Zoobic Safari Subic Philippines

Zoobic Safari was one of the places we visited during our vacation in the Philippines. It is a park offering a lot of features including encounter with wild animals like tigers and crocodiles. Yes, you can meet them up close and personal and it’s safe.

We rented a van and left Manila around 7:30am and arrived at the park around 12noon. Along the way, we stopped at Chowking and bought us lunch. We could have arrived earlier if we did not stop for food.

We bought the ticket at the entrance, it costs Php545 per head which includes the following attractions: Zoobic Park, Tiger Safari Ride, Croco Loco, Aeta's Trail, Zoobic Cave, Bird Thrill, Serpentarium, Rodent World, Savannah. Rides and animal foods are not included Inside the Zoobic Park is the Bird Thrill and the Rodend World. Before entering the Bird Thrill, you can see several animals in cages like camels, goat, monkeys and a lot more.

Zoobic Safari Attractions

Bird Thrill

Inside the Zoobic park is the Bird Thrill, where you can see different colorful birds. Visitors have a chance to get a close-up view of these friendly birds and feed them in their hands.

Rodent World

Rodent world is located inside the Zoobic Park where you can find different rodents species. Animals you can see inside are porcupines and guinea pigs.

Serpentarium 

Different reptiles are seen inside the Serpentarium like snakes, lizards, and iguanas.

Going to other attractions will require transportation. You can use your own car or take a tram ride. We took a tram ride and paid extra for this. Tram consists of 2 carts which can accommodate around 50 passengers. Tram ride has multiple stops and will drop off passengers to different attractions.

Zoobic Cave 

Trams' first stop is at Zoobic Cave where you can see stuffed animals. You will be thrilled walking inside the cave as you will be surprised by animated creatures.

Tiger Safari
After getting off the tram, you’ll be transferred to a caged vehicle going to tiger habitat. There, you’ll get a close-up view of the tigers. We went on Saturday and it was a bit busy so we have to wait for our turn to get on the secured vehicle. Travelers are divided into 10 per group. To make your visit more enjoyable, make sure that you buy chicken for the tigers. It costs Php200 but you can split the cost into your group like what we did.  This was the most exciting experience we had for this trip. We were thrilled when the tigers approached us showing their teeth and when they jumped on top of the vehicle while he eats the chicken.

Savannah

The tram took us to the animal sanctuary where you can find animals roaming around free. Giant ostriches, sheep, boars are standing alongside the road.

Aeta'sTrail

Inside the Aeta'sTrail, you will be entertained by native Filipino performing their ritual dances including the war and the monkey dance. It’s amazing to see their unique ability climbing up the tree while dancing and entertaining the visitors.

Croco Loco

After this, we headed to Croco Loco where you can find over a hundred crocodiles ready to snap anytime. Guests’ walkover a grated steel walkway while crocodiles waiting underneath. There’s a section where guests can feed the crocodiles with chicken.  You can purchase the chicken for Php50, hang on the pole and let the crocodile snap it.

 

It took around 3 hours to finish our tour. It was worth the time and the money for this unique experience. 

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La Fiesta Buffet Manila Philippines

During our visit to Philippines, my sister offered to take us out for dinner. I had no idea where we were going so it was completely a surprise. She picked us up from the hotel and headed to Mall of Asia. We were a little early so we walked along bay side and let our little girl play.

Few minutes later my sister revealed that shes going to take us at La Fiesta Buffet and she already made a reservation. Its located along the bay near MOA. We came there on Sunday and arrived around 5:30pm. There are already people in line to get in. Glad that my sister made a reservation. After checking the confirmation at the reception, we went inside and took a seat. Table reserved for us was in front of the stage.

La Fiesta Largest Filipino Buffet

The interior concept incorporated with Filipino touch is really luxurious and spacious. I don't have the exact number of how many persons they can accommodate but its pretty big. Still you might wanna check in advance to make sure you'll get seated.

