THREE DAYS, TWO NIGHTS ON MOONBAY

(FROM A WEEKEND NOTE, THE EDITOR'S LETTER IN STYLE WEEKEND, MANILA BULLETIN'S WEEKEND SPECIAL, EVERY FRIDAY, 11 APRIL 2008)

On the road to Subic, life is good, especially behind the wheel of a Ford Everest 2.5L TDCi 4x2 AT that is designed for complete comfort. On both sides on long stretches of the Northern Luzon Expressway, the grass is green, soaking up the sun and swaying to a gentle breeze. Looking out the window of a car on the move, you begin to wonder, “Does a food shortage really threaten the world? Is global warming a real problem? Is the sinking of the dollar directly proportional to the soaring of prices?”

BLURB
There’s plenty to do here and at night there’s so much fun, like on Magsaysay Road, but you have to know where to go or someone to take you there. —Zed Avecilla, owner, Lighthouse Marina Resort

In Subic, especially within the jurisdiction of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, life is even better, with so much room to play and even more room to just sit back and take in the endless skies, the shimmering views of a calm bay bordered by mountain ranges, and, particularly at the Subic Bay Yacht Club, the sailboats bobbing up and down the harbor, at rest from a life designed to control the force of wind and chart a course across seas, which, like life, are as often easygoing as they are rough and violent.

There’s no better place from which to rediscover Subic than at the resort-of-the-moment, the Lighthouse Marina, a boutique resort at the central business district of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. Just a little over a year old, this new place-to-be is almost like a secret that unravels itself to only two people at a time, especially with rooms that require utmost intimacy, thanks to a floating tub enclosed, along with the rest of the bathroom, in transparent glass in each of the rooms.

The Lighthouse Marina Resort is sleek and ultra-modern in its Palafox-designed architecture, yet it is nothing like any five-star hotel in the city. Its view of the Moonbay Marina from any of the Aqua Veranda rooms instantly lets the guest comfortably, if languidly, straddle manmade and natural splendor. Even better, looking out on the veranda, it feels like a different country. You could easily have been on the Gold Coast in Queensland, except that you’re only barely three hours away from Manila.

On the second day of our three-day/two-night adventure in Subic, Lighthouse Marina Resort owner and marketing manager Zedric Avecilla took us on a cruise on Subic Bay aboard his sailboat, the Selma Star. For Zed, as he is called, the resort, which continues to draw inspiration from his family’s love of sailing, is a work in progress. His father Jun Avecilla, after all, is a champion sailor and it only seems natural that the son is following in his father’s footsteps. Among Zed’s many plans for the waterfront luxury boutique, which, aside from his family and his sailing expeditions, keeps him occupied 24/7, is a quay, along with a host of other watersports activities for the resort guests. This is not to say there is not enough to do at the Lighthouse Marina, other than luxuriating in your room, cooped up in bed watching pay-per-view on a 42-inch LCD flat screen. The poolside Bar 720, which has a long list of cocktails to keep you in high spirits all night, not to mention a band or two on select nights of the week to keep you in the mood for singing and dancing, is glossy and contemporary enough to make any sophisticate looking for a night on the town feel right at home.

On our last day, Zed’s father, Mr. Avecilla, took us on a late lunch al fresco to try on the Mediterranean dishes prepared by the Turkish chef Oz Demir Mustafa, whom they had flown in only four weeks ago for Sands, the resort’s all-day dining restaurant with a view of the marina and the pool area. With the non-English-speaking chef to help translate was Turkey-born, Sweden-raised, and now Philippine-based restaurateur and furniture exporter Ajax Akkoic, who entertained us with vivid images of what it was like to live, shop, and love in Istanbul, whetting our appetite for all things Turkish, including the kebabs and the gyros Chef Oz served course after course through our 180-minute lunch hour with Zed and his father.

By the time the restaurant staff served coffee and fried apricots with vanilla ice cream for dessert, I was elsewhere, dreaming up a perfect afternoon on the Aegean Sea. Zed must also keep stock of good Turkish wine, like the award-winning Muscat ’97 from Kavaklidere, to go with Chef Oz’s specialties.

Ah, there’s the good life, indeed, in Subic. I could easily have been on the Bosporus, except that I was only barely three hours away from home.

A
post me at aapatawaran@yahoo.com.