July!!

And it is almost middle of the month and I'm only on my first post. I know things have been quite busy but I guess that is not an excuse for me not to blog.

Anyways, here's random pictures of us of where we've been and what are we doing for the past weeks.

SEARCH FOR A WEDDING VENUE 

We were in Tagaytay last July  4 (Saturday), it was rainy but it's ok, we were able to check this beautiful garden that is perfectly fir for the wedding of a young couple who are very dear to us.  I am working on two weddings now and I sooo love it!.

And because we were in Tagaytay and it is cold and raining, Bulalo for dinner  is a must!

BALLOON DECOR

The next morning, we were out again early because we have a birthday event where we made balloon decors. Thank you Lord for the extra income :)

and then..that same evening we went to CITY OF DREAMS MANILA..

The boss gave us a  voucher in one of the restaurants there and we wanted to experience City of dreams, it's a hotel and casino and without that voucher we know we will never go there, it's an expensive place :) So thanks to the boss.

Last week was also a busy week inspite of the heavy rain brought about by two typhoons. It's indeed wet season here now.

My dear husband went for a recording Friday night (July 10), he tagged me along  :) It's been a while since I went with him in the  recording studio and it's a joy to see him do what he loved to do, play guitar, sing and make music. It reminded me of his ultimate dream of having his own studio someday, speakers, mixers, instrument and gadgets and even these mid atlantic racks, I just hope and pray we will be able to have that in our home soon.  

This week...guess what? we are traveling!!! yey! finally, we are going out of town after four years. We are going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday till Monday. We are attending an International  prayer/revival conference and of course we are doing some sight seeing too. I am excited!!

July is an exciting month for us and I do hope you are having the best time also. God bless everyone!

Villa Noe Beach Resort @ Cagbalete Island

I don't know why I decided to book here and did not bother to check with other resorts anymore last December, probably because it was the first resort in Cagbalete that I came up to when I did my research (a.k.a google), and according to reviews, it was quite new and that the staff are nice. 

Or maybe because of this signage

Anyways, I did not have any regrets booking here, it was an easy transaction. I message them in facebook, they quickly replied to my queries. I deposited the 50% reservation and send them copy of the deposit slip. They actually extended a promo for us that was about to end December 31 but since we will still be there until the 2nd, they still gave us the one night accommodation for free. So nice di ba?

They only have huts, which are nice specially if you're going summer time. The one we rented cost 1,500.00 (good for 2-4 person) We have a small porch area where you get to eat al fresco :)

Other huts available :)

They have lots of these in front of the beach, but I guess not a lot when  it is crowded during peak season

The caretaker's family is so nice to us, they have few guests that time. They'll cook food for you if you ask them. very welcoming and accommodating.

Visit their facebook page for the rates and contact number :) https://www.facebook.com/VillaNoeBeach

I wish to go back come summer time!

Agua Seda Beach House,Pagudpud

This is where we stayed in Blue Lagoon Beach at Pagudpud. The owner is a retired teacher, she personally manages the resort, it has 5 rooms I guess, the one we stayed is what she call the dorm type, it can accomodate up to 9 persons for 3,000 pesos, other rooms are 1,500 good for 2 persons only.

That is the room at the back where we stayed

Inside the room (3 beds and a matress, A/C, with own CR)

This is our breakfast from Agua Seda, you can order food from them also, breakfast cost is 100.00 per pax with free instant coffee, I don't think they have jura capresso to make special coffee but that's ok we still love them. (sample set of breakfast is 2 pcs longganisa, sunnyside up egg and fried rice) not bad for 100 pesos.

The front of Agua Sda Beach House, that is the dining arae too.

A nice garden chair where you seat fronting the beautiful beach and in the morning you can view the beautiful sunrise from here like what I've captured below

this one is the big welcome banner/marker you'll see at the entrance of the blue lagoon beach

AGUA SEDA BEACH HOUSE @ BLUE LAGOON
LETICIA C. GARVIDA-PROPRIETRESS
Sitio Malingay, Bgry. balaoi pagudpud Ilocos Norte
Mobile : 0920-2431832 /0921-8079703
Email : lggalicinao_111@yahoo.com.ph

Early planning for summer outing

I am planning an early summer outing right now. It’s for a dear friend from UK who is set to leave the county on May 1st and yes she wants me to plan her farewell beach party with her closest friend as early as now. And that’s good so we can save enough for that trip and we can book or look for cheaper flights.

