The Kenniverse is Pinoy: Subic Bay and Avilon Zoo

As you can tell by this sign we went to a place called Subic Bay Freeport this weekend. Subic Bay is a former US Navy base that has been transformed into one of the country's most successful industrial and tourism centers. It was a 2 and a half hour drive from Manila. On entering the Subic Bay zone the first thing I noticed were the drivers actually obeying the traffic laws! Unlike other areas in the Philippines, Subic Bay is very strict with their traffic offences. There are many things to do and see in Subic but since we were only there for a day trip, we only saw one thing: The Subic Bay Yacht Club!

Here's me posing at the Subic Bay Yacht Club. We don't own a yacht so this is the best photo you're going to see. There are yachts to the right of me; use your imagination. After my model shoot we had lunch and drove back to Manila.

The next day the family and I stuffed ourselves into a car and headed over to the Avilon Zoo. The Avilon Montalban Zoological Park is the largest zoological park in the Philippines, to date. The 7.5-hectare of the zoo lies in the picturesque valley of Barrio San Isidro, Rodriguez (formerly Montalban), Rizal, Philippines.

My impression of my zoo? It's a nice zoo although I found it odd that they didn't offer maps to the park at the entrance. The zoo is a little confusing without a map to guide your way. Once we started walking, I discovered the zoo has quite a nice assortment of animals. Some from the Philippines, and some from other countries. Oddly, the monkey section of the zoo didn't include any monkeys from the Philippines. I've always wanted to see the Philippine monkey, the tarssier. Look at the photo below that I 'borrowed' from the net:

Monkey? Or alien? Either way, wouldn't you want to give these little guys (smaller than your hand) a hug?

The animals we DID see are below:

Leopards.

Cougars.

Hyenas.

Tigers.

Plus hundreds of other animals. The zoo offered various 'photo locations' where for a small 50 peso fee you can get your photo taken with an assortment of animals.

Our first choice was the miniature horse! Oh, by the way, my brother-in-law on the right isn't a mutant with tiny arms and legs growing out of his back. The photographer unfortunately omitted most of my niece from the photo.

My next animal of choice was an eagle. Then a hawk...

Finally, an owl. I love this guy! Look how he's posing for the photo! Most humans can't even pose as eloquantly as this! I wanted to take him home but the zoo wouldn't allow me. I had dreams of putting a little saddle on my cat for the owl and watch them run around the yard together. But alas, this is one dream that will never see reality.