Anvaya Cove - Escape to Paradise

Days 8-9, Sat-Sun Jun 21-22, 2014

Life is good when you know the right people. I received a last minute phone call on Friday evening from Uncle Mars, who's not actually my uncle by the way.  He's the high school friend of my brother-in-law's (Jr's) dad, who happens to be Filipino.  When I had told my family that I was going to be in Subic Bay for the summer, word got around to some folks out here in the Philippines.  Apparently Uncle Mars had remembered me from my sister Kathy's and Jr's wedding back in 2008.  He got in touch with Jr's dad saying that he had a vacation home in Anvaya Cove which was 30 mins from Subic and that he would try to meet up with me at some point.  Well, that time had come a lot sooner than I thought!

Since I'm new here, I really didn't have any plans for the weekend so of course I decided to come out to Anvaya Cove for the weekend! I was picked up at my hotel by the driver, and Uncle Mars was there to greet me. I vaguely recognized his face from the wedding.  My first thought was hm..he looks nothing like Jr's dad.  So I asked him if he was actually his brother, since he looked nothing like him.  At this point, I didn't know anything about him except that I was to call him Uncle Mars. Turns out Uncle Mars and Jr's dad go way back and were close friends from high school, but aren't actually related.

Uncle Mars and his wife Aunt Babs actually live in Manila, which is around a 3 hour drive or more in traffic from Subic. But they often come out to Anvaya Cove for a quiet weekend getaway from the city.  As we drove from Subic past the Morang Gate, which separates SBMA from the next town over, I felt like I was entering the Arena in hunger games.  I've stayed within the gates of SBMA for the majority of my time here so far and didn't realize how drastically different the living conditions were outside the gates.  These people's homes, if you can consider them homes, were built from scraps of whatever they could find.  That was definitely hard to see.  And then of course, we reach Anvaya Cove.  This is probably how Katniss felt upon returning to the wealthy Capitol after being in  the Arena.  At least in my case, no one was out to kill me!

So because I was out late the night before, I was super tired this morning and skipped breakfast.  So we had some small local Filipino snacks before heading to the Anvaya Cove Golf and Sports Club for a buffet lunch.  Their home is in a private gated community and you can only enter if accompanied by a home owner or a member of the club.

My living quarters for the weekend. Totally digging the floor to ceiling windows, not to mention the amazing view.

Before heading to lunch, we stopped by the home of one of Uncle Mars' friends, Lisa.  Lisa was also a high school friend of Jr's dad.  I felt like I was getting a preview of the the day in the life of high society members in the Philippines. And so far, I liked what I was seeing!

Finally, lunch was upon us. The club also has a private pool and beach, which unfortunately, I didn't get to enjoy on Saturday since it was raining on and off.  But I did manage get a quick tour around the grounds.

Don't be fooled by the empty plate. This wasn't my first...

Although not pictured, my favorite dish at the buffet was a salmon penne pasta. I went back for seconds but realized that the tray had been taken out. When I asked the waiters if more was coming out (in English), they of course responded to me in Tagalog. Cuz obviously I look like a local and they probably assumed I was the daughter of Uncle Mars and Aunt Babs.  So I had to tell them that I didn't speak a lick of Tagalog and of course, they asked where I was from.  I said California, smiled and walked away. In any case, I returned to my seat and later Aunt Babs told me that those same guys were asking her in Tagalog if I was married. Lovely.

After lunch, we returned for a siesta.  A much needed siesta.  Except I couldn't fall asleep for some reason.  Maybe I ate too much at the buffet? It happens...also I couldn't figure out how to control the AC in my room. It was either freezing and directly blowing cold air at me or ridiculously humid when I turned it off.  Yes, I know, first world problems.  After a restless attempt at a nap, we all got up and headed to Subic (back where my hotel is) to go to Harbor Point Mall for dinner.  We decided on Yellow Cab pizza, which is their favorite pizza place in Subic.  The walls of Yellow Cab were covered with photos dated back to the 90s.

 

Yup, this pizza definitely reminded me of the US, portion-wise. The crust wasn't NY style though. After dinner, we called it a night.  What a tough day I had...eat, eat, nap, and eat some more and sleep.  

The next morning I woke up a traditional Filipino breakfast.  In addition to the driver, the couple had a live-in maid and cook. So breakfast was all ready at 7:30 sharp for us, coffee and all.  We had fresh papaya, fried eggplant, garlic fried rice, amapalaya (bittermelon base), fried plantains, hard boiled eggs, and bananas.  Yum!