I brought up several choices, either Boracay because we both have never been there, but April is already a peak season so everything is expensive there. I just wonder if we book a lodging now will I get it cheaper than regular peak season rate or still the same? I really wanted to got to Boracay one day. Most of our friends have been there already and I’m jealous..hehe!

Next option is Busuanga, this place is so nice too. A friend went there last summer, they were able to buy a Cebu Pacific ticket that is way too cheap, like the one we had for our Cebu trip I guess. And she said accommodation is not too pricey, it’s only the tour which is (island hopping) that will cost us big. So we are considering that one seriously.

Another choice is the famous Bohol of course but again because we always go on a budget trip, we still have to check if Cebu Pacific offers seat sale here also.

Hay, again how I wish that we are all rich so we can just fly whatever and wherever we want to. IF we are rich I would always plan for out of the country trips..hehe and book the nicest hotel there, like the myrtle beach resorts in South Carolina. Will spend at least one to two weeks there and have fun with dear hubby.

But then back to reality, I’ll have to check the local rates for the above resorts now. Any suggestions of cheap accommodation to Bohol, Boracay and Busuanga? Need them please.

SF-Blue Coral Resort

This photo was taken by me during a team building in Blue Coral Resort,Laiya San Juan Batangas. What a perfect scene I got here right from the veranda of our room. Would love to be there again!

For more skywatch photos, visit skyley.

Blue Coral Resort, Laiya Batangas

As I mentioned in my last post, I am trying to write a review for each place/resort I went to this summer and here's my review post for Blue Coral Resort.



How to get there

We left Manila at around 3pm and we arrived at pas 7pm. Its usually is 3 hour drive but because of our driver we took it nearly 4 hours. We took South super highway then SLEX then Startoll.

Our Room

The place is beautiful I may say, the rooms are spacious especially the bathrooms!

The room we stayed is called "penthouse" and we have veranda, the view there is so nice!!

View from our veranda

The swimming pool

the adult swimming pool (took this picture from the veranda too)

the kiddie pool

The food

This was a major disappointment to all of us. They do not have restaurant where you can order food instead they do offer buffet meal. We had dinner, breakfast and lunch at P1,050. The food is not good, you would only want to eat it because you're hungry :( So if you want to go there you might as well bring your own food in top of their buffet meal. You won't be needing any diet pill here.

the breakfast

the lunch

Others

There is a billiard table which I forgot to take picture. Again I'll say this place is beautiful. I wish we stayed in one of their house in front of the beach

MAR DEL SOL BEACH RESORT AND CAMP SITE

Location : Brgy. Gusi-guis, Sariaya, Quezon

Contact Person : Mr. Cesar
Contact Number : 09285070940
Nipa hut rental - 650.00
Entrance Fee – 60.00 / head

In my search for a not so full packed resort weeks ago, I was led to Mar Del Sol beach resort which is in Sariaya, Quezon. According to the owner it is only 3 hours away from Manila but I guess it took us more than that. We left Makati at around 5 PM and we reached the place at past 8PM. Good thing though is it is not that hard to locate to. We just followed the Paraiso resort signages as we are told to do so.

So what’s in the resort? Lot’s of plam trees and nipa huts, all brand new, some are still unused.
This site is very new and they said we were just the fourth group to go there. We rented a hut that is good for 10 people. The owner is very nice, he allows us to cook our food without extra charge. He also lets us use the fridge. The boys there assisted us and treated us so nice, they even gave us woods for our bon fire. They grilled our fresh fish for us too.

Our breakfast from the resort would be canteen

One thing I love about the resort is because it’s so new there are no other people so we basically have the resort for ourselves, so quiet and so peaceful. The morning after there came another group but that’s it.

