Chill's Closet: philippines

Sunday, March 20, 2016

PUERTO DEL SOL (BOLINAO,PHILIPPINES)

pool area

Mediterranean feeling

the beach

This place is a few hours drive further north from my husband's hometown. We went here for a day trip a few years back. It was a good experience because we went during off peak season, I think that was February and we almost had the resort to ourselves. There were only a few visitors during that time; one is even a celebrity singer who hailed from Pangasinan too.

The beach was magnificent. Bolinao is famous for white sand beach and a coastline that stretches for miles. The water was definitely calm when we went there, in fact, it was too calm because of the breakwater they have further out the sea. It was a long stretch of knee deep water; something good for the kids.

enjoying the sun

entrance from the beach side

going out to the beach

villas

The pool is enormous and combined with a children's pool at the further end. There is a jacuzzi hut in the middle but too bad because it was under repair when we were there. Comfortable lounges were scattered around the area and the staff were very attentive to us. Wifi is only available at the restaurant section which was fine by me then because I actually went there to relax and enjoy the waters.

we had the pool to ourselves

love this bougainvillea arbor

comfy lounges

comfy baking under the sun

relaxed

We went home relaxed, rejuvenated and with a full tummy because of the delicious food they served out there. I couldn't get enough of their halo-halo and ended up eating 3 of it.

the beachside restaurant

bulalo (Filipino osso buco soup)

halo-halo

lechong manok (grilled chicken)

leche flan

packet (Vegetable)

pancit canton

WHAT ITS WORTH:

food rates: 250 pesos-600 pesos (6-15 USD) (food is really good and worth every cents)

villa rates: 4700- 13000plus for an overnight stay (120-320USD)

PUERTO DEL SOL WEBSITE, CLICK HERE

You cannot bring in food. Actually, you won't need it because they have quite a selection and their cuisine is really great tasting.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

BALAI LAIYA RESORT, BATANGAS PHILIPPINES

so quaint

It is almost summer in my home country and I thought I should feature a resort that I went to with my family the last time I came home. It was our first time to head south primarily because my relatives are from the North. However, since I was waiting for my surgery clearance during that time, we opted to try and find a resort in Batangas that can accommodate us on a short notice as well as our dog, Beagle the wiggle. So I searched the web and found this hidden gem of Laiya called Balai and off we went.

our beagle dog (my mom's)

The place wasn't hard to find despite the warnings that I have seen on the web. We were able to reach it with no hassle at all; considering that we were virgins on traveling south. Their parking lot was quite small though but we went during off peak season so there not much people and cars.
We were greeted by friendly staff and were ushered to our villa. The place is really quiet and serene; not like the commercialized resorts of other areas. This one has a very bucolic scene; fishponds all over with cottages scattered on the sides. Surprisingly, there was no fishy smell at all in spite of the fishponds everywhere. All villas were located a good distance away from the main cottage where they serve the food as well as the pool and beach. For us, we had to cross a wooden bridge just to get to the main cottage. It maybe a pain to cross it during lunch time because of the scorching sun but nevertheless, the bridge never failed to made me stop and appreciate the natural beauty around me.

bucolic

the bridge to the cottages

clean rooms

The beach was surreal. Pristine white sand and the turquoise ocean made the scene picture perfect. However, there had been lots of jellyfishes when we were there so I did not really attempt to get into the water. I settled for the pool instead. There were lots of other things to do as well like billiards and of course, the ever present Filipino tradition of videoke or KTV.