Finally, we had the chance to experience another real outing with the PIAO staff… because for the past two years we have not been able to go on what others may consider a REAL team-building because we only just go to Tagaytay to eat and tour the sites (visit zoos, ride the zip, do some souvenir shopping) then eat; pose for pictures and eat again…before heading home without sleeping over…really just one big food trip and daytour (whatever you may wish to call it…)
But this time, we decided to visit Subic and sleepover at a nondescript inn at Olongapo city that’s well within our budget (hehehe coz we can’t afford to stay inside Subic eh) …our group left early at 6am so we could travel to Subic within three hours. We had a short side trip at Jolibee in Tabang for breakfast. We reached Ocean Adventure at 9am but only Kaye, Kit, Jairah and I entered because the others didn’t feel like watching e…or maybe they didn’t want to shell out that much money. Instead, they went to JEST camp for some trekking and survival training (which I believe only cost about PhP150 or PhP200). But then again, I wouldn’t trade our Ocean Adventure for anything because WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!!...and its PhP 500 price tag is truly truly worth it!!! Just too bad for the others huh?
The adventure started with a short briefing about the animals we would soon encounter – the seals and dolphins they have acquired and named liked regular pets. Then, we visited them in their pens and cages and we saw even then that they were truly such playful creatures…after about 30 minutes of just idle browsing, off we went na to our first show – The Sea Lion Show!
It was funny and at the same time educational – the seals displayed their tricks and antics really well and taught the people (esp the kids) in the audience the importance of caring for the environment. The next show was a bit boring – on jungle survival and they showcased some jungle animals that had been trained to do some tricks but it wasn’t as engaging as the previous show. The most exciting part (well, for me that is) is the Diving Act It was truly amazing and quite funny too – how the Australian divers interacted with the audience and with each other so they just didn’t do one dive after another but instead had a funny story to tell – their stunts were truly death-defying and breathtaking! And last but not the least is another great show which the kids truly loved – the dolphin show! It would have been fun to be able to interact live with the dolphins but we heard it cost an arm and a leg so we just contented ourselves to watching them from afar…anyway, it was fun just being there and watching them perform…
It was even worth it to have missed the lunch that they had at JEST camp because the show ended at past 1:00 PM already and so we only passed by a Jollibee drive-thru en route to Olongapo’s By the Sea Resort so the kids and I can eat lunch in the van. We reached Olongapo after an hour and we rested a bit inside the room before the kids hankered to swim in the pool and so I just let them go ahead while we just stayed inside to enjoy the room's airconditioning. Around 5, Joey and I went out to try to scout around for a restaurant for our dinner tonight and luckily we found one just walking distance from the hotel/inn. By 5 and it was already a bit cool, the hubby and I decided to join the kids in the pool.
At around 7 we took a bath na so that we could be ready for dinner at 7:30… After dinner, we went back to the inn where the boys had some drinks (at an outdoor bar) while we just hanged out and took advantage of the free wi-fi in the bar. By 10, we went back in the room, watched a bit of TV and fell asleep shortly…
The next day, we had breakfast at a nearby Andok’s resto then the kids took an early morning dip (both in the beach and in the pool) The hubby and I decided against swimming with them na and instead just took a bath in the hotel bathroom. By 11:30 we checked out of the hotel na and proceeded to buy some Lotus slippers (in Olongapo market) and do some duty-free shopping at Puregold, Subic. By 1PM, we had lunch at JEST camp (again!) although we should have called them first so that they could have prepared for our meal ahead of time… as it was we waited a bit for the food to be cooked. Ended up leaving for the office at 3PM na and reached VLuna at 5:00 …waited a bit for the shuttle and finally got home at 7:30 PM…truly tired but so much satiated at how well everyone enjoyed our office team-building no matter how simple and tight-budgeted it was…
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