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Acuatico Beach Resort & Hotel


After new years, I asked my brothers if they were interested to chip-in and treat our parents for an out of town trip in Acuatico Beach, San Juan, Batangas. So happy that they were in! I have to admit though, Acuatico is probably the most expensive place to stay at along Laiya and it's almost always fully booked!

Lucky for us there were slots available (best to book direct) for the last weekend of February (Feb 27-29). So we got the biggest property which was called Estancia, that has 3 rooms and can accommodate up to 6 people. The given rate for booking direct was ₱23,400 for a Saturday and ₱22,200 for a Sunday.

To make the long story short our total booking cost us ₱45,600 (₱7,600 each for group of 6) for a 3 days 2 nights stay in this resort. It was hella expensive but then I realized my parents deserved the best so... :) Moving on to the rooms:

 
This is the room on the second floor.

 
And another master bedroom on the first floor.


The last room I assume is for the kids that has 2 single beds.


This is the living room which is the first thing you'll see as you enter the property. As you can see from the first photo of this post, Estancia is basically just a small house but at least they maximized the space available and the interior design was simple but still looks elegant.

I did a bit of research before we came here and some complained about the bathroom. That was enough to give my family a little heads up that the resort we're visiting is not the best of the best despite the expensive overnight rates. I mean, one can't really have it all right? :p



 
Estancia has one big bathroom that was converted and redesigned to have 2 showers and 2 toilets. So if you're a group of 6 and in a hurry, may I suggest using the public shower rooms outside which I honestly think are better to use. Also, take note that those transparent windows/glass aren't that transparent. Meaning I can still see who's inside, in all his/her naked gloriousness. HAHAHA.

Our stay included buffet breakfast and I couldn't complain, everything was good. Love their Batangas coffee. For those who want to have dinner, they have dinner buffet 'til 9PM for ₱700 per person. After that they'll be serving ala carte. Sadly I wasn't impressed with the dishes served during dinner. I was expecting to have lotsa seafood but then choices were very limited to chicken, pork, etc.


Moving on, when we're not eating we're swimming. We love the infinity pool. You may use their kayak and pedal boat at no extra charge.


That's my brother and his girlfriend enjoying other facilities like the JetSki available for rent for ₱2,500 (good for 30 mins).


Few meters from Acuatico is Acuaverde Beach Resort. This place looks bigger in terms of space. We had our lunch buffet here for ₱500 per person.


Of course we couldn't leave the resort without a photo-op with the gorgeous infinity pool. Some might notice we're a group of 8. Management charged us extra ₱1,500 per person per night.

So would I recommend visiting Acuatico? Yes, but only once. It's just too expensive! But at least I was able to bond with my family and that's the most important part of this trip. :)

Baler, Aurora

Inside the largest Balete tree in Asia, also known as "Millenium Tree".

I'm back once again in Aurora province for an out of town weekend with some friends. This is actually my second time in Baler and I'm glad the weather cooperated. The other reason why we're back is that I wanted to pickup the kitten I'm adopting from my college friend. New year, new pet, why not? :)

Paolo (the boyfriend) and I left Manila around 5:00AM and drove all the way to San Fernando, Pampanga to meet my best friend Faye. From there we had to wait for her friend and we all had breakfast in Nathaniel's. Baler is approximately 4-5 hours away from Pampanga and 6-7 hours if coming from Manila.

For this trip we booked the Casita de Bahia room (good for 4 pax) of Costa Pacifica via Agoda which cost us approximately ₱2,800 per pax (overnight rate), breakfast included. When we arrived, I was kinda happy to see that the place looked like a ghost town and then we were greeted by this view:

Minsan ka na nga lang makapag check-in sa Costa Pacifica, sabay walang tubig sa pool. LOL

 

 


The whole resort was basically under repair and maintenance, maybe they took advantage since it wasn't surfing and/or summer season yet. Because of this, our room was upgraded.

We didn't want to waste our time so after having lunch my friends invited me to go on a trekking adventure to Dimutabo Falls, also known as Mother Falls which is located in the neighboring town of San Luis, Aurora. From Costa Pacifica, we drove for approximately 20 minutes to get to the starting point of our trek. For those driving their own car, take note that there's a parking area available in the starting point so no need to hire tricycles and other modes of transport to get to the entrance.


