Year-End Vacation at Tidewater Resort in Matabungkay

I was planning to go out-of-town since September but my plans did not push through. I even check on different places to spend a vacation. My sister told me that she and her friends are also planning to have a vacation and she asked me if I want to tug along. Without any second thoughts I said yes.

We have several options. We first checked a resort in Bataan and Subic however it turns out they are already fully booked until December. Finally, we decided to look for a place in Batangas. This is how we stumbled upon Tidewater Resorts which is located in Matabungkay in Lian, Batangas. I always hear Matabungkay Beach from a friend because it was the place where her parents usually go in the past. She said that the “balsa” is a common thing in Matabungkay beach.

We booked an overnight stay in Tidewater resort after Christmas. It was raining a lot before Christmas and I was praying very hard for a sunny day for our trip. Fortunately, God heard my prayers. We meet up at Coastal Mall to ride a bus going to Lian. We left the place before 8AM and we reached Lian past 11AM. We went off the bus at the market place where we bought some pork and fish for our dinner. We also had our lunch in a place near the market. After having our lunch we rode a jeep going to Matabungkay. Unfortunately, the jeepney driver did not drop us near the resort and said that the place was only a few walk away which is not the case. So we walk for maybe 2 kilometers in the beach of Matabungkay to get to Tidewater Resort.

Matabungkay Beach

 The guard open the gates of the resort and immediately the keeper of the resort went to us and accompanied us to our rooms. We have two rooms with a comfort room in the middle for us to share. Luckily, we picked the room that has the view of the infinity pool and the sea. The room was just small with one queen size bed and two small beds.

Outside our room is the porch where there are tables and chairs to be used for dining. They also have a couch in the porch. On our side of the resort is also a hammock which is near the infinity pool. I can just spend the rest of the afternoon sleeping on that hammock.

After we have finished fixing our things we immediately made a splash at the infinity pool. Too bad the pool wasn’t that big. The trees around the pool gave enough shade from the sun. The water on pool was also cold which is just perfect since we had a very hot day after walking. Unfortunately, we can only enjoy the cold water of the infinity pool because it was low tide and the beach has trash. The sand in Matabungkay is colored gray. Honestly, the beach is not very enticing to swim.

We went out the pool when we saw the setting sun. It’s a sign that we should start preparing our dinner. The resort has kitchen where you can cook your food. The good news about it is that you may use the gas range, grill, refrigerator and rice cooker for free. You may even ask the keeper to cook your food for a small fee however we didn’t bother her since the guest in the other room is already keeping her busy.

We had our dinner at the porch with the view night sky and sea. After our dinner we went to a bench near the infinity pool to play some games and drink our booze. A friend tried to swim but the water in the pool was too cold.

The next day, I and my sister woke up early to witness the sunrise. Another good thing in this place is that you are able to experience both sunrise and sunset. Early in the morning we already saw some fisherman getting their boat ready. One of our friends also woke up early and we decided to take a morning walk in the beach. We saw birds in the beach perched on the sticks that I think was put up for fish pens.

It’s swimming time again after breakfast. In the middle of the day, the beach gets busy with vendors selling souvenirs to tourists. There are also children playing on the beach.

But all good times has to stop and to be continued some other day. We left the Tidewater Resort with each one saying that they will come back again. It was just an overnight bonding but it was filled with laughter.

The Walkway

The Gate to the Beach

 

My favorite spot

Dining Area inside the House

Photos inside the Dining Area

The Wooden Spoon in Kapitolyo

Our Table Mat

Few days after it opened, our hungry stomachs led us to Sandy Daza’s famous Wooden Spoon. I always saw their restaurant in Kaipunan whenever I go to UP Diliman but I’ve never tried to dine in their place. The place is too far for my friends. Fortunately, they opened a branch in Kapitolyo, Pasig. Yes! Wooden Spoon is now part of Kapitolyo’s food list.

Wooden Spoon opened their Kapitolyo branch last December 11, 2014. Wooden Spoon is located at West Capitol Drive. At night, you can easily see their restaurant because of the trees lit by lanterns. We thought that there may be a lot people in the place, luckily there were still only few customers. They may not have yet to know the opening of the restaurant. 

My friend already made some research on-line of the food we will order so when we arrived we immediately gave our orders. We were already hungry. While waiting for our food, the waiters were so kind to take several pictures for us.

After some minutes our orders arrived. For rice, we tried their garlic rice.

Top on our list is their Adobo Flakes. I was curious on how the Adobo Flakes would look like. My curiosity ended when they placed the plate in our table. I couldn’t stop myself in trying it. It was delicious. I could not believe how this shredded meat has that taste of Adobo.

We also ordered their Binagoongan. I think it was too salty but the meat was tender.

 Then, we also had their Wooden Spoon Crispy Chicken. My friend said the name of the food has the “Wooden Spoon” in it so it means that it is a must try. The chicken is very delicious. The meat is juicy and the taste of the breading is different.

