Well, what else would you do if it were a rainy Friday and your favorite nephews had finished their term in pre-school … sit around and watch it drizzle, or hit the road.
We took off for the former US Navy base at Subic, now called the Subic Bay Special Economic Zone just before ten am and arrived at our first destination, Texas Joe’s, where the boys thoroughly enjoyed the classic wood hobby hours in the outside waiting area and then everyone enjoyed a 
delicious Texas-style lunch. I can highly recommend the “Bubba Burger” … friend Paul who had visited there recently suggested that would be a good choice and indeed it was. Hard to believe now that we can drive from Marilao, right outside the city limits of Metro Manila to the central business district on Subic in about two hours, but it’s easy now with the new roads, even for a relatively slow driver like me.
The boys ate fast though, and after all, they had been promised swimming (the sun was out by now, an absolutely lovely day). So we piled in the trusty Adventure (almost 40,000 km on it now and it hasn’t skipped a beat, what a great investment that car was … those of you who refuse to have a car and drive yourself in the Philippines just don’t realize what you are missing).
Our main destination was the Casablanca hotel, restaurant and condominium complex, just a 20 minute drive out on the Argonaut Highway, heading toward the airport.
(For those who might not have driven in the US for a while, or those who seldom see a traffic light even powered, let alone being observed, let me remind you … on the SBEZ, people actually stop for stop signs, observe traffic signals, follow speed limits, and if you happened to get stopped by a traffic officer, do not, under any circumstances attempt to bribe him .. it’s against the law. Oh, and did I mention no smoke belching, road clogging tricycles allowed either?)
Arriving at the Casablanca, the ever hospitable host, Kristian had our room already ready, right at 
poolside. We were in a ground floor unit, exactly like the one pictured, the patio doors in the center were out main entrance and the ample living/dining/kitchen area, along with the generous private bedroom would be behind the windows to the right. At over 7 meters by over 7 meters these are very ample single bedroom units, about twice the size of what passes for a one bedroom condo in Metro manila. You can see floor plans and more details on Casablanca’ own excellent website, here and here.
Splash, and the boys were in the pool before I even finished locking up the car and signing the register in the reception office. P3600 for a unit like this (rainy season special) seemed like a pretty darn good bargain to me. I’ve paid more and gotten a lot less, even here in the Philippines.
Notice also that these rooms have very decent monthly rates available. Especially the one and two bedroom condos are equipped and sized so that a couple (or a couple with several children, could just live there as long as you cared to ..they are that big and comfortable.
There are a number of units for sale as well (see the inquiry form here to get a personal condo sale quotation), and the management stands ready to managed purchased units for absentee owners … in other words you can live here part time and rent your unit out to recoup expenses when you are living elsewhere. Very flexible arrangements.
After a few Margaritas (the only good ones I have found so far in the Philippines, I was hungry again (time had passed, it was getting dark, time for dinner anyway). Rather than go inside the restaurant, where the Friday night special was an excellent Mongolian barbeque, we just ordered at our table right at poolside and right outside the door to our unit.
The boys, of course, were very interested in why we adults were drinking out of strange (to them) looking margarita glasses. So we ordered them pineapple juice in margarita glasses .. oh what a hit that was.
The restaurant has a top quality Swiss chef, and I have found the food excellent and quite reasonably priced … all except the steak I ordered that night … very tasty and excellently presented, but with way too much gristle to suit me … you have to watch out for steaks in the Philippines, almost always better not to order one, because they almost always disappoint … Filipinos in general love fat and gristle, personally I can’t abide it. Likewise, as a general rule, the salt. I’ve had more meals ruined for me by excessive salt than for any other reason … Philippine-branded soy sauces are exceptionally salty, thus anything that might be soy sauce flavored is likely to be over salted by along shot. It’s no wonder hypertension (high blood) is a big problem in the Philippines, the vast majority of restaurants just tip the salt shaker way, way too much. Anyway, enough on the salt rant.
There’s enough on the international menu to please any palate. A cousin came by to chat later in the evening and stayed for Friday night special, Mongolian barbeque. He pronounced it excellent and finished every morsel, so I believed him 
For a guy who said he wasn’t hungry to begin with, he did a darn good job enjoying the Mongolian barbeque.
Sleeping in the extremely quiet area where the Casablanca is located is excellent …no traffic noises to speak of, fresh breezes off the water which is only a few feet from the whole complex … restful and relaxing, and if you aren’t sleepy the Wi-Fi Internet is excellent … worked very well and much faster than my Wi-Fi at home.
In the morning the boys were up early and of course, into the pool. after a suitable time of soaking and splashing around … measured by the amount of ‘prune skin’ visible, we got them out and went into the restaurant for breakfast.
What do you want to drink, boys? Easy … margaritas …their special ones. What do you want to eat? Calamari rings and pizza, the hits, for them of last night’s supper.
Well, they’re o
nly young one, and therefore if they want calamari rings and pizza for breakfast, then that’s what they shall have. Their mom had American style hotcakes, made well, with good maple syrup, often hard to find in the Philippines. Mita had an excellent cheese omelet and I had a man size American breakfast with a big portion of scrambled eggs, sausage, good beacon and excellent toast … tasted like home cooked bread, very nice indeed.
All too soon it was time to pack up and get on the road for some family commitments and our trip home. Will we be back to visit the Casablanca again? You bet we will. There are far too many places in the Philippines that “say” they are interested in the tourism business, far too few, that like the Casablanca actual ‘walk the walk” of making tourist feel wanted and welcome. A big thanks to the owner, Gunnar, who made it all happen to begin with, Kristian, the general manager, and all the friendly, accommodating staff. Recommended.
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