Heavy traffic stirred our pangs for food and that called for a stopover in a small Bulacan province, Sta. Maria. This provincial town, 22 kilometers north of Manila, is no tourist destination for us. There got no beaches, no historical places or festivals to catch. Even so, this town still has a specialty that would entice tourists to revisit --it offers good cuisine!
Cravings for Filipino native foods like sinigang (Filipino stew), lumpia, and grilled or broiled meat or fish will be satisfied by a variety of restaurants like Sarsa at Inihaw which is located at the boundary of the barangays Bagbaguin (of Sta. Maria) and Turo (of the nearby town, Bocaue). More affordable dishes can be found at the less cozy yet equally satisfying Kumain Ka Na (Have you eaten?) and Rancho de Sta. Maria restaurants. Chinese dishes can be found at the Green Pond Restaurant located in the barangay of Bagbaguin. Pastas, chicken and pizza are also served in some restaurants and fast-food chains. So far, these were our discoveries --we could not canvass more because our stomachs were crying "lunch"!
Before we left this small town, we made sure we got some tips from the local people. They gave us a list of resorts we can visit sometime this summer, among which are the Long Meadows Resort and the Pamar Wonderpool Resort in M. Parang, Villa Carmen, and the Villa Antonia and the Sitio Lucia Resorts in Pulong Buhangin. Wait until we test these resorts for you.
Back in the car, we braced ourselves for another 3-hour drive straight to Subic.
Subic is almost the same as the last time I visited. Well-maintained paved-roads gave us the consolation for that long-tiring trip. It was almost five in the afternoon so we decided to steer without delay to the Bat Kingdom, hoping to catch sight of the fruit bats and the wild monkeys that usually show up at that hour. To protect the fruit bats, a strict silence is implemented upon entering the Bat Kingdom. Likewise, powerful camera flash and lighting equipments are prohibited. One staff told us that there was a time that these bats migrated in the other part of Subic forest after a heavy lighting was used when shooting with a moving camera. Good thing that these bats came back after some time. Indeed, the lovely sundown was made more appealing by these bats flying around the forest reserve of Subic. We were also very delighted when the wild monkeys started to go out of the forest and walk in the roadway where lots of visitors, including us were standing. It seemed the monkeys are already used to seeing people in amazement with their friendliness ---that they sometimes stop walking when someone tries to take their photo.
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