceeded to drive to Pundaquit where the usual bancas are rented to go to Anawangin. We parked our car in Canoe Beach Resort and arrived at Anawangin Cove around 2PM.

Without even putting on a beach towel (I had none), I crashed on the sand and started snoring right away. My colleagues were happily swimming while I passed out under the shade. I woke up an hour later and saw them drinking some more. A lot of looks were thrown our way not because of my unbelievably good looks but because our colleague from distant shores was in a string bikini and she looked absolutely like those models you only see in glossy swimsuit magazines. I couldn’t really care less as to how she looked (rrright), I was too concerned about my hangover and where I could score some aspirins to cure it.

It seemed to me that Anawangin is no longer the secret spot that it used to be. There’s a store selling stuff there now. The creek and the pine trees are still there, but there are more tents pitched unlike the last time I visited it. I’m not really crazy about its beach, but for a quick getaway, it’s still pretty much acceptable.

After three hours in Anawangin we went back to Canoe Beach Resort to retrieve our stuff and go back to Manila. By some inspired move, we decided to stop by the new Marquee Mall near the Clark Exit in NLEX so our colleague was still able to do a little shopping.

We arrived in Manila around 12midnight. The other guys still wanted to go to Fiamma and Embassy but I was literally bombed so I begged off. Not that I enjoy going to those places anyway.

Going to Anawangin in a drunken stupor was really irresponsible and stupid though fun and enjoyable in a painful way. But I guess it’s alright to do these kinds of things every once in a while if only to confirm that we are still in charge of our individual lives.
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From my other blog…

Almost but not quite.

I really believed I could stay away from the computer throughout my holiday but I was given too many opportunities to be in front of one. Anyway, since I’m already here (while the SO rearranges her store here in Lim Ket Kai), I might as well write a few sentences about my vacation so far. I will be writing the details at a later date.
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Anawangin Cove

I started the weekend in Anawangin. It’s an island somewhere in Zambales. So far, it placed second in my best-visited-beaches-so-far list. The first will always be the Pink Lagoon in Surigao. I’m not even sure if I can still go back to that place as my friends and I can no longer agree on the exact name or location. Perhaps it’s one of those enchantment things. I just hope that that place is not lost to me forever.

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The joy of Anawangin is its back river. It has a river just a few steps from the beach. And there are woods there too. A colleague even commented that the place sort of resembled Lake Tahoe. I wouldn’t know though. I’ve never been there. Because the place is not yet developed, it makes for a very good camping spot.

White Water Rafting In Cagayan De Oro

After Anawangin, I flew to CDO to participate in an all-expense-paid vacation involving white water rafting and a 3 day stay in Caminguin. I didn’t care much for Camiguin as I’ve been there a few times already. It was the rafting I was most interested in. I must admit to raising a skeptical eyebrow everytime I read all the praises about this different kind of adventure from folks who’ve been there. What’s so special about a river, a few rapids, some raft? I’ve been burned by clickthecity’s review on Putipot Island before that I’ve been doubly wary about other people’s reviews.

But I was pleasantly mistaken.

White Water Rafting In CDO is indeed an adventure worth taking. There– I’ve already joined the bandwagon. The clincher really was the number of HOURS I spent aboard the inflatable raft. Yes, you read that right. You will be aboard the raft for at least two hours and man, you get to really appreciate the CDO river. It is absolutely amazing. I didn’t realize that we have a river like that in the Philippines and I’ve seen my share of rivers. I can’t begin to express the exhilaration I felt surrounded by all those cliffs and the vegetation and the still waters.

If there’s one adventure that you must do this summer, do this one. I guarantee that you would have one hell of a great time.



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