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Road Trip
Roll with it
With a little help from our Hotwire friends, we discover a side of Angeles, Pampanga, we didn't even know existed
Words by Dinzo Tabamo; Photography by Chino Acosta
The departure time was set at 5AM.
Hence, I had to wake up at 4am, a blasphemous time to rise on a lazy Saturday morning. Our destination this time was Angeles, Pampanga. Truth be told, I had a casual feeling about this trip because Angeles was already a familiar destination. Nonetheless, even a laid-back road trip is a fun jaunt. Not all trips can feature rappelling or wakeboarding. Heaven forbid.
I started up the Kia Sportage—our fine carriage for this trip—and picked up senior art director Jaykee Evangelista and then photog Chino Acosta. It felt like déjà vu to be with Jaykee and Chino on a road trip, in a compact Korean SUV no less. One thing was for sure: This wasn't going to be a boring trip.
At Total's spanking new North Luzon Expressway complex, we met up with the crew of the Hotwire TV show, led by producers Mitch Genato and Ronnie Trinidad. Rounding out their full house were host Jinno Rufino, Mitch's girlfriend Melis, associate producer Johnsy Reyes, and production coordinators Tinni Isaguirre and Ira Lesaca.
The Sportage performed admirably on the expressway. Its 2.0-liter diesel power plant may not seem remarkable on paper, but the Sportage now has a badge that says CRDi on its rear end. This makes all the difference between a bored look on your face and an excited grin behind the steering wheel.
'Nice balls, old chap'
Our first stop was the Angeles City Sports Club, located just off the Clark Special Economic Zone. After we parked our vehicles, we proceeded to what looked like large, rectangular sections of immaculately manicured green grass. We learned that these were lawn bowling courts, and they were used for a game called, um, lawn bowls. We met our guide, Mang Mar, and he explained what this English game was all about.
The equipment for lawn bowling looked simple enough: a small white ball called a 'jack', a plastic mat, and heavy black balls (although I learned on the Internet that these can be a variety of colors) called 'bowls' that are made to be heavier on one side.
Each court had six rinks running roughly five and a half meters wide. We all stood at one end of the rink, and Mang Mar laid down the mat on our end. He then placed the jack at the other end, making sure both the mat and the jack were aligned with the markers on both ends.
He went back to where we were standing and grabbed one of the bowls. He stepped on the mat, bent his knees and aimed at the jack. Wrapped in our wonder, we didn't question the seemingly unorthodox throw aimed to the left of the jack. Mang Mar released the bowl in a move similar to a bowling throw but with less showy moves.
We watched the bowl go in a straight line—moving away from the jack—then the weight bias made sense, the bowl's path curved to the side where the bowl was lighter as it slowed down. The bowl came to a rest near the jack.
We all grabbed bowls and started rolling them toward the jack. The bowls went very wide at first, then started getting closer as we got the hang of it. The image lawn bowls gave was that of a gentleman's game: Players politely waited their turn, while the player on the mat was quiet and contemplative before his throw.
As a sport that traces its roots to 13th-century London, lawn bowling turned out to be surprisingly fun—addictive even—in this era of extreme sports. By this time, it was mid-morning and it was getting hot, so some of us started taking off our shirts instead of seeking air-conditioned refuge inside the clubhouse. I didn't take my shirt off. When people see me shirtless, they have an odd reaction, as if it starts dawning on them why there's famine in other parts of the world.
The sports club also had other amenities like a nine-hole, par-27 golf course, a driving range, swimming pool, first-class villas for guests, and international cuisine. But it was also only one of three places in the whole country with lawn bowling greens, so we had no qualms about spending our whole morning on the lawn.
Buon appetito!
After a meaty kapampangan lunch (sisig! yeah!) at the sports club, we proceeded to our hotel in the Clark Special Economic Zone—the Hotel Stotsenburg. One of the newer hotels in the area, the Stotsenburg's main draw is its casino— Casablanca, which even has its own Vegas showgirls. We laid our heads on the deluxe beds in our suites and decided the next item on our agenda was an afternoon nap.