After breakfast, I put on my bathing suit and Aunt Babs and I headed back to the club.  I forgot to mention Uncle Mars is the President of a oil refinery company and was a very busy man.  So he stayed behind to do some work. In any case, I was happy to see that the sun was finally coming out and I could finally enjoy some beach and pool timel.  But alas, after spending only 5 minutes in the water, we were rushed out because it started raining.  Everyone was forced out of the ocean because there was fear of people being hit by lightning, but not before I managed to get a photo op on Aunt Bab's iPad. The ocean water felt like bath water, but the water was anything but calm!

Since I was already wet, I decided to head to the infinity pool. As I looked around, I noticed everyone there was speaking Tagalog or at least had Filipino accents.  There's actually a large Korean population in the Subic region of the Philippines because several Korean ships have been stationed here for years.  So a ton of the Korean kids here have Filipino accents. It's the strangest thing to see (and hear) because you will NEVER see that in the States. In any case, after a morning at the club, we came back to a nice cooked lunch...because you can never have too much food. 

This time we had rice, fried shrimp, more papaya, chicken and potatoes in some kind of tomato sauce, a beef and cabbage stew, and fried fish.

After lunch, we got ready to return to Subic. But before the day was over, I was able to teach Aunt Babs how to use Facetime so she video chat with her sons and also how to attach photos to email or text. It's the least I could do for their hospitality and generosity this weekend. I had an amazing weekend with this lovely couple. I had time to Facetime with my mom and she was asking me if they would adopt me as their daughter haha. I was like, you wish!

Here's me with Uncle Mars and Aunt Bab's in their lovely home.

Upon returning to Subic, although I was pretty tired, I manned up and continued on with a full schedule.  I hit up Starbucks, Gourmet Garage for a panini and early dinner, then headed back to Harbor Point Mall to catch 22 Jump Street.  Hello Channing Tatum! Apparently you can bring in any type of food you want into the theaters here.  So the guy in front me seriously had an entire pizza! Next time, I'm coming prepared!

So last week at trivia at Paddy's, I met a group of expats passing through Subic.  They were going to be in SBMA for one more night, so I decided to meet up with them for drinks after the movie ended.  They all work on a yacht and get to travel the world as they do so.  Not a bad gig in my opinion.  It's kind of cool meeting a diverse group in Subic consisting of Americans, Brits, Aussies, and S. Africans. And what better activity to bring people from around the world together other than drinking. Cheers to meeting new people!

What an amazing weekend in Anvaya Cove.  I couldn't have asked for a better welcoming experience into the Philippines. And of course, topped my weekend with some Channing Tatum and making new friends. Life is good.

The World Beyond the Gates - Nightlife in Olongapo

Day 7 - Fri, June 20

Today I signed up for a Starbucks card since there are perks such as a free frappuccino when you sign up and other perks when you refill your card.  And since people drink Starbucks here like the Germans drink beer, I'll be using this card quite a bit.  You'd think Starbucks was handing out free coffee based off of the amount of people who go there, especially at night.

Example of a typical day at Starbucks at the mall.

So even though things are cheaper here in the Philippines, I'm taking advantage of these small perks.  Cuz hey, once a bargain shopper, always a bargain shopper, right? I even used a coupon from the booklet they gave me to get the free frappuccino upon signing up for the card. Now it's time to register for my card for more free perks!

For lunch today, we went to Bunker Bob's, which was around a 3 minute drive from the site. The restaurant is located inside an old US Navy bunker that was used for fuel and ammunition storage back in the day, and since then, has been converted into none other than a restaurant.  Leave nothing to waste!

Since they're known for their burgers, I ordered a burger with bacon, lettuce and cheese with a side of fries and Pepsi light.  Besides tasting very American, this burger was definitely smaller than the usual sizes you'd see in the states (ignore how big it looks in the photo).

Despite having unresolved issues with my work computer back at SSL (why can't things ever run smoothly?), I had a pretty productive day at work.  One of lead ops engineers told me that they would make good use of my ACS expertise and background while I'm out here.  So the day actually ran longer than usual, but no complaints here!

Tonight was Dustin's last night in the Philippines.  The group gathered at Paddy's after dinner for a night out in Subic and Olongapo.  After an hour or so at Paddy's, we ventured off to Olongapo for the remainder of the night.  I hadn't been back to Olongapo since the day we had to deal with the shenanigans at the immigration office and the car rental agency.