  

 There is nothing too extraordinary on their menu but what I like about Wooden Spoon is that they offer Filipino Food made more delicious from your ordinary lutong bahay.

An Evening with the Team at Tipsy Pig

Christmas is just around the corner and almost every day there is a get-together and a party. It just gives us the license and excuse to eat and drink more often than the usual. Like most of you, I’m guilty of this. Parties are very common and of course aside from your company party you will still have a separate team party. So this year, after our company party we had our team party.

Our bosses decided to have our year-end team party at Tipsy Pig in Capitol Commons. Since this Gastropub has been opened they kept coming back to this place. Aside from its very accessible from our office, their food and flavored drinks is something you would always crave for more.

My teammates love the taste of their salted caramel beer. I tasted it and yes it has the taste of caramel. Aside from the famous salted caramel they also have other drinks with mixtures. The one I like is their drink with mango juice and has mint and basil leaves. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to remember the name of the drink. You can taste the rich mango flavor on the drink that you wouldn't think that there is alcohol mixed into it. 

Aside from the mixed drinks they have the local and imported beers. 

Aside from their various drinks, Tipsy Pig also boasts their delicious and mouth-watering foods. How can you resist their Crispy Pata? It’s so big but the meat can be easily cut from the bones.

The dish that made my night is their Kare-kare. The peanut paste is just so good! I can’t explain how perfect it is once it mixes with the bagoong. The pork meat is incredibly tender but what is amazing is the crispy pork skin in the Kare-kare.

Whenever I eat in a restaurant I always order a chicken because for me it is the safest thing to eat. You already know the taste of it. However, there’s no risk in it. Even so, chicken was never out in our table that night. We ordered their Beer Can Chicken however I was not able to take a picture of the chicken while sitting on top of a beer can.

Their foods are really good but I cannot say that it something extraordinary. Even the flavored beers are now common. However, the ambiance of the place although crowded is still relaxing especially if yu are seated outside where you can feel the fresh wind.

Ending the Night at St. Marc's Cafe

I’ve been dying to try St. Marc’s Café ever since I saw their billboard. I was so happy that their store is located in Megamall because it was just near in my office however I never have time to visit the store. Fortunately, we had bowling practice in Megamall and after a tiring game we decided to eat first before heading home. Most of the restaurants are full and most of my friends don’t want to eat a heavy meal so we all agreed to end the night at St. Marc’s Café.

St. Marc’s Café is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saintmarc Holdings Company. St. Marc Café started providing freshly brewed coffee and freshly baked-breads in 1998 in Ginza, Maronie Boulevard in Tokyo. Here in the Philippines, Starbucks is the go-to-place to hang-out and enjoy a nice coffee. In Japan it's St. Marc's Cafe!

St. Marc’s Café is famous for their Chococro which is their signature pastry. The Chococro is available in chocolate-coffee and strawberry daifuku flavors. Unfortunately, the only available flavor is the chocolate Chococro. 

Aside from the chococro we ordered their Egg Salsa. At first, it never occurs in my mind that there is salsa inside the bread. I was surprised when the salsa came out of the bread as I took a slice. The taste was so wonderful! The taste of salsa as it mixes to the egg yolk was just unexplainable. 

My friend ordered a matcha for her drink. This drink is one of the must try at St. Marc’s Café.

For me, I just ordered an Iced Café Mocha. I wanted hot café mocha but they say it’s no longer available. 

 For dessert we ordered their Choco Banana Fuji. I think all their desserts are really delicious. Just the look at it will make you want to have it.

So our night ended with a blast of sweet stuff!

Strike at SM Bowling Center

I was never good at bowling however it doesn't stop me from playing the sports. And just recently, our office announce a bowling competition. I'm not part of our team however I always join them when they practice.

I can't remember when was the last time I played bowling at SM Megamall. The last time I heard their bowling center was already closed. However when they opened their new fashion hall, they have also returned their bowling center. The new bowling center was smaller than their previous one but it look more classy. 

Aside from bowling, they also have billiards. They have four billiards table that you can rent for P300.00 per game.

Getting hungry while playing is unavoidable that is why they have a snack bar where customer can order their foods and drinks. They have nachos, french fries, pizzas and sandwiches. 

Good thing SM has decided to put back their bowling center. Now, we have another venue to hang-out and have fun!

All Day Breakfast at Kanto Freestyle

It's no longer unusual that there restaurant offering pancakes and silog even during at the wee hours of the night. It has rather been common for restaurants that offer mostly breakfast menu to be open until midnight. So if you are like me, who is willing to eat tapsilog or tocilog even at 10PM then Kanto Freestyle is just the place for you.

Kanto Freestyle has four branches. They have a branch in Mandaluyong, Pasig, Libis, and Marikina. Since we are much nearer in their Pasig branch we went there to have lunch. Their branch in Pasig is found in a residential house in the famous Kapitolyo food area. The place is not located in the street where other restaurants are found. It's also not easy to spot their restaurant but your sign that it is the place is the long queue of people outside.

