Pico de Loro

My dad's group of friends (seriously, all senior citizen-retirees) decided to go to Pico de Loro. My Dad can't move around easily, so my Mom had to accompany him. And since my Mom can't manage my Dad, the luggage and what-not by herself, my brother and I got free, all-expenses paid "vacations" in exchange for assisting and being gofers and errand boy and girl for the parents.

In between all that, I managed some pictures. ;)

The entrance at the Pico Hotel Sands where we all stayed. Or Pico Sands Hotel. Or Hotel Pico Sands. Or some arrangement thereof.

The back lawn of the hotel

At the clubhouse

View of the beach from the St. Therese chapel

The  infinity pool fronting the beach

A panoramic shot of the man-made lake (click for full size) behind the hotel

The beach was okay by my standards -- no rocks, no seaweeds. But there were fish swimming with you. And once when I was just floating, I saw an eagle soaring in the sky!

Kainan sa Dalampasigan

On the way to Pico de Loro, we had lunch at Kainan sa Dalampasigan (somewhere in Batangas). It's a beautiful and airy restaurant with a lot of plants.

We had binalot which was rice (lots of it), chicken and pork adobo, and inihaw na hipon (roasted shrimps?), all wrapped in banana leaf. Hence, binalot = wrapped. We also had roasted tomatoes, bulalo, and since there were a lot of us, we got free leche flan for dessert. Yay! I wasn't able to finish all my rice, so my brother and I swapped. Some of my rice for his roasted shrimps.

Pictures! (no food pictures though)

The sign at streetside:

 The welcoming doorway:

Ceiling and floor:

The fountain. Oh, there's me too.

Baguio Country Club

Overcast two-day stay at the Baguio Country Club. It was for work but it wasn't so stressful and I got some much deserved (lagi naman) R&R.

Little nook over our seminar venue

View from our bedroom window. It's so peaceful, isn't it?

Facade at dusk

Pictures were taken with my camphone so there aren't as high-def as I would like, but you get the idea.

Acuatico

So the family went to Acuatico for the weekend. Place was great and the staff were great. The food was a bit so-so but then again, I'm on a diet. Hehehe.

At that time, the place was fully booked, but you wouldn't feel it. the cottages were grouped around the infinity pool and it was quite private.

Even fully booked, the pool was never more than a third full, it was that big! I realized I don't have pictures of the beach, but it was good too. Sand wasn't really powdery, but it wasn't rocky either. And it didn't have seaweeds. :)

Loungers were generously placed around the pool and on the beach.

I could definitely come back here!

Caramoan

For the Holy Week long weekend, G invited me to join her church group for a 3,000 peso-challenge vacation in Caramoan. Kuya Mark arranged everything for us and I just had to appear at the designated meeting place. Nice, right!

For those geographically challenged like me, here's the wiki link on Caramoan.

We left on wednesday night and arrived at about lunchtime on Thursday, after a butt-numbing van ride through the night. (There were 14 of us and no hope of getting bus tickets with the Holy Week crush.) Then a 2-hour boat ride (also butt-numbing since you had to sit on a very narrow bench with little leg room). Then a trike ride until we reached Paniman where we rented a house (Kuya Ramil! He's famous). Kuya Ramil's wife also prepared our food for us including packed lunch for island hopping.

After some freshening up, we went straight for the short trip island hopping. Then the long-trip island hopping on Good Friday where after swimming and rolling in sand, we also played capture-the-tail(?) and patintero. Just before sunset, we went to the cave where Survivor holds some of its council meetings. We were not prepared because though some  of us had portable lights, we left them at the house. Sayang. hahaha.

Then, for dinner we had  Kuya Rico's surprise(?) birthday celebration -- with pansit, cake, and ice cream. We also played pinoy henyo, I lost because I couldn't guess "Bam Aquino". Nyak.

We left on Saturday and got back at around 12 midnight.

My left side was totally sunburned (because of the boat rides while island hopping) but I made lots of new friends!

I was a bit lazy and too preoccupied to take pictures. Here are some of them.

And hey, we exceeded the 3000 pesos budget by (drum roll please) 180 pesos. Hahahah! Great fun. I hope they invite me next time. :)

Batad

G and I got another voucher from Cashcashpinoy. This time for a Batad weekend arranged by Access8 Tours and Events. There were about twenty of us, including our two guides for the weekend.

We went to the Ohayami Bus Station straight from the office. It was a long bus ride to Banaue and we tried to get as much sleep as we could.

We arrived at our Banaue stop in time for breakfast. The view from the window:

After breakfast, we got on a jeep (some of them rode on the roof -- toploading) to get to the Batad saddle where our trek would start. The jeep ride lets you appreciate a lot of the views and the mountains!

From the saddle, there was another long walk (maybe because I was too slow) to the inn where we will stay. It was uphill and downhill and tiring! (And we had to do it all over again, going back!)

A photo on the trail:

View of the rice terraces from the registration booth (community registration or something):

Simon's Place, where we stayed, was just a short walk away. And had these views:

After lunch and some rest, we went on a trek to view the rice terraces from the terrace itself...

It was a hard trek (for me) and I wanted to just stop and turn around. But good thing I didn't because the views are spectacular. One time, I wasn't paying attention and sank my left foot in ankle deep mud. On the way down, we took the easier path (it's relative) and took the stairs!

It was so steep and the steps were a bit too big for me. If we'd used these going up, I really wouldn't have made it.

On the second day, we were supposed to go the the Tappia Falls which would be basically almost the same climb as going to the top of the terraces and then a bit of way down to get to the waterfalls. I totally wimped out on that one, and instead stayed at the inn.

So, I got pictures of the rest of our group as they walked on the edges of the terraces on their way to the falls!

Fun fun fun! Despite the muscle pain I suffered for the next 2 or 3 days. Hehehe. I think I should go back to finally see the falls, but I should get in shape first.

Dear Diary,

Today, nobody came to fetch me at my jeepney stop for the rest of the way home. It was raining really hard and there were streams and puddles in the streets and sidewalks.

I tried avoiding the puddles to no avail and still got super wet. I had fun walking and skipping amongst the puddles. Then, the adult in me remembered all the icky things that might be in the water and started wishing that my brother wasn't running late. Anyway...I got home 10 minutes later than my usual time and went straight to the bath. (to wash away all those icky things I might have picked up)

It was also raining under my umbrella. I love the rain. :)

Dusk at the beach

Office went to White Rock Resort for the annual GAD activity. I was asleep during the fiery part of the sunset, so here's all I got when the sun already set, but still a bit light out.