We first hit up a karaoke bar where we rented out a room and started singing along to our favorite American songs.  Each song was accompanied by some random ass video filmed in some random ass places, like the airport or the beach.  There was no relation whatsoever to the song being played and the video playing in the background. Another thumbs up from me...We ordered some random snacks (wish I had photos of this) including my first lumpia since I got here, not to mention the first food I've tried beyond the gates of Subic or SBMA as they call it here.  Stepping beyond the SBMA gates is like crossing the other side of the tracks.  Be ready for anything and expect nothing.  Our chicken wings consisted of cubes of chicken marinated in some type of red sauce.  Hey, at least the lumpia was good and came with the sweet chili dipping sauce we typically eat egg rolls at home with.  As I chowed down on this food beyond the gates, I was desperately hoping I wouldn't have issues keeping it down later in the night.

After a couple of hours singing our hearts out at karaoke, we made our way to a nearby club. Clubs here are pretty empty and basically everyone has bottle service, so no need to drop $$ to get special privileges here.  By this time, I had lost all inhibitions regarding what NOT to do in Olongapo, aka, drink the water/ice.  I ordered a pina colada, and only halfway through finishing it up, did Dustin remind me of where I was.  Then it occurred to me, oh crap! But since the damage had already been done, I continued drinking my watered down cocktail anyways. 

And since the night was still young, we made our way to McDonald's for a 2 AM snack.  Believe it or not, it tastes exactly the same as it does the states! Shocking (not). It was Mcd's or Jollibee's, which I still have yet to try out here. Apparently both places will deliver your meal if you order at least 150 pesos worth of food, which comes out to a whopping $3.50! So make sure you order enough food... 

To sum up my first night of venturing off to the land beyond the gates, I was able to check off eating the local food, karaoking, drinking the local tap water, clubbing and having my first taste of Mcd's. And by some miracle, I came out unscathed.

Sophia: 1, Olongapo: 0.

Cheese Platter with No Cheese?

Day 6, Thu June 19

Starbucks is now part of my daily routine before driving into work.  And you know you're a regular when you're greeted with "Good morning miss Sophia".  And it didn't take long for them to remember my name. I think I can get used to this. :)

I drove into work alone today since Dustin took the day off since he basically handed off his duties to me already.  I was able to capture some photos on my drive in today.

This is me passing the former Subic International Airport.  It's now shut down for commercial use, but was formerly an integral transportation hub for the US Navy.  In 1991, Mount Pinatubo erupted and covered the neighboring town including the airport in ash...so I'm sure that didn't help with keeping it open either.

One of the best photos I've captured so far. Beware of "Monkey"! There are also signs along the road warning people to not feed the monkeys because apparently they started getting really lazy and stopped actively searching for their own food since people have been spoiling them. So far, I've only seen 1 monkey this week.

Today I had lunch with the team. They get free catered lunches and get to choose what they call 2 meals, which really means 2 dishes each day.  I had the garlic chicken and the bamboo shoots (vegetables finally!) and of course a bowl of rice and pineapple juice.  The meal was pretty good and felt like a home-cooked local meal. A lot of the people who work at this site aren't from the area, so they live in the quarters on-site which are very similar to the college dorms.  There's a tv, kitchen area with catered lunch and dinner, and a small gym area.  It's not so bad when it's all-inclusive!

After work I hit up the gym again, and once again, had to ask for them to make it cooler in there. The temperature was set to 22 deg C, which is equivalent to 72 deg F, which was just way too hot for a gym. I was able to negotiate it down to 21 deg C (yes a whopping 1 deg C!), which is all they could bring it down to supposedly. After 15 minutes on the elliptical, I had to find another way to get cardio in since it was way too hot to stay on one machine.  So there's a room attached to the main room that is normally used for yoga and zumba, but it wasn't being occupied at the time.  I noticed there was a punching bag there and some 10 oz gloves.  Even tho I have no idea where these gloves have been, I put them on anyways (when in Subic...) and started doing some kickboxing.  I actually got really into it and turned out to be a great workout.  Hey, why not pick up the national sport while I'm out here? With all of the free time I have around here, I'll be able to fight in the ring in no time right?

I haven't been able to catch any world cup games out here since people are only interested in two sports: boxing and basketball. All they watch are re-runs of Pacquiao fights and the NBA.