Refreshed from our siesta, we went out and drove around Clark, enjoying the Kia Sportage on Clark's traffic-free roads. We were not newcomers to Clark as plenty of motoring events had been held there, but the open roads and tree-lined avenues are always a simple joy we will never get tired of.
By early evening, our stomach's low fuel indicators lit up. Mitch arranged for us to have dinner in C' Italian Dining, a restaurant near Clark's Friendship Gate. I wasn't expecting much. Pampanga is certainly a culinary center of the Philippines if you were expecting sisig. But pasta? Doubtful.
We arrived at the place and were welcomed by Chef Chris Locher, who exemplified the no-nonsense and professional (and usually very good) chefs you see on Discovery Travel & Living. In true Italian style, we were served a bread basket first with some balsamic vinegar mixed with olive oil, and parmesan cheese on the side. I began to realize this was no ordinary Italian restaurant. Italianni's was already beginning to look like a ripoff.
Then the staff served us panizzas, a combination of panini and pizza they created, layered with five different cheeses and spices. After a few bites, I realized this wasn't mere food; this was a dining experience of pure culinary orgasm. We were served three different types of panizzas: Paolo Miguel (parma ham, artichokes, mushrooms); Kristina (bacon and ham, caramelized onions, mushrooms); and Jando (Italian salami, garlic, chili flakes, sun-dried tomatoes).
The feast continued with pasta. All were sublime. The creaminess of the carbonara made love to our taste buds, and the seafood in the fruti di mare tasted as if they were harvested mere hours before. None of the flavors overpowered the others, and each made its presence felt while complementing the rest of the ingredients.
Chef Chris passed by to see how we were stuffing ourselves. He glanced at our table, then said: "I'll send over some steak." We weren't sure what to expect, except maybe a few choice cuts of meat to top off the pasta.
We surely didn't expect a whole rack of "US prime angus flank steak marinated with black pepper, garlic and assorted herbs, grilled to perfection and served with red wine reduction, oven-roasted potato and baby green asparagus." In the menu, it was called Bistecca Di C, and it was just beautiful. My eyes welled up at the sight of the perfectly roasted beef on top of potatoes with meat and red wine juices underneath. If it looked good, it tasted so much better. It was one of the best steaks I'd ever had.
We were stuffed and could hardly move a muscle. It was time for dessert. It was a good thing we in Top Gear had been retrofitted with an aftermarket compartment for dessert. I was served a wonderful concoction of Kahlua gelato that gave new meaning to 'happy ending'.
Just for C' Italian Dining, the trip was already worth it. The dining experience, the service, the venue, the food (oh, the food) were magnificent. Even the table napkins smelled good. It probably sounds like the chef paid us or something of the sort. Actually, he did—he bribed us with the best Italian food we'd ever had.
For a nightcap, we didn't venture away from the Hotel Stotsenburg anymore. We saw the beautiful courtyard they had and sat down on the chairs provided. All that was missing was beer, so we asked the hotel staff for some and they gladly accommodated our request. Sipping brewskies under the clear Angeles evening sky was the perfect conclusion to an eventful day.
Here comes the rain again
The next day, the time at which we all agreed to wake up was completeley ignored by both the Top Gear and Hotwire crews.
We drove to the Angeles City Sports Club to try out the other amenities, but we really just wanted to play more lawn bowling. Sadly, it rained. We weren't disappointed for long because the sports club had satellite TV.
We were able to watch the Pacquiao-Barrera fight live, with absolutely no commercial interruptions. We left right after the match because we didn't want to see any Philippine government officials whoop it up with Manny and ruin the national pride we felt.
I got more than the road trip I had expected. I believe in planning well before embarking on a trip, but sometimes it's just best to hop in and let the journey unravel itself.
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Top Gear Philippines - December 2007
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