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Stopover at Sison, Pangasinan
We suddenly exited TPLEX to make a stop in Pangasinan. We were only a couple of exits away from the end of the tollway and the last part of the trip, which was the climb to Baguio via either Marcos Highway or Kennon Road. And we were doing good time until this exit and detour.
Our stop was at this restaurant in Sison, Pangasinan, which I discovered was a drivers’ stop. Drivers of buses and vans stop here to get a free meal in exchange for them bringing their passengers who will likely eat, drink and shop for pasalubong here.
Pasalubong options including the usual local delicacies including nuts, biscuits, sweets, etc. Many items are not from Pangasinan but may be from neighboring provinces. I even found pastilles from Bulacan being sold here.
There are also fruits and vegetables for those who want to bring home to use in cooking. Though not a market, the prices at the stop are low as these are sourced from local farms.
Of course, there’s tupig at the stop. Tupig has its origins in the Ilocos Region so this is one of the places to get this rice cake delicacy.
Tupi fresh from the grill
We ended up not going back to the tollway but instead used the Manila North Road to Marcos Highway. Kennon Road was closed to general traffic when we passed by the junction. And so it took us almost 2 hours more to finally get to our hotel instead of about an hour if we had not made this stop.
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On expressway rest stops
Perhaps the first really nice rest stop long an expressway in the Philippines was the Petron station along the southbound side of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) that became operational more than 15 years ago (correct me if I’m wrong). Since then, there have been many additional rest stops/stations built along SLEX, NLEX and STAR Tollways. Rest stops have only been recently constructed along SCTEX and TPLEX. We stopped at the PTT station along the northbound side of SCTEX partly to check out their toilets. One colleague had mentioned that one should know which rest stops provided the best facilities in case of a toilet emergency. That, of course, can be a relative thing given the seasonality of traffic as well as the maintenance requirements for such facilities or amenities.
The PTT station did not disappoint as it basically had two options for the traveller – free toilets and a pay alternative. The payment is supposedly considered a donation to a charity supported by PTT. I opted to use the pay toilet (or lounge as some will call it) just so I know if it was worth the 20 pesos they charge. Following are a few photos for the discriminating travelers.
Wash basins and urinals are currently immaculate. This is understandable for a new facility but I hope they can keep it that way even when there are more traffic along SCTEX.
The toilet seems something like what you’ll find in a top quality resort or hotel with generous space, bidet, and a nice relaxing view of a pocket garden.
There are only 2 toilets in the men’s room. That is understandable since we most likely and often use the urinal instead of the toilet bowls. The ladies’ room should have more of these.
I think it is a big challenge for these stations/rest stops to maintain their facilities especially toilets. The volume of people and the frequencies of use (e.g., flushing, washing, etc.) will ultimately cause deterioration of faucets, water closets, etc. and these are usually free (service) with the station benefitting from the revenues generated by restaurants, shops and gas pumps rather than direct income from the use of toilets.
I would still suggest that rest stops also provide pay toilets and these should be expected to be clean and orderly compared to free toilets. I’m sure people will be willing to pay for this but then that shouldn’t be an excuse to neglect the free ones. Service is still the name of the game and quality service need to be provided by rest stops. Travelers will know about which stops have good facilities and word goes around quickly about comfort room quality among these stations. Of course, that goes without saying that such facilities should be child-friendly, PWD-friendly and senior citizen-friendly.
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Caught (up) in traffic 