I took my family to Clark last weekend. My grandmother 'Nanay' lost her brother in July last year but as her brother (we called him Uncle Vie) was buried in Pampanga, she was unfortunately unable to go during the 1-year death anniversary. As such, I decided I would plan a family trip to Pampanga to visit Uncle Vie and spend some time in Clark as well.
The Philippines was hit over the weekend by Typhoon Karen, but since it wasn't raining hard in Manila, we figured it might not be raining heavily in Pampanga either. It was mid-afternoon when we got to NLEX and it was at this point that we realized the rains here were significantly heavier. Our initial plan of going to the cemetery in the late afternoon first before checking into the hotel had to be tossed out because the weather was very bad. Add to that the fact that traffic in Pampanga was so intense due to the rains and a bit of flooding - it took us about an hour to get through about a 2-kilometer section in Dau! - and it was easy to decide to just rest in the evening and wake up early the next day and visit the cemetery then.
I booked a junior family suite in Hotel Widus (previously Hotel Vida). I saw pics of this hotel a year or so ago and have been interested to try it since, so when I saw a deal on Deal Grocer that was valid during the time that we had planned to go to Clark, I booked it immediately. It's a really good hotel - I think it was built only in 2008 so it's pretty new - and the service is excellent. The junior family suite was very spacious and comfortable. I don't know if this hotel is owned by a Korean but they actually have both Korean and Filipino receptionists. Make sure you know this when you call the front desk because it might be a Korean who answers, then you need to speak in English. :)
We got up early the next day, at around 7am, and it was good that we did because the breakfast room started filling up pretty quickly once we started eating. (Lots of people were checked in despite the storm.) I really enjoyed their breakfast spread. It's always a plus for me when the buffet includes corned beef, but on top of that, they also had some Korean items like bulgogi and kimchi. We all had a really full meal to start the day before getting ready to drive to the cemetery.
Uncle Vie was buried in Holy Mary cemetery with his wife, Auntie Edna, who passed away several years ago. It was raining slightly when we got there at around 9:30am but thankfully, it was no longer pouring like it was the day before. With a few umbrellas providing temporary shelter, we said the rosary and a prayer for the faithful departed for both of them and for the other relatives of Auntie Edna who were also buried in the same area.
Thankfully, the hotel gave us a late check-out time of 2pm which allowed me to take my nephew Ciera to the pool before leaving. One new experience for him was the pool bar - Azul Sunken Bar, as it is called. I ordered a vanilla shake for him and he enjoyed drinking it while sitting half-submerged in the water.
We checked out at a little past 1pm to give us some time to hit the duty free shops in Clark. I ended up getting a truckload of chocolates for myself: Cadbury, Twix, Reese's, and Hershey's assorted chocolates. Obviously I got stuff that aren't available in Manila or are cheaper there than in supermarkets here. I reckon in about a week's time, I will have packed a few extra pounds from all the calories in my refrigerator right now LOL.
It was actually quite a good trip for us despite the bad weather. Clearly, it would be a much better trip without all the rain so I'm now looking at bringing my family to Clark again at some point in the near future.
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