Tribute to Summer 02: The Palm Tree Resort in Subic is Perfect for your Summer Heartbreak!

D'you fancy sitting here, a cold drink in hand, while gazing at this lovely view?

Here in Pangasinan where I come from, tourists come for the infamous beaches for their amazing beauty and world-class quality. Think Hundred Islands in Alaminos, Patar Beach in Bolinao, and the surfers' favorite Lingayen Beach in the provincial capital.

But Pangasinan isn't the only province playing the "best beaches" card. Neighboring La Union and Ilocos Norte and Sur also take pride in their beautiful bodies of water as evident in their competitive scores in the tourism game. I mean, which beach bum doesn't know of Pagudpud Beach or San Juan? Meanwhile, about three hours away from Pangasinan, the province of Olongapo has its very own champion that is well-known for its beauty and history.

So when my sister scored five days off following a major heartbreak, she voiced out her desire to go to a beach as far away from home as possible. All the aforementioned beaches were suggested but she didn't want a place where we've either been to before or was too far. Subic Bay was perfect. And so we set off as a family with a rebound mission and a room reservation.

From up north to Olongapo, Zambales, we took the TPLEX from Urdaneta then the SCTEX exiting in Subic. The entire journey took three hours with two restroom breaks. I didn't know about our scorned companion, but I thought the scenic view coupled with the gentle pitter-patter of an unexpected drizzle felt a little convalescent.

The SCTEX was practically deserted. We had the beautiful view all to ourselves!

Lahar (dried-up volcanic mudflow) from Mount Pinatubo.

Going into theSubic Bay Freeport Zone and to Olongapo, you'll pass through this rustic-looking tunnel. The fire trees beside it are very beautiful.

HOTEL AND GROUNDS

From Subic Bay Freeport Zone, it will take ten more minutes to get to the beach resorts area of Subic Bay via the Kalaklan Bridge which used to be only and main gate from Olongapo into the former US Navy Base. We even drove past an intriguing public cemetery perched on elevated land via a zigzag road before reaching Brgy. Baretto where Palm Tree Resort was.

Welcome to Palm Tree Resort.

There's parking space good enough for seven vehicles.

We chose the Palm Tree Resort as the venue for our mini-staycation (and heartbreak-recuperation headquarters) for two main reasons: (1) it was at the Number 1 spot for best BnB in Subic Bay in Tripadvisor, and (2) all the reviews raved about their food being the bomb. And we all know that if anything can cure a broken heart, it's good food.

(Related: To read my Tripadvisor review of Palm Tree Resort, click here.)

The resort has a garden with a mini-aviary and koi pond.

Reception area. Check-in time is at 2:00 PM, but we were allowed to check-in at 1:00 PM since no one was using the room.

We were assigned to two poolside rooms on the first floor. The first, Room 107, is a family room which we got for as low as Php 2,900.00 for a night. It was not too spacious, but it was roomy enough for us to be able to add an extra bed for Php 300.00 per night. 

The second room assigned to us was Room 103 which is a single room. It went for Php 2,200.00 for a night. It has a single bed but it could fit two persons, albeit a bit uncomfortably. Like the family room, Room 103 is also a bit cramped.

The hallway on the first floor beside the pool.

A little note about the hotel's payment methods: if you're paying via credit card, they have a "credit card fee" of 5% of your normal rate.

Again, I think both rooms were not too spacious, but the beds were comfortable. Both rooms have a complimentary mini-bar, complimentary bottled water, and coffee and tea-making facilities, dental kits and toiletries. The TV's have cable channels and the split-type AC's work perfectly. All room rates have complimentary breakfast for two persons only per room. 

THE POOL

A few steps from our room is the pool. It's not a very big pool, and the water is not heated. It's still fun, nonetheless. They have a poolside bar, too (which is mostly left unmanned). 

The tarp was put there because, at the time of our visit, construction was going on in our neighboring resort, Mango.

A view of the beach from the restaurant.

PALM TREE RESTAURANT AND CASTAWAYS BAR 

THE MENU

In my opinion, the food is a bit pricey. The portion sizes were average (mainly for 1-2 persons only) but the taste and quality of the food were good and far from ordinary. However, with Palm Tree Resort situated in the heart of Brgy. Barretto which is far from being a sleepy town, there are lots of places immediately within the vicinity of the resort where you can grab some better-tasting grub without breaking the bank.

There are lobsters in the tank, actually (pictured above).

Ahhh, the beach looks beautiful at night from the terrace of Castaways Bar.