The beach is quite far from the huts, around 50 meters? I am not so sure though. The beach sand is not white but it is soft. Also, the water is clear and it is I guess cleaner than the beach of Laiya.

Someone offered us boating for 40.00 per head, we enjoyed swimming with our life vest on but there are no corals to see. I guess it is too deep.


We bought the fish there, guys went to the resort to sell and it’s quite cheap. Fresh pa!
That's 7 big maya-maya for only 500.00
We also had buko for ony 15.00 pesos each.



The owner said, they are still developing the site and so maybe it would be even nicer when all these developments are done.

What to do there?

Swim, sleep, (even there are no sleep number bed there) you can play volleyball


or watch videos like what our boys did. What a way to spend a day on the beach no?


It is quite cheap compare to other resorts but do not expect too much as I have said it is so new and there is nothing much you can do, there is no videoke or billiards or even a store within the resort. But if you are looking for some quiet place, definitely this is worth trying.

Subic Beaches

Just sharing the beaches I found and actually inquired when we are looking for a nice but cheap place to stay in Subic last week. Unfortunately, we went to Sariaya instead, I'll make the post about it next. For the meantime, here are the three resorts in Subic.

SUNSET COVE BEACH RESORT
Sitio Minanga, Brgy.Mabayo,Morong Bataan

They say this is not in Subic but is only few minutes away from Subic.

They have picnic huts, lodging rooms which range from 2,000 to 8,500.00 if you rent the whole Bungalow house.

They also offer a Banca Boat tour, a jetski ride and a Banana Boat Ride.

Contact Numbers :

Manila office : (02) 931 -9243 / 932-4488
Website : http://sunsetcovebeach.multiply.com
Mobile Numbers : 0928-5001132 – Cecille

When I called Ms. Cecille‘s cellphone, she was very accommodating. And though we didn’t push through with their resort, I would still love to give this arty next time.

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ALL HANDS BEACH RESORT
Subic Bay, Freeport Zone, Subic,

This is actually our first choice because we thought is is not so expensive, but we inquired so late, they are already fully booked when we called up.

According to this site:

All Hands Beach and its sister Dungaree Beach are located in a private cove around the Subic Base International Airport area. They are operated and maintained by SBMA Freeport Services Corporation. Both beaches have very calm and clear waters. While there are a multitude of other water activities to participate in, surfing is not one of them as the waters are very calm. The waves are not much higher than 6 inches most of the day. These beaches are great for swimming for all ages as the water for quite a distance from the shore is shallow and warm.

WATER SPORTS ACTIVITIES & RENTALS

All Hands Beach has all of the water sports activities and rental equipment available to create a memorable and fun-filled vacation. You can participate in banana boat rides, water bicycling, kayaking, snorkeling and even Jet Ski driving.

CONTACT NUMBER
(045) 499 0695

You can view pictures here.

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Another option we had was
BY THE SEA RESORT
#99 National Highway, Barretto, Subic Bay, Olongapo City

Telephone Nos. (+6347) 222-2888 ; 224-2494 ; 222-4560 ; 223-3508 ; 222-3098 ; 223-4346

Website : http://www.bythesea.com.ph

From Subic to Sariaya,Quezon

oh well, at least we're still pushing through with our get away. What makes me excited about this outing is that this would be the first time our small group from the church will be together, now almost everyone is married and some getting married soon, it is quite hard for our schedules to meet that's why this is special for us.

So, we are going to Mar Del Sol Beach Resort in Sariaya,Quezon. Saw the resort at sulit.com. I called up and told them we are looking for some place to go to. Theirs is not expensive and I think it's quiet there because the resort according to the man I talked to is new. I'll post a review after.

This would be my last post for the week and will be back blogging next week, hopefully Tuesday.

But before I go I would just like to ask anyone out there, have you tried fern slim? or do you know someone who tried it already? is it true that it is the new best weight loss pill in town?
Let me know your thought please. I'll be selling that kasi soon.

Have a nice Friday everyone!!