For dinner, I checked out a healthier dining option that was next door to the Starbucks.  It's called Gourmet Garage and is right up my alley.  It's mostly a deli restaurant with a good variety of pizzas, calzones, panini's, and salads to choose from.  I ended up getting a mixed green salad (first one I've had on this trip so far and felt so good!) and a cheese platter.

The decor of this place is really cute, clean and foodie friendly.

If you look closely, this is no ordinary salad.  I was mentioning how much I love white truffle oil after seeing it as an ingredient in the salad and so the waiter brought out the entire bottle for me. Score! This is my kind of salad! Cheese, red grapes, truffle oil, and greens of course. What's not to love?

So my cheese platter did not come with cheese. Why is it called a cheese platter if there is no cheese? The waiter said you get all of the sides that come with the platter, but you have to order the cheese separately...so why not have people just order cheese and offer the other items as an option on the side? Again, some things here are so backwards! I ended up getting the cheese platter and a side of manchego and pecorino cheese. The oil in the middle is actually a mix of honey and (more) white truffle oil, yum! All that was missing from this meal was a nice glass of red, which wasn't an option.  There were wine bottles being sold on the side since this place also doubles as a market, a bit like Whole Foods.  I'd totally get a bottle and have it with my meal if I could finish a bottle on my own... maybe next time.

First Experience of Torrential Downpour in Subic

Day 5 - Wed, Jun 18

Sunny skies are gone, and rain is upon us again. Today I experienced what torrential downpour is like in Subic. And as I've been told, this is just the beginning of the rainy season.

I decided to face my fears and return to the breakfast place where the waiter had asked for my number.  Luckily this time, he wasn't there.  I went for a traditional American breakfast this time.  Pancakes and bacon.  Oh and the mango was extra...extra delicious that is! Since when did people start dipping their bacon in ketchup?

 

For lunch, I went out to eat with Mike and Dustin at Gerry's Grill in Subic. Of course on our way to lunch, it started to rain.  And puddles, large large puddles of dirty water, started forming in the streets, sidewalks and of course, in the entry way to the restaurant. Bad day to wear white khakis and flats Sophia. I had to roll up my pants so high, I wouldn't even consider them flooding anymore, but more like capris.

The restaurant supposedly had AMAZING scallops and pretty decent food in general. So again, we ordered a bunch of items family-style.  We were soon disappointed though since there were no scallops available today, as well as other items we wanted to order.  Apparently this is a common theme in Subic, to have a ton of items on your menu, but only a handful actually in stock! As we were waiting for our food to come, the torrential downpour came and didn't stop.  I saw more rain in this one hour than California's seen all year! Luckily it dried up a bit as we were leaving since our food took so long to come out...

Since nothing exciting happened at work today, I'll fast forward to dinner since everyone love's hearing about food. We all met up again for dinner at a sushi place Mike had eaten at before called Sakura, which he claims is the best in town. Ok, so we walk in and it does seem pretty authentic Japanese, of course, with Filipino servers again. Mike also mentioned that this place had decent uni and the fact that he had never tried uni before and thought it was good probably meant that it was a safe bet.  So I had been looking forward to this uni all day and with the price that it was going for ($2.5/piece) I was in heaven.  So when it came to my turn to order, I was ready to have some unfiltered sake, uni, hamachi, special roll and some miso soup. The FIRST thing the lady tells me is that there's NO uni and NO hamachi. WHAT?!? No uni?!? I knew all that hype was for nothing. Again, common theme at these restaurants...I almost lost my appetite due to the huge disappointment. And then to make matters worse, I asked what kind of filtered sake did they have. Of course since I don't know my Sake labels well enough and have no internet or wifi to Google it, I couldn't make an informed decision, but neither could the waitress. What a surprise. So I took a chance and chose a random one, which of course, was not unfiltered. But I drank it anyways as usual.  My order turned out to be miso soup, sweet potato tempura, 2 pieces of salmon nigiri, and an alaskan roll (mango and salmon but not sure why it's called alaskan).  I was thinking I would choose a bunch of side dishes.  But when my first dish came out, which was the sweet potato tempura, it was massive! 12 pieces!?!? This can feed an entire family alone...and I had 3 more to go.  Once again, we ALL over ordered since it was so cheap and didn't realize the portions here are much bigger than the Japanese restaurants back home.  I blame it on the expats who were out here before. They turned everything into ginormous American portions. In any case, my meal still came out to only $25 including tip and the sake! Can't beat that! And I would say the quality was better than at Chef Samurai where I ate on day 2.

