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Published: December 28th 2010
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Say Gouda!
What if I turn my head this way? Do I look cute now? What better way to say farewell to the Year of the Tiger than to get up-close with them.
But I'll get to the tigers later. We'll start with how the day started: another early-morning drive to Tarlac and later to Subic. It was a holiday, thanks to a quirk in a Philippine law that moves holidays to the nearest Monday (December 30 is Rizal Day), and it was just your regular large Filipino family departing the city to spend the day in some place other than the...
uh, city.
I have been going to Subic since fourth-grade. My first trips were in the summer of the mid-90s with my uncle and cousins fishing for
talakitok using the shrimps we purchased very early at a market in Olongapo. I would go home very thrilled at having the chance to eat my catch for dinner. Sometimes I would reel in one
talakitok, sometimes two, sometimes three... Ah, those were the days.
Growing up, the fishing trips increasingly became rare until they just ceased to happen. Which isn't to say I've never gone to Subic any longer. In fact, the city is still one of the default destinations during holidays but
Isdaan Restuarant
Eat. Pray. Shout Takshapo! fishing has been replaced by shopping at the Duty Free. But since I'm not obviously of the shopping kind...
..........
Together with some friends from Zimbabwe, we went to the day's first destination: the Isdaan restaurant in Gerona, Tarlac. Entering the place feels like being transported into Bali (I'm guessing; I've never been to Bali), with tables inside house stilts connected by hanging bridges. Kitchen staff cook the meals in one of the outdoor cooking stations to add to the atmosphere. Carps swim at the numerous man-made ponds while numerous faux-Hindu and Buddhist statues dot the area.
The most unique feature of the restaurant is the
Takshapo, wherein enraged visitors can smash mugs, plates, and even old TV sets to a wall. Perhaps a way to minimize comeuppance on the staff should they provide bad service.
..........
After lunch, some of us (including our Zimbabwean friends) went to the Zoobic Safari Park while the others went shopping. Except for a jeepney tour in a large tiger enclosure, it's not really a safari but a large zoo housing a number of wildlife. But you don't really care about specifics so....
Anyway.
TIGERS!!! They're like
Joyride!
Chio sticks his head out of the vehicle's "Skyroof" on the way to Subic. house cats! Except they're way bigger! (I made that sound like I've never seen a tiger up-close before but... I like large cats!) The tour around the zoo started with a dance number from the Aetas and a parade of animals, which include short horses, greyhounds, geese, albino carabaos, and a Siberian tiger.
Then a trip to the snakes, followed by a meet-and-greet with the dromedary (one-humped) camels, a cougar, a bevy of palm civet cats (I overheard the guide of another tour saying civet cats' sweat smell like pandan so they don't take a bath), rodents, lovebirds, and an owl.
However, the main highlight, the "safari" tour to the tiger's lair, was a bust. It was already late in the afternoon and the tigers have met their meal quota for the day. Because they were full, they didn't bother approaching our jeep and were nonchalantly walking a few yards away. Redemption came at the "Close Encounter" part of the trip were we had a chance to see the cats in their cages.
The next part of the tour was at the Savannah where ostriches roam with wild boars but it was already too dark for me
So Near Yet So Far
Just fresh from the day's last meal, this tiger can't care less about the latest visitors. to use a telephoto lens. We had to skip three more stops to return to the Freeport area to rendezvous with the rest for dinner and the long drive home.
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liliram
liliram
Thanks
I've done Zoobic Safari and enjoyed it with my family. But I missed this Takshapo place. I should visit next time. Hey, glad to know there's more of us blogging about our country. The least we can do to promote it. Thanks for sharing. Keep writing.