If you plan to go trekking please make sure you're wearing proper trekking shoes. My fried told us that wearing flipflops will do but I beg to disagree. The walk to the falls took approximately 30-40 minutes. Like any other adventure, expect it to be hard at first. And if you can, don't bring anything except yourself? :) Paolo and I managed to bring our gadgets though, his Fujifilm X-T1 (water resistant) and GoPro Session (waterproof) cameras.


According to locals, Aurora got hit by a typhoon by year end of 2015 and badly damaged the passage going to Mother Falls. Huge trees and big chunks of stones literally blocked the way.

Do not be fooled by the photo, the flow of water from the mountain was a bit rough so you need to be careful when crossing 'coz there's a high chance that you'll slip, lose your slippers or whatnot. Here's Faye with her friend Manuel slowly crossing the river with the help of a rope.

We arrived around 4:00PM and there were only a handful of people left which was good I guess? Haha. It's been a while since I last saw a waterfall so it felt good to see one again after so many years.

According to Faye, waters were wayyy shallow now compared before. Thanks to the huge chunks of rock maybe? At least it lessened the chances of drowning.

We didn't stayed that long and made sure we were back in our hotel just in time for dinner. Speaking of dinner, I failed to took photos of the food we ordered (which were all good by the way and reasonable priced) 'coz everyone was hungry after our afternoon trek. This is just me and my bff Faye posing for the camera. LOL 

The next day I invited the gang to visit another tourist spot near Baler which is the Millenium Tree found in Quirino, Aurora. It is considered one of the biggest and oldest tree in Asia.

One of the tourist guides knew how to take a panoramic photo using the iPhone so he basically asked us to pose and this was the output of his shot.

Talk about cheesy. ♥♥♥

 
Before I end this post I'd also like to share a photo of my new pet that I adopted and named Sydney. She's a mix breed of Persian and Siamese cat. This is also my first time to actually be a "cat mom" to a kitten so wish me luck! If you have time, follow my posts about her using the hashtag #SydneyThePussy. Hehehe.

To properly end this post I'm sharing my first travel video for 2016. Enjoy! :)

Pacific Waves Inn Baler

Walking distance from Sabang beach is the main building of Pacific Waves Inn, Baler, Aurora. :)

My friend from college is back in Manila for a short vacation and one of our rituals is to go out of town and have the ultimate bonding experience (UBE!). Our destination this time around is Baler in Aurora, Quezon where a friend (also from college) offered to host us during our stay. I'm quite excited because I haven't been to Baler and was really looking forward to try surfing!



Meet Angel, remember her from my Tagaytay post back in 2012? :) We call ourselves B1 and B2 from the popular 90's show Bananas in Pajamas. LOL.


Captured this photo along the way, it looked like we were on our way to Baguio. Haha. Our road trip started in San Fernando, Pampanga so it took us around 4-5 hours (I think) to get to Aurora.


We weren't expecting this kind of (nakakatamad) weather but look there's still a lot of people surfing and enjoying the huge waves of Sabang beach. ;)


Our lazy hormones kicked in and we all decided to stay indoors. Here's the room at the 3rd floor of Pacific Waves Inn. Not exactly sure if this room is already open to the public but the rate for this one is ₱3,500 per night.


The room can accommodate approximately 8-10 pax. Extra mats/bed are available for a minimum charge.


Say hi to my friends Jay, Angel and Faye. :) The stairs I think lead to the roof top which I didn't bother checking because it was raining. LOL.

I forgot to take a photo of our private bathroom that have hot and cold shower. Some parts of the inn are still under renovation but I assure you guys that Pacific Waves is the best accommodation for budget travelers looking for an affordable beachfront accommodation along Sabang beach. :)


Instead of hanging out, we all fell asleep (pagbigyan niyo na, puyat eh!) and failed to have dinner outside. Haha. Here's a stolen photo of us while sleeping around 1:00AM. Angel was obviously up thanks to her jetlagged body clock. Hehe.

Speaking of dinner/food, we noticed that there was a limited number of restaurants by the beach. We tried having breakfast at Costa Pacifica (which was like 5 minutes walk away from the inn) but the receptionist didn't allow us just coz they're fully booked and couldn't accommodate outsiders. Boooo!