Bloody Mary (Php 130.00).

Singapore sling (Php 220.00).

Frozen margarita (Php 130.00).

Strawberry daiquiri (Php 170.00) with Chicken Mexicana in the background.

Chicken Mexicana (Php 299.00).

Curry Steve's Indian Dinner with mild spiciness level (Php 350.00).

English Mix Grill (Php 500.00). Liver and kidney, sausage, ham, T-bone and beef shank with mixed vegetables and thick-cut potato fries!

My dad also had a beer (San Miguel Pale Pilsen Light) worth Php 60.00 per bottle. Word is, the resort is also planning to open an actual floating bar sometime in the near future! We're psyched about it!

BREAKFAST BY THE BEACH

Maybe it's because of the alcohol or our two-year old princess' habit of waking up before daylight even cracks that we found ourselves up and about at 4:40 AM looking for something tourist-y to do. We took a stroll along the beach and to our utter surprise, the sea water was warm! We decided to take a little dip before our complimentary breakfast which the kitchen starts serving at 7:00 AM.

The water was not only warm but clean and clear, too!

An hour into my swim and I felt a sting in between my middle and second toes. I lifted my foot out of the water to inspect and saw, to my utter horror, tens of fine hairs sticking out from the spot that I realized were actually needles. I tried blowing on them and scraping them off with my fingernails but these only made the stinging feeling more painful. Luckily, my dad had long fingernails which he used to diligently pluck the needles off. After making sure there were none left, he scraped some sand on the spot to help soothe the sting and prevent itching. I was back in the water in no time!

I've never been more thankful that my dad was there; he grew up and has always lived beside the sea! In fact, he never left the sea as he works for nine months every year aboard a ship as an electrical engineer. I guess that makes him more knowledgeable about medical emergencies involving sea creatures even more than I, a registered nurse who has never yet seen an injury such as mine in my entire nursing career.

My cousin finally found the culprit after carefully looking in the water. We used a piece of plastic foil to lift the critter out of the water and into the sand. It was an eight-legged starfish with fine hairs on its surface and thousands of wriggling little tentacles at the bottom that allowed it to (you guessed it) crawl on the sand.

This guy is the most likely suspect. It's a good thing our two-year old baby didn't get hurt.

Taking a mugshot before releasing it back into the water-- somewhere where nobody's swimming.

I've always believed that when you keep your cool when something unfortunate happens to you, you'll eventually be rewarded. So when I found a couple of cute things from the sea while pretending to be treasure-hunting (which I've loved doing ever since I was a kid spending every summer day on the beach), I took it as a sign that good things will come to happen. 

Treasure number 1, as I imagined, is "a water nymph's egg that a mommy water nymph is probably missing to this day." In reality, it's probably just a plastic bead from a swimmer's bracelet.

Treasure number 2, as I imagined, is "Arriety's conch shell-- her favorite hair accessory in the entire planet". In reality, it's just a perfectly-shaped little conch shell.

Tea? Coffee? Your choice.

At 7:30 AM, we sat in a table facing the beach and asked for our complimentary breakfast. 

One of the choices is omelette with one filling (mushroom or tomato). It comes with a piece of toast, butter and jam.

The "Good Morning" breakfast consists of fried egg on chips with a banana with fruity yogurt.

My dad's Continental breakfast consisted of only two pieces of toast with butter and jam. He incredulously asked the waitress if it came with an egg to which the waitress replied in the negative.

Cornflakes with banana.

WALKING AROUND THE HOTEL'S IMMEDIATE VICINITY

I wasn't able to take a photo of it, but I encountered a bakery somewhere across Mango's that I would like to highly recommend for their pastries and bread! I was able to buy sugar donuts (Php 25.00 each), blueberry tart (Php 65.00), chocolate croissant (Php 65.00 each), and blueberry berliners (Php 25.00 each). They also sell imported food items from Europe and I scored a green bag of salty pretzel sticks for only Php 65.00 each! Mmmm!

MMMM! YUMMY PIZZA FROM MANGO'S

We had the opportunity to taste the pizza from Mango's, a resort located directly beside Palm Tree Resort. They have a kiosk only for pizza and chicken (see prices below). Compared to the price of Castaway Bar's pizza (Php 470.00 for a small pizza), the pizza of Mango's is considerably cheaper. I bought a 14" pepperoni pizza for only Php 430.00 and wanted a 1.5 liter of Coke Zero to go with it only to find out they ran out of drinks. I started to feel disappointed but to my surprise, the pizza chef himself was kind enough to run out to the store across the street to buy me the soda that I wanted! I even had to pay that store's price (Php 50.00) and not Mango's which would have set me back at Php 80.00 for a bottle. Blessed! And as for the pizza? It was absolutely superb that the entire pie was gone in three minutes!

