field trip

Since it opened some years ago (around 2004 I think), I have always wanted to visit the Avilon Zoo in Montalban, Rizal.  I can't recall why I never did.  Maybe it's because weekends were too busy with chores, activities with Make-A-Wish, or was just too lazy to make the effort. 

Last Saturday, the chance to visit the zoo finally came.  My sister's Zoology class was having a field trip and my boyfriend and I decided to tag along.  Since my sister's group were going from LB, they had to have a couple hours' headstart.  I took the MRT to Trinoma and met my boyfriend there at around half past 10.  We had printed the "map" posted at the Zoo's website along with the 3 versions of "How to get to Avilon Zoo" that I googled days before so we had a vague idea where we were going.  We took the Commonwealth route, past Marikina and on to Rodriguez, Rizal.  We kept looking out for Mercury Drugs, Total Gas stations and whatever other landmarks were given in the directions.  Of course, rereading those printouts now made me realize just how bad we Filipinos are at giving directions (no insult intended)….but I digress.  Merging the details from the 3 different versions, we got to the general area where the Zoo was located.  We even managed to find Twiglet Mini Mart….funnily enough, the printouts said to turn left when we find the mini mart, which we did and ended up driving all the way to the ends of a housing project.  We made our way back to where we came from (Twiglet's) and got a big scare when a huge, hairy spider dropped onto the windshield.  Ugh.  That was our welcome committee. Hahaha. 

We found the tiny Avilon Zoo sign on the little dirt road (first dirt road left of Twiglets since the 2nd dirt road goes to the housing project…duh!) and went our way. Finally! We made it.  After more than 2 hours of driving around.  Regardless of the ambiguity of the directions we had, it helped…a bit.

First order of business when we got there.  Introductions to my sister's professor and her classmates.  Lunch was individual orders of Teriyaki Chicken, Boneless Bangus (it wasn't boneless at all) and Inihaw na porkchop.  Each came with rice, atsara, veggies and a bottle of Summit mineral water.  Although the food was nothing to rave about, it wasn't so bad either…for 95 bucks.

The next 2 hours found us wandering around the zoo.  We spent the longest time with the crocs and tigers.  It was fun to see such sedentary reptile move so fast each time we threw in a leaf.  The tiger was beautiful but the cubs were just something else.  It was like playing with big kitties.  And since my sister and I adored felines, we were in cat heaven.

 We also had the chance to talk to the zoo vet and watch a local TV station film the Jaguar for the evening news.

Here are some pics of the zoo that caught my interest:

There still tons of room for improvement for Avilon Zoo but definitely it has the potentials of becoming something like the Singapore Zoo. 

To top off a nice day, we had dinner at Steak MD along Tomas Morato.  I had their recommended "rub ko 'to" rub to go with my medium-rare large (335g) T-bone steak.  An order of their special rice (had a hint of pandan in it), a side of veggies and a can of Mountain Dew (they only serve Pepsi products) rounded up the meal.  Between the three of us, our bill totaled to Php800.  Not bad.  Definitely going back for seconds and thirds soon…maybe fourths even.