Buti na lang Pacific Waves Inn has an open kitchen where guests are free to bring or cook their meals at no extra charge. ;) Interested to book? Like them on Facebook and visit their website here!

P.S. Thank you once again to Marvin for hosting us! I promise to go back soon, within the year of course. Thank you!!!! :)

Annette's Condo at Fairways Tower, BGC

Renting a unit in BGC is easy as 1-2-3 with Airbnb!

I live and grew up in Taguig so I'm not gonna deny the fact that I wish to live in the upscale area of Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in the near future. But since I can't afford to buy a unit for now, renting one will do thanks to Airbnb. :)



For today's staycation, I've chosen Annette's 1-bedroom unit at Fairways Tower.

If I were to choose the perfect location in BGC it would be somewhere that's a little distant from the malls and has the view of the Manila Golf Course and the skyscrapers of Makati City. Annette's condo had it all so I didn't think twice about booking it over the weekend. Her unit had all the amenities needed plus there are 2 parking slots available for use at no extra charge.


The unit is roughly around 50-60sqm and could accommodate up to 4 pax. The room has a king-sized bed and a sofa bed.


Bathroom is clean and Annette provided almost all toiletries needed by travelers.


Here's the kitchen and dining area for those who want to cook. :)


The living area has a flat screen TV with DVD player. I got too distracted by the internet so I failed to check if it's cable ready. Anyway, like the bedroom, it had a nice view of the golf course and the city skyline.

Don't you just love the monochromatic interior design of this unit? If interested to rent Annette's apartment click here. For additional $25 discount, sign up here. ;)

Casa Minerva Tagaytay

Casa Minerva, Tagaytay

Early January I got an email from owner of this house inviting me to check out her newly converted bed and breakfast (b&b) home in Tagaytay. Timing was perfect because my boss wanted to have an out of town planning for our team and she agreed to stay here instead of booking somewhere else. This post is basically an ex-deal but I shall try my best to give constructive comments and suggestions for improvement of the property. :)


Moving on.. According to the owner, the house was built back in 1999 and served as their vacation home during her younger years. When her dad died in 2008, the house got neglected and her mom wanted to get rid of the property by selling it. Of course she didn't agree so in 2013, they went back to check the condition of the house and from there they decided to restore and convert it to a b&b house.


Casa Minerva officially opened last November 2014. I asked her who's Minerva (LOL, chismosa ba?) and said she's her favorite Roman goddess.


Our team arrived around 1:30PM but decided to chill muna by watching a movie. There's cable TV and WiFi. Meanwhile, I kept myself busy by documenting parts of the house for my blog. :)


Here's the masters bedroom. It has its own bath but failed to take a photo (may tao kasi sa loob, lol).


Here's room number 1 that's good for 2 pax.


Meanwhile, room number 2 is good for 3 pax. There's an extra bed under the right bed.


Here's the common bath for rooms 1 and 2. My only complaint is that water pressure is low.. probably because someone was also taking a shower from the other bathrooms. But at least they have water heaters installed. ;)

By the way there's a 4th room downstairs that has its own bath too but forgot to take a photo. That's where our driver stayed for the night. ;)


Moving on, of course you're allowed to bring your own food and prepare it in their kitchen. Very convenient din coz you no longer need to go out. ;) But if I may suggest, maybe the owner can add a water dispenser para no need to bring our own right? While I'm at it, maybe you can also add towels. Not that I forgot to bring my own towel, for some travelers it's easier to pack without one.


I like that they maximized the space of the house by adding an outdoor area like the mini garden on the left and a pool on the right. Parang ang sarap tumambay dito with friends on a hot summer day.


The garage can accommodate 1-2 cars but I'm sure management will allow parking outside since di naman busy street yung location ng house. :)


What I like about this house is that it feels like home away from home. Yes, it may look a little bit old but at least they were able to restore and earn something from it. ;)

Daily rate for Casa Minerva is ₱12,500 (22 hours), check-in time is 12:00PM while check-out is by 10:00AM. If interested you may directly contact them at +639178450523 or send a PM through their Facebook page. ;)
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