Subic on a Weekend

If you live in Metro Manila, a weekend in Subic is a real get-away. Away from undisciplined drivers and passengers, inefficient traffic officers, dirty wet markets, scattered thrash. And when you are met by gracious staff as we were at Subic International Hotel, you can look forward to a truly enjoyable break.

That was what we had when the family decided to take an out-of-town trip to this seemingly untouched paradise. On arrival we had a sumptuous Chinese lunch at the Golden Dragon, a few paces away from the hotel, and then off the younger group went to their nature tripping as we started to explore the many duty free stores around.

The Royal Subic was our first stop and it looked familiar, since it belongs to the Rustan’s chain. Incidentally, an added bonus is the exchange rate–P45.50 to US$1 in most of the stores, the highest being P50 to a dollar. Anyway, while the garments and other dry goods were tempting at Royal Subic, we concentrated on the food and other household items. They have a deli section where buy-one-take-one packs are available, among which are ham and belly bacon, P65 per 250 gms and P121.70, respectively. The meat section has an ample supply of sirloin and tenderloin, $5 and $9 a kilo, while ground beef is sold at $2.55. Among the olive oil brands, we found Pietro Coricelli at $1.29 a bottle of 9 ounces, extra virgin at $2.65 and for the more discriminating there is Il Classico.

At the store called 88, we could not resist getting some bath towels (made in China) at $1.95 with matching hand towels at $0.80. Here Valley Fresh fruit cocktail is a good buy, just as the brands Orchid and Happy Days are. The DFS on another corner have courteous and helpful staff. They offer a lot of bottled sauces (Wok Hup brand) from Singapore, which you can simply add to rice and voila! you have a variety of flavors that will surely please your family. We got the Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice paste and the Noodle Paste. For those who love tacos, the Taco kits include 12 sheets, seasoning and sauce.

Looking for the Deli Shop which we visited sometime ago which we could no longer locate, we discovered Meat Plus Café and Deli. They carry an extensive supply certified by the US Export Beef Foundation and indeed they have quality meat. You choose what you want from the chiller (from sirloin to many other cuts, from $13 a kilo) and they will cook it for you. We settled for the Meat Plus hamburger meal (P133) which was a duo of patties with cheese, served with a tiny vegetable salad. The place is always packed.

On the way back, we stopped by this place called The Perfect Loaf, along the highway, on Gapan Road in San Fernando. We were told about its rhum cake which looked moist enough, but since we were staying away from sinful temptations, we settled for multi-bran loaf at P35 a pack of about ten slices. They sell croissants at P18 each, beef and chicken turn-overs at P25 per and flavored coffee at P40 a cup.

After binge-ing in Subic, we need to go healthy again. So we welcome this reminder from our friends at Fly Ace Corporation. It is the traditional Mediterranean Dietary Pyramid, which is the reason why Italians have one of the longest and disease-free life expectancies in the world. Try and adopt this habit –meat only once a month; sweets, eggs, poultry and fish weekly; cheese and yogurt, olive oil (you cook mostly using this), fruits, beans, legumes and nuts, vegetables, pasta, rice, couscous, polenta and other whole grains and potatoes, alternately everyday. Take wine in moderation. Of course, a well-balanced diet will not do everything. One needs at least one daily physical activity, the best being walking and swimming.

Recently Fly Ace ‘officiated’ at the ‘marriage’ of food and fashion at the sprawling Antonio ancestral home in Pasay. Claiming there is romance in both the culinary and fashion worlds, the blend of pasta, meat and vegetables with a summer collection of gowns was refreshing. We were able to convince a co-food writer to mix the trio of salad dressings (using Pietro Coricelli extra virgin olive oil) and generously pour it on his mound of lettuce. He loved it!

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Lydia D. Castillo’s e-mail address: [email protected]