Celebrating Spats Birthday @Macampao Beach and Leisure Farm Resort

It’s the month of the year again. Happy Birthday Spats!

It was during our last Galera trip when a friend friend’s posted photos of Macampao Beach Resort in her FB. Then and there we decided that this will be our next travel with friends destination.

It was agreed that we will be using public transportation since it was easily accessible through Victory Bus Liner and a tricycle ride from the highway. We choose to ride  their Cubao Edsa Terminal. Bus route should say IBA ZAMBALES (P347-375/pax/way). Please come early if your starting your trip here. Schedule posted in their website is not reliable. I even called them to confirm the schedule which is on a book and buy basis. We ended up waiting for 3 hours. Next time we will be riding from their Monumento Branch which has more buses going to IBA. We asked the conductor to drop us at Cabangan Highschool. Then rode a tricycle going to the resort (P100/tricycle).

After 4.5 hours of travel, we arrived past 2pm in the resort and our lunch was already waiting for us. We were so hungry and excited to eat that we forgot to take photos of the food. Everything that was served to us was delicious. We had chicken tinola, steamed fish, shrimps, sliced fruits, fruit shake for lunch. Food serving was more than enough for our group. Fresh fruits, coffee and tea are also available in the dining area for free.

After eating, we checked the whole place and the beach. Since it was a bit hot, we decided to take a nap in our rooms. We came out around 5pm and stayed in one of the cabana in the beach. Fried turon and mango shake were served to us in the beach as part of the merienda meal.

Macampao Beach Resort doesn’t have a pool but they have available inflatable pools that you may use in the beach. the main house where the ac rooms are located is not in the beach front but a few steps away with a small street in between.

We spent the rest of our afternoon and early evening in the beach. We were  still full so we ate diner around 8pm.

The next morning, Aaron and I woke up early so we could watch the feeding of their  pet turtles.This is Aaron’s favorite activity here. He would visit them every now and then.

We ate our breakfast then started to pack our things to leave. I really wish, next time we could stay for at least 2 nights because we really enjoyed our stay here. The food is good, The owner and staff are very accommodating and nice. It was a very relaxing and satisfying weekend in this resort. We will definitely come back here.

 

Macampao Beach Resort Website & Rates HERE.

 

Rate: 9/10 (might be a bit pricey but worth it)

 

 

 

 

 

Welcoming 2017 @ White Beach, Puerto Galera

White Beach 

It’s been 2 years since I last posted something here. I would like to start again with our New Year trip in Puerto Galera. This was one of the places that we had been coming back to the past 2 years when  needed some vitamin sea. It’s just 2 hours of bus ride and an hour of boat ride from Quezon City. We always stay in White Beach because this is where most of the cheap accommodation, restaurants, water activities is located. Fare from Manila- Puerto Galera -Manila Costs P1,000/pax : Bus, Boat fee, Terminal and Environmental Fee.Always buy the round trip ferry ticket if you can because it’s cheaper.

Things we did in Puerto Galera:

1. BEACH BUM. Obviously, the most common thing to do in the beach. The sand may not be as fine as Boracay but fine enough for the kids to walk barefoot and build sand castles.It was also fun swimming in the sea and catch some waves. Just be careful when you have kids with you. After a few feet distance, the water becomes deep from ankle level to waist level to  breast level immediately.

Tamaraw Beach

2. FOOD TRIP. There’s a lot of food option for all budget. I always check Trip Advisor for restaurant references  of the good ones. It will just depend on how willing are you to go from one area to the other.

walang kamatayang  Panyang’s  Fried Chicken

 

3. HAIR BRAID and HENNA TATTOO. Of course you have to try this. Having a tattoo is somehow a fascination that I don’t know if I could ever do. So cheers for henna tattoo. Also braiding, it really looks amazing after you remove the braid.

4. BEACH MASSAGE. I’m not sure though if I was just unlucky, but I haven’t encountered a good masseuse yet. I still do it because it still feels nice. P100-150/ 30 mins of whole body massage.This is if you don’t mind lying in the beach while you have your massage but if you’re a bit shy, they can also do it while you’re sitting or just opt for the foot and back massage.

4. COMEDY BAR SHOW  and FIRE DANCER. Come 6-6:30pm, the night life in White Beach comes to life. Different bars for your different moods from acoustic, reggae ,comedy bar style performances and fire dancers.

5. WATER ACTIVITIES. You’ll never get bored in Puerto Galera with so much activities to do. You can choose from different water activities. Usual rate starts at P1500/3-5 pax.

6. SOUVENIR SHOPPING. You can buy an anklet for P10.00 to a complete wardrobe in the souvenir shops. Our common pasalubong: Ref Magnets.