After dinner we headed to Paddy's Irish Cafe where I went the first night I was here for trivia night. Since it was Dustin's last week in Subic (and I was taking over for him), he was hosting the trivia night and was responsible for coming up with the questions. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners would each win a different bottle of some cheap alcohol that I couldn't care less about.  There we saw the same locals I had met on day 1 as well as a bunch of more expats from the US, Australia, and the UK.  There were some guys there from the Navy, some who were working on a Yacht, and then the ABS/SSL folks.  The 3 categories from easiest to hardest (though in my opinion this wasn't the case) were sports, the Philippines and sex.  And yes, sex HAD to be a category because Simona, the owner of the bar, demanded this be a category.  How fitting. Welcome to Subic! If you answered 3 questions correctly in a row, you would get a shot of some cheap tequilla.  Each category had a total of 6 questions.  I was able to answer 3/6 in each category, but of course, had to cheat off of my Filipino colleague for the questions regarding the Philippines.  Through trivia night, I was able to meet a few new people and hopefully have made friends who I'll get to hang out with again soon.

Oh, and I learned something new today at trivia. Arnel Pineda, the current lead singer of Journey, is from Olongapo.  I remember hearing that he was discovered on YouTube or something and the first thought that crossed my mind was, how the heck was he able to upload videos to YouTube on this ridiculously slow internet connection?!? I guess for that he deserves to be the singer of Journey.

Shenanigans - Typical Day in Subic

Day 4 - Tue, Jun 17

My day began early once again at 6 AM. Luckily I had passed out by 9 PM the previous night that I got plenty of sleep.  We stopped by the Starbucks for coffee once again around 8 am and ran into Mike, the director.  He was like, oh there's no rush, let's sit here and just chat. So we did just that until he was like, oh I do have a 10 AM telecon so we should probably head into work soon. Hey, the only way to keep your sanity here is to sit back, relax and be on the same mindset with the rest of the country here. Time does not exist. There is no urgency to get anything done around here...and so began my shenanigan-filled day 2 at work.

So apparently the visa here only allows you to stay for 30 days, and after that, you have to renew your passport visa for an additional 30 days etc. I found this out when I had arrived into Manila, but Dustin wasn't even aware of this until I brought it up with him on Saturday.  Thank goodness I did because his visa had expired already and the only way to renew it was to go to the immigration office in Olongapo, the nearby town, and do it in person. So around lunch time, we left the work site with Mike and went on an exhausting day taking care of business. The remainder of the work day consisted of first going to the immigration office and waiting in the room with no AC in Olongapo, where we hoped Dustin wouldn't be in too much trouble for having an expired visa. We were there for a while as he was forced to pay a fine for the expired visa. As I sat there waiting in the immigration office, I noticed this "Complaints & Suggestion Box".  This was way too entertaining considering this box is not even close to being the size it needs to be if we were to actually fill it with complaints and suggestions about everything that is wrong and ridiculous with this place. The most shocking part was that it was empty!

After spending way too much time at the immigration office, we went to pay off my car rental debt to Universal, the car rental agency.  I was able to negotiate him to a point where I could pay both in cash and credit.  This was of course after being harassed for the money daily by the same driver, Mark, who picked me up in Manila. He seemed so friendly on day 1 and told me I would have time to pay him the remainder of the balance.  Time in his mind meant 1 day since he was blowing up my phone with constant texts reminding me to pay them. Things are so shady here that Universal was harassing me for the money in cash for the rental car because they didn't even have enough money to pay off the lease for the car. I'm sorry but that is NOT my problem. Proof is shown below.

This got Mike, the ops director, pretty furious since ABS does a lot of business with this car rental agency and they were also trying to rip me off with some ridiculous prices and harassing me about getting the payments ahead of time. After getting the price settled between both parties and paying my debts like a Lannister, I felt much better. So the chaotic afternoon around Olongapo city continued..

Welcome to Olongapo, where time and rules are thrown out the window when you pass through the gates of the city.

 I have a striking suspicion that this is NOT an authorized Apple retailer. Something seems fishy...

And if you haven't seen or been on one of these before, you're looking at a jeepney. People hop on and off of these open taxi-like cars and are packed in like sardines as you can see.  If you get stuck driving behind one, consider your day over.  I had the opportunity to ride in these all over Thailand.

