- The Acuatico Experience -

My friends from UP Solair always have an annual outing. We would usually go out of town, literally out of town -- meaning, we need to take a plane! Hehehe.. But this time, we opted to go to Batangas since some of us have hectic schedules! We ended up going to the famous and uber expensive Acuatico Resort in Laiya, Batangas. I have been seeing photos of the resort from my friends' posts on their FB and have been reading good reviews of it but hearing how expensive it is! Well, this trip will still be cheaper since there will be no airfare involve!

We set to leave early morning in March... that is the problem in not writing the entry right away. I forget the details. All I remember, we went on leave the Friday before the trip so we will be able to enjoy the day and not just sleep in the hotel room. We agreed to meet at Shell Magallanes at 6AM. Gosh, we were there before 5:30AM. Talk about excited! Me and Xtian were able to eat breakfast at Jollibee and even hear the start of the mass at the Magallanes Church. So before 7AM, we were off to Batangas. It was fun to be on a road trip with friends specially friends with juicy gossips about the one who did not join the trip! Hahaha!!! bad bad bad!!!

Before getting to the stip of resorts at Laiya, we decided to grab lunch at a small eatery and gosh we were served a lot of food. We stuffed ourselves to the brim! With that I am really ready to swim. I don't care how hot was it.. I don't care if I will burn under the sun! hahaha! When we got to Acuatico, it is how I pictured it. Nice nice nice.. The infinity pool was a sight to see. I just love the pool and of course the beach! Once we got to the room, I wasted no time to change. The water was really warm and I loved it. I just swam all afternoon. We ordered some snack and boy was it pricey! We just shared it! hehehe.. Tipid mode tlaga! When it was about 6PM, we decided to eat at the small eatery again since the restaurant menu is really pricey for us. We don't have our financier with us! After dinner, I swam again until the lifeguard told me that it's time to stop! hehehee.. parang bata lang.

The whole trip was really worth it... I would really go back to Acuatico if time and money permits it! Di ba luvs? wink wink!

just wasting time as we waited for our friends

Magallanes Church - it is really beautiful!

inside the church.. after i prayed and made my 3 wishes...
they said that if it is your first time to enter a church, you have 3 wishes

ninang taking care of our check in .. kaw na rin bahala sa bayad? hehehe

posing posing!

loving the day bed!

i cannot wait to dip in the warm water

hayyy.. sarap ng welcome drink!

syempre ang asawa ko nasa bar na agad!
huy mahal ang beer dyan!

loving the blue blue water!

the main building.. where our rooms were at and the restaurant

club sandwich..

this is the winner.. i forgot what it is called.. tempura something...

hindi masarap di ba?first time ng asawa ko maglaro nito! hahaha..

early next day

breakfast buffet... attack!

swimming after breakfast!

isang nakakatawang sign sa daan.. "itay beauty parlor"

Tagaytay... Loving the weather!

I grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but I am not a fan of hot places! I easily get irritated and I just don't love the sweaty feeling because of our country's humid climate. However, recently the weather is tolerable until we went to Tagaytay for K's wedding. Gosh! I love it! It was cold cold that Xtian cannot tolerate it! Hehehehe... It was like the weather in Raleigh, NC when I was there.

Aside from the weather, I was excited to go to Tagaytay since it will be my first time to go to the city and be able to explore it and not just go pass through it. It is also Xtian's first time so we decided to booked a room at one of the inns along the highway. Nothing fancy or elaborate just somewhere to crash to rest, freshen up before the wedding and spend the night. We met at the bus station in Cubao at around 7:30 AM since he finishes work at 6:30AM and I overslept. The bus ride was long but it was ok. We were able to get some shut eyes. We got to Tagaytay, looked for the inn, checked in and decided to go around because it was almost 11 AM when we arrived and we were hungry. Good thing that Mushroom Burger is almost across the inn so we decided to have lunch there.

It was our first time at Mushroom Burger and it was good that it did not disappoint. No wonder people flock the place during lunch break and it is good that we got there before the crowd thickens. Xtian enjoyed every spoonful of the meal that he got and I love my burger. After that we headed back to the inn to freshen up and change for the wedding.

Well the wedding story is on my previous blog but good to note that public transport is not a problem at Tagaytay. There are jeepneys, buses and tricycles to get you around. Too bad no taxis. Hehehehe!!! So even though one does not have any vehicle to go around, you still can since most of the popular places to check at Tagaytay are accessible through the main highway.

