Since our family is big by today's standards, vacations are difficult to plan. For one thing we have a baby to consider. We usually go down south on a plane to visit relatives during summer but this year with 5 kids we decided to stay close to home.
Our first choice was to go to the beach, we've never been to Laiya and we've heard a lot about the beach there. But since four of my kids took swimming lessons this year we thought that they would enjoy going to a place where there's a pool.
One option was the Pontefino Hotel. I've always been intrigued by that hotel. It's in Batangas BUT it's not by the beach. I'm sure the hotel would not have been built there if there were no attractions nearby. When I called they only had standard rooms available for the days that we're looking at and they only allow 2 kids in a room with 2 adults. Which means we need to get 2 rooms. Which won't make sense because all the kids would want to be all in one room anyway. Then someone recommended New Wellbeing Spa in Clark, Pampanga. It was just what we needed! It was clean, it had a big pool that wasn't quite deep plus there was a spa (for the adults to get some rest), and the best feature was that it was affordable!
I should have taken pictures of the suite but it got messy as soon as my family moved in. The rate of the suite is almost the same if not cheaper than a standard room here in manila. The suite has 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms and a small living room. My son was ecstatic as soon as he saw the wide screen tv. But we tried to limit tv viewing as we were there to bond and not watch tv. Of course the first thing that the kids did were to jump on the bed. To their dismay it didn't make them bounce back at all. They were dreading bedtime that night. The Pillows were also very plump, I immediately dismissed them as the usual hotel pillow that were very, very uncomfortable. But amazingly we woke up the next day without the usual aches and pains that accompanies a night's sleep with kids all around you. It turns out the beds are orthopedic beds, and the pillows, i don't know what they are but they didn't make my neck or back hurt one bit! A peek into the pillowcases showed that the pillows were covered in anti dust mite coverings. What a deal this hotel was!
The only thing that I didn't like was that it looked like they use lumber to heat up the sauna. The hotel offers free coupons for their Jimjilbang Sauna. It's composed of 3 rooms, the first one is the sauna, it's supposed to open up your pores. The second room is the charcoal room, it sucks out the toxins from your open pores while the third is the Ice room to close the pores. Different kinds of massages are available but I only had time for a 30 minute foot massage, it was ok, not great but ok.
The hotel is owned and managed by Koreans. The food is ok, the price is reasonable. The staff is very attentive. We're planning a trip up North again within the year. For more information visit this website: http://www.clarksubicmarketing.com/spas/clark_new_well_being_spa.htm
While in Clark there were a lot of things that we did aside from shopping. We toured the Clark Museum, we were surprised to discover that the name of the camp was Fort Stotsenberg, after an American officer who led a troop against Filipinos in the early part of their rule. One thing we didn't find out though was how it was renamed as Clark Air Base. But there were some articles and memorabilia of someone named Clark. I guess it was him but there was no information why it was named after him. The museum didn't really look promising but the older kids found it quite interesting. My son found the old guns quite fascinating.
After the Clark Museum we went to Nayong Filipino. Because 3 of my kids are already in grade school they found it cool having their pictures taken in front of replicas of our heroes like Rizal and Andres Bonifacio. The park is not quite finished but there would be spanish and filipino sections that would surely be interesting. It rained soon so were weren't able to fully explore the park. Btw, entrance to the park is free! But donations are greatly encouraged. My husband, ever the nationalist, made sure to put in some money in their dropbox.
There was a playground near the air base that featured actual planes and helicopters, we've always wanted to go to the air force museum here in nichols. But this was good enough for a short afternoon play.
One cannot help but imagine how it used to look like when it was still under the Americans. Some buildings and houses are still in ruins, which is a bit depressing. But I hope our government can make good use of the old camp.
