Villa Escudero Plantation and Resort

If you visit Villa Escudero, prepare to taste the country life for your whole stay—in Filipino style.

It was supposed to be a mini reunion with my closest friends from high school but it ended up with a mini road trip with Jog and Mike. This is totally different from the rest of my trips because this is the first time I drove from Cavite straight to Quezon (walang Marc, walang Joseph)!

How to Get There

The easiest way to get there is via SLEX. Since Bacoor was our starting point, the nearest SLEX entry point is via Alabang.

Actually, we have miscalculated our travel because we came too early at the resort. Not bad because I did not have to worry about my driving. Our initial call time was 5:00AM but since Jog and I woke up late, ggrrrrrr, we ended up reaching Mike’s house at 6:00AM. Hahaha! From Bacoor, we took the Molino Road going to Daang Hari. From there, we arrive at the gate of SLEX in Alabang. Toll fee is P95.00 until Sto. Tomas exit. And because we were chatting all the time, we missed the (50A) Sto Tomas exit, so we had to head straight at Star Toll. However, it made our travel shorter than I have planned.  From Star toll exit, we paid an additional of P25.00 and then we looked for the Pan Philippine Hiway until we reached Quezon “Welcome” arch and turned left right away. Hindi nyo mamimiss yung “Villa Escudero” signage sa kaliwa ;-)

As early at 7:50AM, andun na kami!

If you are bringing car to get there, here is the driving instructions I took from www.travelsmart.net   

• Take the South Luzon Express Way (SLEX)
• Exit at 50 A (Lucena exit) (sa kakakwentuhan namin, na miss din namin yung Exit 50A!!!! Nyahahaha!)
• Turn left at Sto. Tomas junction (Nakabalik naman kami dito hehehehe!)
• Head straight South. By pass the towns of Alaminos and San Pablo
• Slow down upon seeing the Quezon Province Boundary Arch. The Villa Escudero entrance is immediately to the left.
• Follow the instructions of the gate officer when turning into the Resort.

Parking

When we arrived at the resort, there were already around 15 cars and vans there. I didn’t have a choice but to park under the trees and maalikabok sa parking, sobra. Parking entrance is at the right side of the welcome hall.

Also at the parking area is a mini Pasalubong store where you could buy puto bumbong, pulburon, and other yummy sweets from Laguna.

Welcome Area

There were gulaman drinks, served by the ushers wearing baro’t saya, waiting for us at the hall. Gutom na gutom kaming tatlo! Hahaha. Buti na lang Mike brought pandesal! Wooohoo! We missed Jollibee and Mcdo along the way… ambilis ko kasi mag drive at kwentuhan kami nang kwentuhan!

The welcome area is where you pay your entrance fee as walk in customers OR where you get your tickets if you have RESERVED for overnight stay. By the way, credit cards are accepted and the Day Tour fee during our visit was P1,500.00 per head. This includes buffet lunch, cultural show, boating, carabao/horse ride, visit at the museum and access to pool.  The complete rates information can be found on their website at the end of this post.

This is also where we first met some of the statues depicting Filipino cultures. These statues are EVERYWHERE! Hahaha! I sometimes thought they were real people in the gardens!

Carabao Cart Ride

As soon as you get your tickets and confirmed your accommodation information at the Welcome Hall, you will start to experience the Philippine country life right away. We opted to visit the Museum in the afternoon before we leave the resort just to keep away from the crowd who were already there… so we headed straight to the Carabao Cart area. We were warmly welcomed and taken around by a carabao-drawn cart until we reached the resort proper – with someone at the back singing kundiman songs and playing guitar.

The Resort Proper

There were several areas that are still under renovation and the drop off point at the resort proper is one of them. Just follow the path way and you will reach the River area.

Boating at the River

It was around 10:00AM and the sun was just about starting to give its magnificent heat. The bamboo raft or balsa only has two seating area on it so I volunteered to just took the pictures of the two of them and look an eye of our things.