Too bad it rained the night after the wedding. We were planning to check out the casino so we just decided to buy some booze at 7-11 across Max's and drunk at the hotel. After finishing the booze, we just slept but I was awaken with a shivering body until I decided to turn off the air conditioning! Gosh that is a first for me! I even covered myself with the a blanket! I rarely do that! I have to pull the sheet from Xtian who is always feel cold! Hahahaha!

The next day we were off to have brunch at Leslie's to try the famous bulalo but it was closed so we spent some time at Starbucks to wait. I was happy with the sight of Taal. It was too foggy the day before so I was just glad that it decided to show itself to us before we head home! When Leslie's opened we ordered the bulalo and rice! It was good but nothing special to it only. The bulalo house along N. Ramirez near Welcome Rotonda still is the best for me. The only good thing about the bulalo in Leslie's is the size of the bone marrow! It was huge!!! Xtian ate 3 cups of rice and took some the rest of the marrow! He just ate the vegetables and the soup!

After the brunch, we headed to the place where you can buy the buco tarts, I forgot the name of the place. We got some buco tarts from there when we had our last outing with our friends turned principal sponsors. The tarts were good and I always craved for it. Good thing I remembered where the store was located. It was easy to spot since I knew that it was just past the Pink Sisters area. After buying the pasalubongs, we were on our way home. The weekend was fun. It was just relaxing and there is nothing to worry about!

while on our way to Tagaytay!

it was a long ride!

waiting for xtian to get our orders at mushroom burger!

yummy meal!

delicious burger!

busong.. ang laki ng tyan oh!

feeling bata!

hello taal! nagpakita ka rin!

reading the sunday paper.. its been a long time since i got hold of one!

the coffee is not enough to warm our bodies!

nice nice view!

just a lovely site of nature!

at leslie's!

love the details of the restroom!

the famous bulalo!

there is nothing to stop Xtian from attacking that soup!

Canyon Cover -- never again unless....

After having the very nice brunch at Kainan sa Dalampasigan and after asking directions, we headed off to Canyon Cove. The place looks promising expect for the unfinished constructions of the condominium buildings near the entrance. We had a blast playing with the guard as Matt talked to him in English with a southern accent... We tested if we will be able to enter the premises smoothly... and we did.. no questions asked! Hahahaha....

We parked the car and went to the lobby. The attendants did not bother to check our bags. I was actually hoping that they don't because I have some bags of chips stashed in our bag. I have read from reviews that they are strict with bringing in food in the hotel. At the counter, Butch, Gerie and Matt checked on our reservations and settled the bill. My gawd... it was soooo hot in the lobby... they are currently renovating that section of the hotel and no airconditioning. We requested if we can check in earlier but the lady at the counter informed us that the rooms are still occupied but in a matter of minutes they said that we can check in already... Hmmmm.. weird. We were happy that we can check in since I am really itching to take a shower! I have the same clothes from the night before!

We got to our rooms... no one assisted or even showed us where the freaking rooms were at. Inside the room, there is nothing exciting about it.. No umppphhh factor. The rooms from Pearl Garden Hotel are way better that the one at Canyon Cove and they charged twice the price! The floor felt dusty... even the bathroom floor was dusty... The airconditioning in the room was bad as well. Good thing, I have my trusty Coffee Bean Swirl card so we can leave it in the card slot to kept the airconditioning open even we were outside the room.

After my much needed shower, we went out to explore the hotel grounds... the pool was nice... there was a restaurant... the beach was ok but not as clear as we expected it to be. We decided to take our naps first before swimming... I was really hoping to take a swim at the beach but Christian was really tired from our night shifts so I gave in to his request to sleep. Boohoo...

We decided to meet up at 4pm to get at least 2 hours of rest... I was so excited that I have to wake up Christian... I was jumping on the bed (poor bed!).... Telling him to hurry up. Even though it was pouring outside.. I told him we have to hit the pool... I don't want to waste time! Hahahaha... We gathered in one of the cabanas and of course, Butch ordered food to eat. The set meal was expensive... 375 pesos! We tried it though thinking that it will be worth it. Then came the food... it looked like food from the local canteen! Gosh ... not worthy of 375 pesos! It was bland... the rice was hard... and the serving is really small... Not worth it! I just enjoyed my swim.

busy checking in...

the hot lobby

posing for pictures as they fix the bill hehehehe...


more picture taking...

view of the beach from the balcony

the hotel.. see the renovations going on the top floor

strolling around!

The place is going to waste with bad customer service. I have read so many bad reviews about it and I thought that they learned from it. We were joking during our whole stay that we need to present a proposal for customer service training of their staff. The location is nice and people are getting turned off by the bad bad customer service.