Good thing we have a companion living in Pasig and she passes in Kapitolyo going to our office so she was able to arrive early. Even so we are the third in the waiting list. They have extra chair so we just sit and wait for our turn. 

Once we have our table, my friend told us to quickly make our orders because it will take some time before they can prepare your foods. We were not picky when it comes to food so we just order the ordinary.

We ordered their champorado with tuyo (dried fish). The presentation was very nice and the tuyo are very evident. The sweet taste of the champorado mixes perfectly on the salty taste of the tuyo.

Another favorite thing to eat for breakfast is pancake. So we didn't pass the opportunity to try their pancake. We just ordered the ordinary fluffy pancake. Although they have pancakes with peanut butter and banana, pancake with Oreo cookies and Blueberry pancake. And indeed the pancake was so fluffy.

Of course, we also ordered different silog. Customers can choose if they would want their eggs scrambled or sunny side-up. Aside from that the silog includes two eggs. My friend who is a Kapampangan ordered their Pampanga's tosilg. However, she was dismayed on the taste of the tocino. It was far different from Pampanga's tocino. Actually, we tried it and the sauce of the tocino taste like the sauce of hamonado. The sweet taste is different.

Their chicken longganisa is delicious. My friend was very satisfied on this one. She was able to finish her in no time.

Well, most of us ordered their New Zealand Beef Tapa. It has a bit of spicy taste but just perfect for the beef. The only I noticed is that the meet is not that tender. There are two strips of meat that is hard to chew but overall the taste is good.

Kanto Freestyle is another restaurant in Kapitolyo that has drawn a lot of crowd. Definitely, a place that you would visit if you are craving for your favorite Tapsilog.

A Feel of Sun and Wind at Sol Y Viento Mountain Hot Springs Resort

It was one of those days when you suddenly want to escape the busy life in the Metro but you don’t have the time to plan. The easiest way to is to spend your weekend is in a nearby province. At that spur of the moment you’ll have to search in the internet the nearest vacation spot in Metro Manila. You have a lot of choices. From Bulacan to Rizal and Laguna all the way to Batangas. However this time, Laguna was our destination and it’s in the hot spring of Pansol to be exact.

Hot spring resort is not hard to find in Pansol. There is a lot of public hot springs in the place but it’s finding a private resort that is quite hard to find. The only problem is that private hot springs in Laguna usually offers a house that can accommodate large group of people and price would range from Php 10,000 to 15,000. There were only four of us and it will be not be practical to rent whole house for a weekend. Luckily we found a Sol Y Viento Mountain Hot Spring Resort. 

the sunset

 I immediately chose Sol Y Viento after seeing some of it photos in the internet. Aside from the fact that they offer a promo that time and the room that we will be getting has a Jacuzzi inside. The resort is located in Makiling Heights 4029 Calamba Laguna. You can easily find it since they have a large signage along the road and the tricycle drivers are very much familiar about the place.

I will never forget the breeze of the wind and the warmth of the sun when we arrived in the resort. I was really astounded when I saw the spectacular view of Laguna de Bay that I forgot that we need to proceed to the reception area first for our accommodation. I was very much eager to take pictures that time that it didn’t matter if I’m already too tired from out short trip in Liliw.

We were brought to our house with a golf cart. We can see the view of the town and part of the resort which is under construction. Aside from the Jacuzzi, we have television, refrigerator and a grill outside our house. Of course, we are very excited to relax at the Jacuzzi. Well, before splurging in the Jacuzzi we decided to walk and check the whole resort first.

other houses

our house

the Jacuzzi inside our house

The resort has two large swimming pools and two small pools. All of the swimming pools have a device which indicates its temperature. There was an instance that one of the pools is at 30 degrees Celsius. We even saw a dead dragonfly floating on the pool. We’re not just sure if the cause of its untimely death is the hot temperature of the pool. Aside from the swimming pools they have an obstacle course. They also have a mini bar near one of the large pools. They have two Ziplines but I think both are not working. We were able to climb on one of the zipline and its gives you larger view of the place.

zipline

obstacle course

the small pool

one of the large swimming pool

All of the pools will give you a view of the mountain and the Laguna de Bay. They have cabanas near the pool where you can leave your things. We were lucky that there were only few guests during our visit that it felt like we own the whole place.

 

Aside from the amenities of the resort, the feel of connecting with nature is very relaxing. You can experience both the sunrise and sunset in the place.

the sunrise

the restaurant

coffee time

Bringing of foods is not allowed inside the resort but it’s not a problem because they have a restaurant that serves mostly Filipino foods. There is nothing extraordinary about the food but it’s that bad. The waitress said that the food is for single order but we were surprised of its generous serving. So, I and my sister usually just share our order since we have a small appetite. We indulge in their refillable coffee in the morning. We stayed at the restaurant for more than three hours just to feel its peaceful ambiance. In the morning you can hear the sound of the birds and feel the rays of the sun touching your face.

Sol Y Viento Mountain Hot Spring Resort just proves that you don’t have to travel that far just to escape the city. Sometimes the best place to spend your time is just around the corner.