Next on our to-do list were errands you would normally do online, including trying to track down a postal service package for Mike and going to different buildings around town so he could pay off his water, electricity and water bill.  Yup, none of this is done online and the hours they operate on are completely random, including being closed at lunch.

Everywhere you go, people will tell you "sorry ma'am or sir" or "thank you ma'am or sir".  It's ridiculous that people here think it's appropriate to use that a million times in a sentence and that by saying sorry, it makes everything better, when in reality, they haven't resolved anything for you. And don't expect anyone to return your phone calls because that's a bunch of bs.

In any case, alas, lunch was upon us.  Since it was already past 2 PM, most of the restaurants had already closed their kitchen. We were able to grab food at a place in the mall that served Korean bbq.  After the stressful day we had, it was nice to unload and go to town at the restaurant. Hello short ribs, kim chi and mango shakes once again.

Our last stop for the day was paying off a cell phone bill for Mike at the local vendor in the mall. As we were waiting, I noticed this sign which is so indicative of how things operate here in the Philippines.

 

Initially I read this sign at serving 0 people even though there was 1 at the counter. But in looking at this again, it could mean serving customer #1, 2, 3 etc At Counter 1, 2, 3 etc.  In any case, thought it was funnier reading it the way I initially interpreted the sign.

We returned to work at 4:30 PM, just in time to pack up and go home.  Despite not being at work all afternoon, I would say we earned more than our share of putting up with the shenanigans of Subic and Olongapo.  This is why I could never live here permanently.  

After work, I was able to finally get a gym membership at one of two gyms in the area at a place called Brookes. It's a very basic gym and only a small room, yet costs the same as it does at home for a monthly membership ($60). What's up with that? And of course, the moment I get on the machine, a trainer comes up to me and asks for my name, then walks away. Great, nice to meet you too! I used that to my advantage though when my face was about to explode from using the bike machine after 10 minutes and not having sufficient air conditioning.  I went up to the trainer and was like, I am dying here! Can you please turn up the AC? As a local would say, I was like, sorry sir, I'm just not used to this weather like you guys are. And more AC is what I got (though I would turn it down an extra 5-6 deg C if I really had it my way).

I skipped dinner since we had a late lunch and was still pretty full, though did manage to pick up more snacks at the local Royal store including a variety of dried mangos.  So far, I like the CEBU brand the most. They taste just like the Philippine Mangos sold at Costco.

What a day. I'm out.

First Day at Work

Day 3 - Mon, Jun 16

Up at 6 am for my first day at work! Anxious to start? Nope, try jet-lag still waking me up much earlier than needed. Since I had ample amount of time before heading into work, I decided to catch breakfast at the hotel. The Chinese restaurant I ate dim sum at the previous day is used by the hotel for breakfast. So again, table for one. I ordered their sausage, sunny-side up eggs and toast.  The eggs came out still a bit runny, toast was over toasted to the point where it was just crunchy, and the sausage was some cheap hotdog.  But again, I ate it anyways since I'll pretty much eat anything. So the waiter asked me if I was traveling alone. I said I had a colleague at a different hotel. Then he asked if I was married.  First mistake was being too honest with this guy. So I said no I'm not married. Then he was like oh you left your bf at home? I gave him a half awkward smile and just laughed. Then he told me he thought I was very pretty and asked for my number.  He told me he saw me here the day before eating alone as well. I told him, oh I don't have a number/phone here. Then he points to my iPhone that was clearly on the table next to me this whole time and goes, yes you do. Oops. I was like, oh this is wifi only, no phone (which was actually the truth).  So I was able to escape that one, but was hesitant to return for breakfast the next day to have to deal with the same guy again.

So on the way to work, we stop by Starbucks, which is becoming the daily routine now. And I know the water is safe here because I've been getting iced latte's each day, and my stomach hasn't given me any issues yet. The drive to work is basically the same as the drive to the Camayan Beach resort, but one turn closer. The work facility is sort of in the jungle, but not as bad as I had thought and the roads are paved.  We did see a monkey this time on the drive into work on the side of the road.  So the work site has a couple of dogs that help guard the facility from the monkeys. That's the funniest thing I've ever heard.  They're friendly dogs, but if you're a monkey, beware!