6. ISLAND HOPPING. If it’s your first time to go there please do the island hopping tour and ADD the micro tours. It may sound like a rip off because of the P200.00/head/area extra payment to go the: 1. coral garden,2.giant clam and 3. cave (i forgot the third one it like a cave with low water where you can also swim).Boat for the island hopping starts at P1500 for 6 pax half day tour. You will have to ride a tricycle (P50/way) to the boat dock. The island tour will consist of 2-3 beaches and 1 snorkeling area. Sorry since there’s not much to see and do in the rocky beaches we skipped and just pass by the beaches. We ate lunch in the last beach. We ordered fish, chicken or pork then they will grill it for you. Surprisingly, the food was good.

7. INLAND TOURS. If you have more days to spare, then might as well do this. Vendors and tour operators are all over the beach offering different set of inland tours. Just ask the others fee  per destination before you confirm your booking with them.

Btw,  Puerto Galera was struck by a typhoon before New Year so it looks a bit messy.we were told it was one of the strongest that they had experienced.Hopefully, everything is back to operation by now.

There you go,  see you soon PG!

Day Tour At Eden Nature Park Davao: Megaworld’s North America 1 Regional Planning Conference

As much as we wanted to squeeze in more destination, we can’t due to the limited time. As part of our itinerary, after attending mass,we included Eden Nature Park for lunch and availed of their day tour package for P600/pax. Since all of us our first timer, we searched using google map during planning and it says 20-30mins and we were quite surprised since its an hour and half travel from our hotel. We started our travel at 11, reached Eden Nature Park aound 1:30pm. had lunch for 40min and tour for an hour. we reached Davao Downtown to buy pasalubong at around 5pm.

                     At the Entrance

Upon arrival, we immediately went to have our lunch. I like how the resto looks like. Food choices are good. The taste is nothing exceptional but what got the approval from our guests is the vegetables. It’s Organic and harvested from their garden. Nice! 🙂

           Busy Eating Lunch

An overlooking Part of the resto which is also nice event venue

Main Buffet Table

After an hour of eating lunch, we started our tour using open air multicab. Tours are scheduled in an hour basis so make sure to advance book to get a nice time slot.

There are 3 main stop for photo ops. You will be given 10-15mins per stop over.Our first stop: The iconic rainbow and amphitheater. Looks really nice in real life.

1st Stop: the rainbow tunnel

2nd stop over: I forgot the name but it’s like an imitation of an old village showing how the natives live. A short dance presentation will be shown.

                   Performers

3rd and last stop: Lola’s Garden. A small nipa hut in the middle of a garden with an overlooking view of Davao.

Overlooking Davao at the back

THE Kalabaw

There you go, in an hour’s time our tour ended and we left immediately since we have to travel back to go see the site. I’ll definitely be back here and next time will allot more time in exploring the place.

Rate: 9/10 for the Day Tour

Date of Visit: December 2014

For more information. Please visit their website here.

Eden Nature Park & Resort
Sales and Reservations Office
Matina Town Square
McArthur Highway, Matina
Davao City, Philippines
Tel. Nos: +63 82 299-1020, +63 82 296-0791
Fax: +63 82 299-0313
Mobile No.: +639189307590
E-Mail: info@edennaturepark.com.ph

The SRO is open from 8:00 AM until 7:00 PM. If you wish to contact  beyond 7:00 PM, dial +63 82 301-0301 or +63 82 301-0501.

An Entertaining Afternoon at the ART IN ISLAND Museum

Art In Island Museum just opened last December 2014 so it’s fairly new but its popularity has already spread in the metro.Honestly, I didn’t know such a big 3D Museum existed until a friend of mine invited me to visit this place. And at first I thought that the P500 entrance fee is a little bit overpriced but upon experiencing it. It’s definitely worth it.

shoe storage area: view from the inside

2nd floor hallway: framed paintings

one of my favorites

We arrived around 4pm and a bit nervous that it’s only open until 5 but thank goodness that their operating hours is until 9pm. After paying, we had to leave our shoes in their counter. And so our photo-op and tour started. below are some of the my personal fave.

under the sea: ground floor

view from afar: Kit waiting for her turn to pose on the mermaid’s tail

The view from the second floor. As you can see, there’s a lot of children running around the area so taking photos is quite a challenge. You have to wait for your turn or quickly grab the opportunity to take your photo.