The pizza smelled and tasted so good that I barely had a minute to snap a photo of it!

BUFFET OPTIONS IN SUBIC

RICO'S FASTFOOD AND RESTAURANT

(Related: To read my Tripadvisor review of Rico's Fastfood and Restaurant, click here.)

On our first afternoon in Subic, we went to Rico's Fastfood and Restaurant for lunch. Due to what I saw in Byahe ni Drew, a local travel-related mini-television series, I had high hopes for this restaurant. Unfortunately, the big dining space, the smiling attendants, and the lavish buffet offerings that I expected to experience were either absent by force majeure or the warmth that they projected in the show was a huge farce. Personally, I'm rooting for the former.

When we arrived at 1:00 PM for the lunch buffet service (open from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM), we found that they relocated the buffet area from the roomier second floor into the first floor so that only about twelve tables were available for customer use (seating about forty to fifty only). The place was too crowded and there were no spare seats that we had to sit in different tables of diners who have spare seats. It was at about 1:50 PM when the crowd started to disperse and I got to sit in the same table as my companions.

Buffet price is Php140.00 per person regardless of age, and a 1.5 liter bottle of soda is Php 80.00. They also have ala carte items.

In the buffet table, there were: beef steak, chicken afritada, pancit canton, spaghetti, soup (sinigang) and rice, appetizers like fruit slices, home-made atchara and ensaladang talong, macaroni salad, ensaladang ampalaya, arroz a la valenciana, and crispy daing na isda. Later on, they served beef sisig and buttered vegetables. The dishes that I liked were the beef steak, beef sisig, and the home-made atchara.

For Php 140.00 per person, you literally get what you pay for.

A bowl of macaroni salad and watermelon slices.

Appetizers table. Clockwise from top left: Ensaladang talong, homemade atchara, arroz ala Valenciana, ensaladang ampalaya, and beef sisig.

Crispy daing.

Pork afritada, beef steak, and pinakbet. The covered dish used to hold buttered vegetables (ran out), and the furthermost pot used to hold pancit (refilling).

Midway through the meal, they ran out of plates and it took about three minutes (and one uncaring waitress) before they brought out new ones. Actually, there's also something to be said about the staff. They were not really rude but they were unsmiling and expressionless which made me feel as if we customers were burdensome.

Over-all, you can dine here if you're looking for a cheap buffet, don't mind the mediocre food items, or when you just want to get filled.

I didn't try the stir-fried gizzard, but my sister says they're amazing! I did try the siew mai, though, and they tasted rather meaty.

Mmmm, Korean fried chicken!

I was extra-pleased because some of the items were rather kid-friendly like the fried chicken (yummy), spaghetti (yummy), and vegetable pizza (yummy).

While the place served mainly Korean food, they also had Filipino food. The Korean food they served were just mildly spicy like the Kimchi, the meat stir-fried in kimchi dish, and the Duenjang soup.

One of the most notable dishes for me was the pork humba. By itself, the dish is salty but it tastes a whole lot better with rice.

Try the meat stir-fried in kimchi and the pinakbet.

I really loved the vegetable pizza and the sweet spaghetti.

I was very impressed with their salad bar, as it was more comprehensive than most buffet restaurants.

Korean sushi tastes different from Japanese sushi. The main difference lies in the kind of rice that they use.

They have a samgyeopsal station, but I found the sauce kind of salty (or was it supposed to be that way?).

The only thing I did not like was the Vendo machine with free coffee, the kind that's commonly found in the streets where you drop in a five peso coin for a cup. That kind of coffee is not only substandard but there's also a rumor going on that they're not very good for the health. Freshly-brewed coffee is still the best!

So did my sister finally get over her heartbreak after our Subic Bay staycation? Well, she commended the food and the accommodations and stated that she fell in love with the beach; but she also said that it would take more than a tummy-full of delicious food and cocktails to erase the pain from a seven-year relationship. "Drat," I thought to myself as I took to the internet to plan yet another staycation-cum-food trip getaway.

P.S. Personally, I think it was an awesome staycation and that it was such a shame that we didn't get to stay in Subic for a longer period of time.