I got introduced to the entire team consisting of all Filipinos ranging between the ages of 22-40 it seems. They all thought I was Filipina (again). Everyone was super friendly. Some of them come from Manila and other parts of the country so they stay out in the quarters here. There's a mini gym and tv where the guys were catching Game 5 of the NBA finals.  After boxing, basketball is the main sport that is followed here. The Filipinos are very up-to-date on American pop culture and sports and luckily, everyone knows how to speak English here. There's an alarm that goes off every few minutes in here to warm the operators to perform a certain task.  But don't be alarmed, it's really nothing. So that's something I'll have to get used to here. I got to meet Mike, the operations director at ABS here, who is also an Expat living out here. He's my boss while I'm out here and actually knows some of the same SSL people I work with.  He's super chill and has introduced us to the shortcomings of living out here. So after a couple hours of getting settled in at work, we took a 1.5 hour lunch at the Camayan Beach Resort, sipping on mango shakes and eating like kings.  Yup, tough like I have here. And as I arrived at the resort, I saw Jeff and Yuan (the dive instructors) again and waved hello to them again as if we went way back (1 day to be exact).

Before the end of work day, which is around 5 PM, I was chatting to Dustin about Game of Thrones and how I had to watch the finale but had no way of accessing it.  And low and behold, one of the ops guys overheard me and told me he would be downloading it and would have it for me by COB. Score! That totally made my day!

So since jet-lag was still making it hard to stay up late that night, I ordered room service from the Chinese restaurant and watched the GOT finale, then crashed.  Not such a bad first day of work.  Came in around 9 am, 1.5 hour lunch and out by 5 pm and GOT to finish the night off.  The finale was very satisfying, but now I'll have to wait another year for the next season to come out. =( 

Getting Situated in Subic

Day 2, Sun Jun 15

The advantage of arriving on the Saturday before work instead of Sunday meant that I was able to sleep in till 8 AM, which is like 5 PM at home.  Hooray for catching up on sleep! So I spent my Sunday morning trying to figure out a way to watch my shows (Game of Thrones, Suits, the Bachelorette) while here in Subic.  Unfortunately, websites like HBOGo, Hulu and Amazon Prime are blocked outside the states. And after some unsuccessful attempts, I gave up.  I attempted to VPN into my work account just to access Pandora but it was so choppy I might as well sit here in silence. The thought of not being able to watch the Game of Thrones finale was killing me.  I knew that soon enough I would see everyone posting about it on Facebook, so I had to make sure I had my spoiler blinders on until I was able to catch the finale. Every day that I'm here, I realize how my issues are totally first world problems and that's no joke!

Dim Sum for One!
 
Ok, onto more exciting topics. Foooooood.  If you know me, food is one topic that will never be left out of discussion, especially in a blog like this one. My hotel is next door to a Hong Kong style restaurant called New Feng Huang Restaurant, claiming to be the best Chinese food restaurant in all of Subic, offering amazing dim sum. That's not the first time I've seen a place claiming to the "best" around town. In any case, I set out to check out what the hype was all about. The restaurant decor was very similar to a banquet-style Chinese restaurant back home, but of course, it was run by the local Filipinos here. Table for one please. That's something I'll have to get used to saying here. I don't mind it though since I know I eat much more than the average person here (typical American). So I ordered a bunch of items from the dim sum menu. The food in the Philippines is supposed to be dirt cheap...except for in Subic. The dim sum here was basically the same price as it is in the Bay Area. But when have I ever skimped on good food? Never! I ordered the har gow (steamed shrimp dumplings), 1 steamed pork bun and mango sago (bring me back to my days in Hong Kong). And for dessert, they gave me a complimentary tapioca jello cake. I'd say 4 stars for the har gow and 3 stars for the rest. Mission accomplished!

As I sat there enjoying my dim sum for one, I hear "I'm so fancy, you already know" come on.  I'm glad the locals and I are on the same wavelength.  =) 

Diving in Subic

After brunch, I headed out to check out the local beach resort offering PADI diving certification. This resort was about a 25 min drive away from my hotel, but was supposedly very close to the work site.  I did a quick look at Google Maps before I took off and just went on a little Subic driving adventure, with no wifi or Waze (or GPS for that matter). It's crazy how dependent I am on my iPhone at home and how I expect Waze to get me from Point A to Point B for even a 10 min drive in the city. It was back to basics here.  Just my keys, car, and some travel smarts. I saw a wild horse on my drive in, but no sign of monkeys or goats yet, as rumored by my coworkers. I didn't plan on swimming at the beach today since it had been overcast the entire time I was here. And somehow, I escaped the rain during my drive to the resort, but alas, it started pouring 1 minute after I arrived. Saved, yet again!  