Since this is 3D images, most of the time you need to get the right angle or be in the right position so that the photos will come alive. Guide marks are available on the floor. Don’t know how to pose or what pose to do? Sample pose photos are also available for your reference.

             in a cage beside Spidey

          hippo on the floor

Make sure to charge your phone or cameras and bring that extra power bank because you’ll be needing it. We stayed for about 2 hours inside since both of our phone are drain. Docks inside the CR are not working. Yes, we tried charging our phone but to no avail.hehehe

           angels and demon ang peg

Totally phone drain, we left Art In Island feeling happy and giddy. I don’t know, maybe because we feel like we’ve accomplished something. Personally, I’m not the type to pose for photos but in here, you’ll be compelled to do so  in order  to capture nice shots. Now, this is paradise to the photoholics. hehe

I’m already excited to bring Pat, Aaron and the Metom Pipz here. See you again Art In Island! 😀

ART IN ISLAND

Address: 175 15th Ave., Brgy. Socorro, Cubao, Quezon City, 1109 Metro Manila

Phone:(02) 421 1356

Admission Fee:

P500 for adult, P400 for student, 3 feet below free

Operating Hours: 9:30am-9:30pm, ticket selling until 8pm only

Facebook Link HERE

Fairways and Bluewater Newcoast Boracay: Will I See You Again?!

Lucky me for I have seen and experience the best and the worst at Fairways and Bluewater Newcoast Boracay.

             cabanna near Lucia pool

        pool view in front of our building

Last December was another Annual Regional Meeting  for Megaworld’s International Sales People. This year I headed North America 1’s  coordinating team handling around 55 top agents and investors. Together with the other regions, we were able to secure our room here at Fairways.

               image taken from the net

                 our CR and bathroom

THE GOOD:

1. Everything was well-coordinated, from the sea and land transfers going to the hotel.

2. The staffs are really nice, helpful and always ready to assist us.

3. Golf Carts and Vans: 24 hours available to bring you anywhere in the property. Van Transfers every hour going to the White Beach (D’ Mall)

4.The food tastes good. (all that was served to us during our stay)

5. Most importantly( for me) the view and the beach. What more can I ask for right?!

            Our 2nd Room

THE BAD:

1. Check In/Out was slow. Only four front desk to entertain hundred of check- in/out guests. They should have added extra head since they are already expecting a lot of people to come and go within the day.

2.Expect to pay extra for the wifi and almost everything.

3. Last trip of van from White Beach back to the hotel is around 10-10:30pm. Expect to pay 100/tricycle fare and  a 15 min tricycle drive going back to the hotel.

4. Some of the buildings are old that the room rate feels like a rift off.

                     One of the Villa

ROOMS: Make sure to request for the new rooms. We were really happy when we saw our rooms. It looks great, modern and spacious. But due to the some incident, we had to vacate our nice room and transfer to one of their old buildings. We got a smaller native inspired room. The room that we got looks so outdated. Now, I totally understand why some of the guests would complain about it. They saw pictures of the new room and somehow are expecting to get that kind of room and would end up disappointed upon seeing their room. Cannot blame them.

Pool at the Family club House overlooking the beach

THE INCIDENT: Everything went well until it was check out time. Our flight was 7:20 from Caticlan going back to Manila. So the night before the departure, We advised them that we wished to be transferred to Caticlan by 5:30am and to prepare pack breakfast. All the delegates were advised to check out early. We know that checking out is a tedious process since they need to check our rooms before we are cleared to go. Come check out day, no carts or van to pick up the guest in their buildings. We were advised that they are still refueling all the vehicles. . Around 6am we’re still in the hotel for clearing. A few set of delegates were sent ahead so that they could catch the flight. A lot of people are rushing and complaining because of the queue.And yes, only 4 staff on front desk to entertain all check in and check out guests.

What they did with our baggage was they load all our baggage together during the land and boat transfers. Now, when the first group of delegates came, most of their luggage were not included. Since we’re rushing, what we did was we left three other coordinators just to retrieved all the remaining baggage based on the delegate’s description.We were able to catch our flight because the aircraft was advised of our predicament by the first batch. But it didn’t end there.Since we are on a connecting flight to Davao and the connecting aircraft company would not allow us to check in because check in counters are already closed.After a few hours of pleading and argument with the aircrafts, they were able to squeeze 10 in each flight going to Davao same night until earliest flight the next day. In short it was a very tiring and draining day for all of us because of the check out incident.

                 Activity by the Beach

Overall, despite the issue that we had with them during our stay, for me, Fairways still deserves a rate of 8/10. Just always remember to keep calm and don’t let the little or in our case the big issue ruin what you planned for.. 😀

Fairways & Bluewater Newcoast Boracay

Newcoast, Boracay
Malay, Aklan
Philippines

Contact Numbers:

+63 36 288 5587
+63 915 846 4848
+632 576 4046
+632 576 4035

Manila Reservations

Phone number: +632 633 1394 or 95

Email:

reservations@fairwaysandbluewater.com.ph

sales@fairwaysandbluewater.com.ph