It has huge variety of Filipino local cuisines, from normally served during fiestas to even street foods. It also has international foods but I focused mainly on local since its I don't really see it often. Sea foods, letchon, mani, sisig, isaw, sorbetes, sagot gulaman,  Everything I was craving for are in this place and I don't need to worry about taking my American husband from place to place to try local Filipino foods. 

Also there are wide selection of sea foods either cooked or fresh which you can pick and have them cook for you. Just tell them how you want it to cook and they will bring it to your table once its done or you can wait and watch.

While enjoying our dinner, there are band performers on the stage serenades diners and even accept music request. After their set, a group of cultural dancers performed which was spectacular and really entertaining. We have the best view of their performance since we are seated right in front of the stage.

We had fun that night and really appreciate my sisters generosity in taking us out and let us experience the fiesta in the City.

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White Beach Puerto Galera Philippines

Being on the Midwest and having no sea water here made me missed the beach so much. Glad that we were granted to take two week vacation we could spend for family getaway. We already planned before that we are going back to the Philippines for a short vacation. While planning our itinerary, I wanted to take my husband to a resort offering different activities to explore but should not be too far from Manila. I didn’t want long travel since we were traveling with a two year old toddler.

The most popular beach resort close to Manila is Puerto Galera. They have two big beach area open for travelers. One is Sabang Beach which is commonly visited by Scuba Divers and the other one is White Beach which is visited for its entertainment and other fun activities. Since we are not divers, we chose to go and explore White Beach.

We scheduled our trip on Wednesday and stayed there for four days. We took public transportation from Manila. At Buendia station, we get on the bus going to Batangas Pier. It took around two hours bus ride going to the pier. Then at Batangas Pier, take a boat ride going to White Puerto Galera which takes around 1 hour and 30 excluding the waiting time. Before our boat headed to White Beach, it stopped by at Puerto Galera Bay. We did not really pay attention how long we’ve been traveling since we are enjoying the breathtaking view.

When we docked at White Beach, we had to walk for few minutes going to our resort. We stayed at Dreamwave resort for 4 nights, a beach front resort and is very near to all fun activities on the beach. We booked in advance so there’s no hassle checking in. The resort is really nice. I have not checked other resorts but in Dreamwave you can view the beach line when you stay at 2^nd floor.

Activities you can do in Puerto Galera

While enjoying our time at the White Beach, we are able to explore a lot of things it offers. These are the main activities we did that attracts the travelers:

1. Sunset by the Beach - Enjoyed the majestic sunset view by the beach. Just sit on the beach or stay at Dreamwave resorts 2^nd floor to watch the incredible sunset.

  

2. Snorkeling and Island Hopping - We hired a boat to take us to the different nearby islands and then take us to snorkeling area. Boatman fetched us early and headed to their office to register. Along the way, we stopped by at a local bakery and bought bread which we used to feed the fish. At the snorkeling area, we had to hire a smaller boat since bigger boats are not allowed as it could damaged the corals reefs. It’s was not that far but not that close to swim so hiring a smaller boat is necessary. At the area, the fish are so friendly. Our boatman caught a fish using his hands only. The underwater view is stunning. Colorful coral reefs and fish are seen.

3. Jetski– There are 2 agents renting out Jetsi, One on the east and one on the west side which costs 4000/hr rent. At first, we only rented for 30 minutes to see how it feels. Anybody on our group can ride either single or double and take turns. 3 of us had a change to operate and play around on the ocean. Since we enjoyed it, we paid for another 30 minutes.

4. Parasailing – This was a very exciting activity to do in Puerto Galera which costs Php1000 per head. At first I was not sure getting on the parachute pulled by a boat was a good idea until I tried it. When we reached the top and seen the magnificent view of the beach, I was stunned. It was very beautiful seeing the area 360 degrees. Good thing we took the last batch and we had the perfect timing seeing the sunset while we are above.

5. Fire dancers – On Friday and Saturday nights along the shore of Puerto Galera, Fire Dancing is common attraction. It does not cost you to watch it but tipping would be nice. They normally perform in front of the bars along the beach. Just walk around after dinner and you will surely find them.

I'm sure there's a lot of other things you can do but those I shared were the ones we we explored.

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