Revisiting the Old Gapan-Olongapo Road

(By: Pit Younghandsome)

It was still then towards end of December when I was last home at Sta Cruz. Just a week ago, my wifey told me that she already switched off our empty freezer; and that she already bought a 10-kilo pack of rice from the grocery. These are the so-called call of the times when a trip back home to Sta Cruz is needed ASAP. However, due to work requirements and kids’ activities during weekends (piano lessons, school things to buy, birthday party, etc.), I could not really squeeze a weekend rendezvous at Sta Cruz. As usual, I asked my kind and supportive Ca Henry to meet me halfway (at Subic) for the delivery of my abio.

A week before our halfway meeting, Ca Henry ordered from his Kumare at Malabago my usual favourites such as maya-maya and talakatak. These are perfect for deep-frying; while the ulo is for sinigang sa miso. As a side dish, fry some eggplants on the same oil used in frying the fish. Complete the meal with the usual sawsawan of bagoong and kamatis. Other fishes include bayang (good for inihaw); bangus (without the taste of “putik” as usually sold in Metropolis); dalagang bukid (fish na malapad), pero kung hindi malapad, tirong ang tawag doon. Of course, it will not be complete without the fresh native shrimps. Normally, nangingitim ang ulang pag niluto mo sila straight from the freezer. Para di mangitim ang mga ulang, put them in a reseable container with water before you freeze them.

To fully maximize our halfway meeting, Ca Henry butchered isang baboy for my consumption. Sa aming babuyan, we have one room for all bungsito -- mga baboy na mabagal lumaki. My father has a better term to it – “aprid to gro” (afraid to grow). Said bungsito room would give us our needed lechon for all occasions and pork meats for our personal consumption. As my househelp has yet to perfect the original taste of our binagis and estofado, Ca Henry already cooked binagis for me; at yong dalawang pata sa likod were cooked as estofado.

Aside from fish and pork meat, my abio also included 2 cavans of rice, assorted vegetables and a kaing of mangoes bought along the way in San Antonio by-pass road. So it is always worth the trip for my abio which would give us almost 2 months of consumption.

So last Sunday, it was a date for me and my wife. We heard mass at 8 AM; and after the mass, we headed to Subic. By 9:45 AM, we were already at NLEx Balintawak. As suggested by Insan Balong, we took the San Fernando exit. Ever since SCTEx opened in early 2008, I have been avoiding the old Gapan-Olongapo road due to traffic, particularly in the Lubao area. So last Sunday, it was my first time to use again the old highway after more than 3 years of enjoying the scenic but longer and more expensive SCTEx route.

To my surprise, the old Gapan-Olongapo road has been widen and rehabilitated. The old 2 lanes salubungan where overtaking was always a challenge had been widen to 4 lanes; and the best part of it, a new 4-lane by-pass road was constructed to avoid the usual bumper-to-bumper stretch of Lubao. At the Dinalupihan, you have the choice whether to take the SCTEx or the old highway. In my case, I took the SCTEx to avoid the zigzag portion of the Gapan-Olongapo road. I reached Subic at exactly 11:15 AM, or a travel time of 1 & ½ hours from Balintawak to Subic.

By taking the old Gapan-Olongapo road, I paid only P141 toll fee in NLEx (P195 for the whole stretch of NLEx); and P32 when I took the SCTEx at Dinalupihan instead of P150. Aside from reduced toll fees, I saved 30 kilometers of gas consumption as the old Gapan-Olongapo raod is shorter by 30 kilometers vis-a-vis the SCTEx route. And travel time? It was shortened by 20 minutes.

As we arrived much earlier than expected, we took the opportunity to extend our travel up to Garden of Prayer at Subic, and had lunch there with Ca Henry. On our way back to Manila, we stopped by at the outlet store of Pampanga’s Best and bought breakfast delights such as tocino, skinless longganisa, chicken hotdog, beef tapa, pork tapa and its famous boneless ham, the old American way. There is also an outlet along the old Gapan-Olongapo road where fresh farm eggs are being sold. These are one of those many things that you will miss if you take SCTEx. It was a tiring day-trip but a bountiful trip indeed.