zoobic safari!

6/3

headed to subic w/ some of my mother-side relatives right after myself & rye's GY shift last 6/3rd. my auntie baby had free accomodations at a suite in subic. she wanted to share the bounty, which she does frequently. she had complimentary accomodations in clark years ago which we fully enjoyed. that was the first time i drove something bigger than a bike, a golf cart. i must've been 17 at that time because i remember being barred from getting inside the casino within the subdvision (would you imagine having a casino inside your subdvision???! wow!). i was sent home...nyahaha...there's a game room as well w/ all the arcades you'd ever imagine...located just a few steps from our superb villa. 2 years ago we went somewhere in subic already and stayed at a huge rental home inside one of the villages there, care of my auntie baby again. we went swimming at a nearby beach resort called the 'blue rock' in the afternoon and headed home in the evening.

we stayed at the legenda suites last saturday. it was cozy but a bit smaller compared to the units we rented on the other few ocassions auntie baby invited us in. tito zaldy brought their new crosswind SUV which elated my 3-hour journery because the SUV's gear was automatic and i fancy driving automatics since my US experience. my tito gave me a chance to drive it when rye & myself went to the zoobic safari. we landed in subic before lunch which was earlier than expected. we were still booked to use the room at 2pm. anyhow, the suite still ushered us in since there were several vacancies. the suite, all in all, was ok..but not too deluxe as expected. auntie baby could not stop story-telling in the trip on how extravagant the suite/hotel is. she was a teeny bit mistaken. there was free buffet breakfast the next morning though but only 2 persons were allowed to ravish their goodies. *:) only my mom and my auntie juliet went.

at the suite's hallway w/ my mom & at the doorway inside the suite w/ rye

feasting at the legenda cafe and 4 of my cousins at the mini-pool

there was a pool within the area w/c was intricately placed near the hill full of plants and trees. it was just too kiddie so i didn't mind if i didn't swam there. we rested after eating lunch, recovering from the GY shift w/c rye & myself just came from. auntie baby woke us up in the middle of the afternoon inviting to stroll around the area and find wonderful sights. we asked to be dropped at the ocean adventure which i made sure to visit while we were there. it was a looong drive towards this venue, w/ me driving. i almost grew tired looking at the "towards" signs to the ocean adventure which appeared at the side of the streets for almot 30 times! we got overwhelmed by the pricing when we got there. the price was P450 per person for the entrance only. the main attraction's pricing, which is to actually touch & swim with the dolphins, ranges from P2500 to P4000. phew...that's alot. the pricing turned us off so we decided to change venue and go for the zoobic safari w/c was having a price off on the entrance. an amount of P395 will take you to 7 adventures within this huge zoo. the zoobic safari, as the pamphlet said, is the only zoo with a tiger safari in the country. i couldn't recount the complete 7 sights & attractions but here's what i recall:

1. zoobic park

2. savannah

3. serpentarium

4. close encounter

5. tiger safari

the entrance to the zoobic safari..

a show featuring live animals was going on when we got in. they show trained, uncaged animals to folks. we made it to the tiger portion of the show. a tiger cub sat at a bench and kids lined up to touch & take pictures. the next part of the show was hilarious. the demonstrators/trainors called for 6 adults to get up on stage for another exciting encounter w/ one of the animals. i frantically jumped up and raised my hand to join. i never do this, i was just too bored & was impatiently waiting for something thrilling to happen in the trip. and it's also because of my enduring love for animals. when we went up the stage, the demonstrator/trainor introduced the animal they'll be showing. in a few seconds, all 6 of us acted in disgust and scurriedly went down the stage. wanna know why? they took out a humungous yellow-colored snake. i often see this in carnivals and zoos and unfortunately...around people's necks. we were anticipating the scare but we did not want to receive boo-hoos from the audience so we went back up the stage for the good of entertainment.

tiger touching

the serpent around me. i actually felt it trying to crush my legs

next we went looking for our tour guide. the first tour was to the serpentatrium. the usual snakes & reptiles are displayed here.

this snake was shedding it's skin

next was to the safari where several animals, common & out of the ordinary, were displayed inside ranch like fences.

the ostrich behind me and the albino carabao

our next ride almost killed the troupe. only when the tour guide asked me to calm down explaining the whole scenario of the ride, did i know that we will be getting out of there alive. it was the tiger safari ride, the main attraction of the zoobic safari. here we rode a caged jeepney. our fellow tourists paid P200 for a live chicken to feed the hungry tigers. we passed through 2 adult tigers swimming in their mock lake. the male got our attention, especially the chicken which the tour guide dangled by a rope through a small opening in our jeep. the tour guide kept on taunting the male tiger dragging the chicken by a rope, outward and inward the jeep. it was so scary because i thought the chicken will just be thrown at the tigers. the tour guide explained that the way he is feeding them is the only chance these captured tigers will learn how to hunt..and that simply throwing food at them will make them lazy. i agree. the animal chased our jeep, grabbed the tires. he couldn't just let us go even when 3 more jeepneys were already in the area. it took about 10 minutes until our ride stopped before the tour guide gave him a taste of the chicken. the poor bird's tiny body halved as soon as the tiger bit it. there were more teasing after until we took a full stop again. i didn't realize that half of the chicken, by rope, was thrown by the tour guide at the roof of the jeep. so the tiger jumped to the roof to finish his meal. he stayed there for more than 5 minutes. that part almost made me pee in my pants. the jeepney was all crappy and the roofing would like it'll fall apart! the show finally ended when the tiger jumped down from the roof. ryan on the other hand, enjoyed every bit of it. men...

we waited for the makeshift train for our next ride to the close tiger encounter. picture taking was not allowed for the flash might agitate the gigantic tigers. they were in cages but we were instructed to view these beasts 2 feet away. they were beautiful!

the next train ride was to the savannah where a dozen ostriches greeted and ran along our sides.

that's about it and the money spent was worth it. when we return, we'll definitely go to ocean adventure.

we all went home the next day.