SCTEX - The Road of No Return

It was already mid morning when we headed to the 15th hot air balloon festival. It was not what we initially planned since we knew that the balloons take flight early morning. But since cousin O arrived at around 4 AM, there was no way we could leave early. So by 9 AM, we were still at the North Luzon Expressway, wishing that we had left earlier. I didn't really bother checking the directions going to the event because I had assumed that my beloved companions knew where Clark Freeport Zone was!

By the time we entered the SCTEX, we were puzzled as to why we had to choose between exiting to Clark North or to Clark South. We cleverly chose the Clark North Exit where at one point on the road, I saw plenty of kites hovering over a makeshift tent on the other side of the road. I told hubby and cousin O that we must have taken the wrong turn. They nonchalantly dismissed my sentiments, and headed straight to the 55 km SCTEX stretch leading to Subic! So when we had to pay our toll fee, we got the biggest surprise of the day. We were on the wrong road! I was right all along!


And so we were officially lost! At about almost noon time, we were already in Subic, which was more than 55 km away from our original destination. I haven't been there for the last 5 years, and the place seemed so empty and deserted that my husband likened the setting to that of the movie, "The Legend". I must admit that I had to agree with him - it felt like a ghost town.

We headed to Xpressly Xpresso where cousin O recommended their cold coffee concoctions and their extra sized pizza. At half past twelve, we were starving, but only hubby was patient enough not to complain of the slow service because he already devoured his order of baby back ribs. At Php 190, it was cheap as compared to Manila standards The meat was juicy, and I liked the sauce because it was sweet and tangy. Their spaghetti with meatballs was pretty good. I happen to prefer spaghetti sauce that is a bit sour. The pizza was a bit overrated, but it came out really cheap for the price of Php 699. I like how the crust stayed crispy after being lavished with sauce and toppings. The experience was not so bad, and although I wasn't really impressed with their giant pizzas, I was happy with their cold coffee offerings.

All Meat Pizza - Php 699



Baby Back Ribs- Php 190 - It was all gone before I could even tell hubby that I needed to take a picture!



Spaghetti with Meatballs - Php 190



Since we were already in Subic, we wanted to check out their duty free shops and catch the hot air balloon festival later in the day. We went to the Royal Duty Free Mall, and they did have some items cheaper than the ones here in Manila. They had fitflops at the nearby store but the price was pretty much the same to what we have here. The Nike outlet stores also had some items that were on sale, but it is still not comparable to the Nike Outlet stores in the States where you could buy decent sneakers for $30.

We would have wanted to continue on with our duty free explorations, but S was in a somber mood because she thought that she would see hot air balloons after the long drive. So off we went to the 55 km drive back to our original destination - laughing our hearts out for being so dumb with directions and for taking the "road of no return". You see, if you take the SCTEX to Subic, you could no longer turn back after missing the exit along the way.