So here at the Camayan Beach Resort, I inquired about possibly getting diving certified on the weekends while I was out here.  For 16,800 pesos + 4000 pesos for the books, I could get certified in 4 days or 2 weekends.  That amounts to $500, which is around the same price as it goes for in the states.  Although I really want to get certified, I wasn't sure how much visibility I would have while here. The rainy season just hit and it'll basically be pouring every day that I'm here.  But to make the most of my situation, I did I make friends with the dive masters and instructors at Camayan. One was named Jeff (pretty hot but married of course) and the other Yuan (definitely fit and friendly).  I swear all of the dive masters I've ever met have always been very good looking, fit and friendly.  It probably comes with the territory. Hey, no complaints here.  Suddenly my outlook on this trip was brighter already. 

Indulgence at its Best

My itinerary for the rest of the day included checking out the local casino, getting a full body massage and more food of course.  And I did just that! Unfortunately, the casino turned out to be a bit lame and totally deserted.  There were only baccarat and black jack tables (3 total) open and maybe a total of 10 people gambling that afternoon.  Apparently there was a BINGO tourney going on at a different location which had scooped up all of the regulars.  I sat down and played some blackjack anyways.  I made friends with the dealer and this nice old Filipino lady, all of whom thought I was Filipina (again).  I should probably just lie next time and say that I am Filipina, but that I don't speak a lick of Tagalog because I grew up in the states. After losing the money I originally put down ($40), I decided it was probably best to get up and not blow my pesos at the casino on day 2. 

So of course, I continued on my path of indulgence.  Dustin had showed me a massage place on day 1 and mentioned it was only like 10 bucks for an hour.  Well, you don't have to tell me twice. At that rate, I could probably get a massage everyday while here. So I got a shiatsu (dry) massage for one hour for 350 pesos. And like any other massage I've gotten, I passed out halfway through.  Aren't those the best when you just pass the f* out? My only complaint about this place, and it wasn't clear to me how tipping works here since in every other place in Asia and even Europe, tipping isn't expected or even part of the culture, was the tipping. After I paid my 350 pesos, the lady pointed to a sign in Tagalog and was like "tip please!"  Ok, I guess tipping is expected here in Subic? My bad. I have no issues tipping, but to have the lady force it upon me is another thing.  I gave in and tipped them anyways.  So apparently because of the American influence in Subic, the locals here expect you to tip, but it's not required.  Lesson learned!

Feeding My Appetite

Ok onto food again. So for dinner, I checked out this sushi restaurant that was a few blocks from my hotel. Again, table for one. Despite being told by every Filipino friend in the states to stay clear of the water and ice here, and the fresh seafood, I dove right in.  According to my coworkers, they haven't had any issues with the tap water here or the ice.  Ok, so I'm still brushing my teeth with bottled water since I'm still a bit skeptical, but I have jumped right in with the food. This place was called Chef Samurai and seemed pretty clean.  I had an order of salmon sashimi, shrimp tempura, seaweed salad and the dynamite roll. 

Once again, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. This was wayyy too much food for one, but I never seem to learn my lsesson.  I think this meal totaled 830 pesos, which is under $20.  So it's pricier than the local standard, but much cheaper than in the states still.  This must be one of the better restaurants in Subic since one couple drove up in Porsche boxster.  It's crazy to see some people living like kings here, which is probably the top 5% of the population, and then the rest of the population living in the slums in the local town of Olongapo next door.  The gap between the rich and the poor here is 10x worse than it is back home. It's pretty eye-opening to see how poor the poor are here.  I haven't had a chance to visit any of the local homes in Olongapo but I'm pretty sure it'll be quite the culture shock, even after having visited Vietnam and Thailand.

Day 2 Summary: dim sum, driving in the forest to the beach, casino, massage, and sushi.  Not sure life can be anymore indulgent than today!

On a side, I visited the local supermarket called PureGold on Day 1, which is a lot like Walmart. Only in the Philippines will the cashier stop in the middle of your checkout to join in with the karaoke and dance routine outside the storefront. Because in Subic and the Philippines, there no such thing as a schedule or a rush to get anything done in a timely manner. If you want to test your patience, come live here for a month and see how you survive. 

Here are some interesting goodies I purchased from PureGold. Chicarrones and shrimp chips in different varieties.

And although I didn't purchase this, I thought this was worth adding to the blog, "Real American Chicarrones", whatever that means!