Philippines: Strolling around San Felipe town; visiting Subic Bay

Date: January 3, 2023

After arriving in LiwLiwa yesterday and checking out the beach, we wondered how to spend the day today. We took a trike to San Felipe Public market, and tried to find a money exchange place that would accept Singapore dollars. Unfortunately, I learned that even though there are many Filipinos working in Singapore, in small towns across the Philippines… don’t expect money exchange centers to accept a wide a variety of foreign currency. US dollars are still your safest bet.

Santo Tomas sand river Zambales Philippines — The Santo Tomas river of sand

Fortunately I managed to find a money exchange place in the neighbouring town of San Narciso that would accept Singapore dollars and converted some in exchange for Philippines pesos.

Breathing a sigh of relief, we had an early lunch now that I had enough cash in hand.

Lunch pasta sisig Zambales — Cafe de Verde was the name of the restaurant but the food was quite forgettable. Mediocre at best. All this came to ₱590 (₹876/$10/€9.7)

We sat at the restaurant to do some work as the mobile internet in LiwLiwa beach wasn’t always reliable.

San Narciso Zambales Philippines — After we left the restaurant, we walked around San Narciso

San Sebastian Parish church Zambales — San Sebastian Parish church

Old house San Narciso Zambales — An old wooden house that’s now open to visitors

There wasn’t much else to do in this town, so we took a bus back to San Felipe.

San Felipe public market Zambales Philippines — This is San Felipe Public Market, where buses stop in San Felipe town

Inside San Felipe public market Zambales — We checked out the market a bit

Bananas melons Zambales Philippines — But prices of fruits and vegetables weren’t significantly cheaper than in Manila

San felipe town Zambales Philippines — The only 7-11 in town is opposite the San Felipe Public Market

San Felipe village gateway Zambales — We tried looking for new places to eat but some weren’t open for dinner yet

So we decided to take a trike back to LiwLiwa beach.

Liwliwa beach at night restaurant — In a lane that runs parallel to road near LiwLiwa beach, we spotted this eatery

Mommy phoebe's place menu Liwliwa — Mommy Phoebe’s Place is the name

Clam chowder seafood pasta — Unfortunately, assuming there would be good seafood here, the clam chowder and the seafood pasta were both mediocre

Neither dish used any fresh seafood… further appalling me about the lack of good seafood in an island nation. Mind you, we were next to a beach! Oh well…

Once back in the room, I just spent the rest of the night doing some work. The neighbouring guest kept playing this Filipino pop song and I had to Shazam it right away. Then I kept listening to it before calling it a night.

Date: January 4, 2023

The next morning we returned to Mommy Phoebe’s Place for breakfast.

Mommy Phoebe's breakfast Zambales — After yesterday night’s dinner disappointment, I was pleased breakfast was much better. All this cost us ₱645 (₹970/$11.8/€10.5)

Kapitans Liwa Zambales Philippines — Kapitan’s Liwa Zambales — a guesthouse next to Mommy Phoebe’s Place

We walked back down the alley to Cafe de Liwa.

Surfers Alley LiwLiwa beach Zambales — This alley is called Surfer’s Alley, and below are two other options for accommodation near LiwLiwa beach

Casa Liwa house Zambales resort — This is Casa Liwa house — one large house with a pool for private groups

Surface Liwa beach resort Zambales — Surface Liwa Beach Resort, also located in the same alley

Surf lessons LiwLiwa Zambales — Surf lessons are offered all around LiwLiwa

I felt like seeing something today and decided to go to Subic City, to see if I could find a spot to fly my drone over Subic Bay.

Zambales rice field Philippines — We took a bus to Subic City. Cost was ₱200 (₹300/$3.6/€3.2) per person.

Zambales mountains rice field Philippines — Zambales’ hills looked very scenic

After arriving in Subic City, we took a trike and the driver dropped us at a spot he told my girlfriend that would an open area. Where we were dropped was a spot from where we could walk up a bit uphill. I then took my drone out and flew it over of the bay.

Subic bay port fishing boats Zambales — Fishing boats docked in Subic Bay

Subic Bay used to be home to a U.S. Naval Base, but that closed in 1991. Since then, it’s been turned into a special economic zone called the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

Subic Bay town boats Philippines — A shot of a part of Subic City

Subic bay island Zambales Philippines — An island in the middle of the bay

A brief video of Subic Bay, I took from my drone:

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A post shared by Mithun Divakaran (@mithunonthenet)

I was hoping to get a view I first saw while we were on the bus ride from Manila to San Felipe. So we spoke to another trike driver who told us, we’d have to go towards Olongapo City. So we headed to the Freeport zone.

It turns out, there is an uphill spot en route to Olongapo City, where if we could have stopped, would have offered grand views, especially during sunset. But by the time we arrived at the Subic Bay Freeport area, the skies had turned grey.

So we just ended up hanging out at Harbor Point mall, did some shopping, and then later went to a 7-11 to charge our phones, as our powerbanks ran dry.