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there and back again: the Subic edition

Nelzo decided, at the last minute, that he wanted to go with me on my first road trip (ever) to Subic, Zambales so that he could join me in visiting our friend, Nellie Ann and her family. Since I didn't have access to the magical world's Floo Network, we didn't have much of a choice but to travel by land. Together with his churchmate, Khim, we drove along SLEX, NLEX, and SCTEX for about three hours to reach Subic. The landscape and the (no) traffic scenes on the NLEX and the SCTEX, on this rare occasion that I drove during daytime, were picturesque. However, since I was the designated driver, Nelzo takes the credit for the road shots. :)

Here's the thing: when I drive long distances, like this 400-km roundtrip road trip to Subic, I normally bring sweets with me to boost my energy. However, I forgot to bring some of my Skittles and my one bag of Maltesers for the ride (*sigh*). So we stopped at one of the giant NLEX gas stations to bump up my sugar supply.








When we arrived at the restaurant where the baptism reception was held, we found out that it had ended and that the food was being packed as take away. Nevertheless, we were able to spend time with Rizza and Nellie. I am very thankful that Nellie was such a graceful host. 


(I grabbed the photos from either Rizza's or Nellie's Facebook accounts)

After the luncheon, we took some time to check out a mall in Subic. After all, who goes to Subic without shopping right? It was a good decision, really, since it rained quite heavily while we're there... and I avoided driving in bad road conditions. I did get to buy things I needed, too.


Just when I thought that this was already a pleasant way for my Subic driving adventure to end, I got invited to have dinner in Calamba with another set of friends (at Ippon Yari)! So I drove straight from Subic to Calamba... making it there at about the same time as my friends. I wasn't complaining  about the long trip, though. That dinner was the icing to an already delicious cake.
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