I’VE LONG wished to visit Villa Escudero but somehow never got the opportunity to do so. Until May 22, 2011 that is.
Villa Escudero is not a new attraction. I remember that the first time I heard about it (and planned to visit it) was like 15 years ago (that means I was like 7 years old then, LOL). Continue reading
(This posting is delayed by almost half a year. I kinda lost the photos, and then found them recently when I was doing housekeeping on my old white MacBook.)
FOR our 10th anniversary dinner date my xxGF treated me to Brazil, Brazil in Serendra – Bonifacio Global City.
I had a great time and, shortly thereafter, indigestion from over eating. It’s nothing new really. Continue reading
NO IT IS NOT related to Amorita, the first hotel we stayed in during our Bohol vacation. Yes it is another beee-a-u-tiful resort-hotel.
I will have to tip the hat to my xxGF for finding great resort-hotels. The credits are all hers. Not only are our resort-hotels in Bohol beautiful. Their names even rhyme! Beat that.
If Amorita has a great infinity pool with a perfect hilltop view of the dreamy and famous Alona Beach of Panglao Island, Amarella offers an idyllic atmosphere with its rustic and colorful indoor and outdoor ambiance.
The whole place is inspired by artworks and old-world amenities. The furnitures and fixtures inside the rooms were made to look and feel like antiques. The bed cover is crocheted. Inside the bedroom there’s a cute little bath tub, a wood-paneled wall, and windowsill also made of wood.
Each room has a veranda, too. Ours was overlooking a manicured garden with colorful tropical bouganvilla and gumamela flowers, the swimming pool, and the sea a little further down.
Amarella has its own little art museum, where the owner’s personal collections are apparently kept – and shared to interested guests. There’s also a library with an interesting collection of both old and new books, as well as old and new DVDs.
There are artworks everywhere. Inside the rooms, in the walls along the corridors, in the lobby, in the gardens… The whole place may as well have been a big art gallery.
At night the breeze from the sea is so loud and calming at the same time.
Amarella also offers an access to the sea. Its beach front is quite good. The beach is shallow, flat and safe for kids. It offers little beneath the surface, however.
FOR the second stop of our family’s 2-nights-and-2-days resort-hopping in Cebu we went to Plantation Bay.
My xxGF and I first visited Plantation Bay in 2000, right after we terminated our “going steady” relationship and went “permanent.” No we did not have our honeymoon in Plantation Bay. We just dropped by for some refreshments.
Fast-forward 2011. The Plantation Bay I saw in 2000 impressed me a lot, so I had very high expectations when I finally got to visit it again in February this year. Continue reading
FOR our annual family vacation this year we took advantage of my xxGF’s PAL Mabuhay Miles and booked the whole family a trip to Cebu.
We were to stay in Cebu for approximately two nights and 1.5 days only. Nevertheless, we managed to sufficiently explore and enjoy two very nice resort-hotels in Mactan Island in that very limited time, thanks to the practice my xxGF and myself had during our Holy Land Pilgrimage in November last year where we toured four countries in 15 days (and stayed in nine different hotels in that short time span!).
Our first stop: Crimson Resort and Spa Mactan. Continue reading
Exactly a month ago today, I attended a rare and almost impromptu reunion with former colleagues and good friends from my ACI/IBM days. A very dear friend, Dyk Raymundo, was to leave the country for New Zealand in less than two weeks. He’ll be joined there by his wife Jen shortly after and, together, they’ll try and establish a new life for themselves in the land of the Kiwis. For good. Continue reading