Another thing… I HATE bodies of water in color green. O_0 Hahaha! Parang may crocodile na lalabas. That’s also the reason why I am not a fan of swimming at the falls. So I watched them paddle across the calm river until they were almost too small from my view. Pagbalik nung dalawa, mga nakasimangot… may ugly smell daw yung vest na suot nila. But I think other than that, mukhang enjoyable naman ang boating ^_^

Café Inigo

You don’t have to worry about getting hungry inside the resort because they have a restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, miryenda and dinner meals at the resort. The resto is overlooking the river which makes your dining very dramatic! Hmmm.

Pool Area

They have two medium-sized swimming pools – one for the kids and the other for adults. The adult pool has a slide but we did not try. This time, Jog watched over our things while Mike and I take a dip into the pool. This was also the time Mike and I had a chat with the latest about our lives, reminiscing old memories and even sharing our future plans.  Wala kaming picture kasi tong si Jog!

Buffet Lunch at The Falls

Since we were very very hungry, the buffet lunch was the MOST anticipated event in this trip. Hahaha!!! Hindi ako pwedeng magutom!!! By the way, buffet lunch starts at 11:00AM. But if you were not able to reserve your visit, based on their policy, you will only be allowed to go to the buffet lunch area at 1:00PM. Uunahin kasi nila yung mga nakareserve and you don’t want to get hungry, trust me!

The food is just OKAY. They have grilled eggplants, singkamas, sliced tomatoes, green mangoes, rice, pansit, chicken tinola, beef caldereta, grilled pork, grilled tilapia, chicken inasal and ginataang gulay. I would say they all tasted flat. Honestly, na miss ko ang mas masarap na luto ni Ate Dollyn. So if you want to make the most of this buffet lunch… get FULL and appreciate the cold water coming from the man-made falls that rushes to your feet while eating and chatting with your long lost friends…PRICELESS!

They sell buko juice for P30.00 each. J

The Cultural Show

The cultural show was the best experience in Villa Escudero. Nakalimutan ko na hindi ako masyadong nag enjoy sa pagkain nung lunch. ^_^ The performers are oozing with dancing talents. Mabubusog talaga yung mata mo sa panunuod. There were a lot of colors dancing at the center stage and the costumes are amazing! Kumbaga hindi tinipid.

Surprisingly, all performers are the same people who ushered us earlier that day – the girls from the welcome area, maintenance guys, cart singers, museum ushers. Ang galing! Thumbs up! The cultural show was held at the wedding Hall while the original venue is under construction.  

The Museum

Last from our list was the museum. The Familia Escudero are true travelers and collectors! I was drooling about their travels and collections – they truly set the history from their large collections of artifacts not only from the Philippines but also from the whole world! Pictures are not allowed inside.

I had a great time reconnecting with my old friends. It would not be possible without our experience in Villa Escudero. However, there is a very small chance that Iwould go back to this place very soon. J

Formore information,please visit their site: http://www.villaescudero.com 

Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort

San Pablo City, Philippines

Manila Office

1059 Estrada Street, Malate 1004 Metro Manila

Telephone Nos.

(632) 521-0830

(632) 523-0392

(632) 523-2944

Fax Number:

(632) 521-869

E-mail: info@villaescudero.com

Provincial Mailing Address

P.O. Box 4 San Pablo City 400, Philippines 

Western Luzon Road Trip (Cavite-Pangasinan-Zambales-Bataan-Pampanga-Cavite Series) [Part 3 of 3]

 

Bataan Sisiman Bay

We reached Bataan at 3:00 PM and picked a resort to spend the night. We stayed at Raven Resort and Log Cabin (www.ravenresort.com.ph). The place is nice and the houses inside are big. It is more of a subdivision with a pool. ^_^ As soon as we pay for our room at the guard house, we went straight to Sisiman Bay in Mariveles, Bataan to catch the *sunset*. While all our bags were still inside the trunk, we immediately hiked the way towards the shore. Unfortunately for us, the sun was behind the cloudy skies, so no sunset for us. Another thing, the famous lighthouse along the beach was washed out months ago by a storm. We just enjoy what we had – ourselves, the mountains and the rocky shore.

We were the only visitors around the area. Medyo dulo na kasi ito ng mabatong beach. We could even see Manila area. We did not catch the sunset again because it was cloudy, so we just made fun of ourselves. Hehehehe!

Joseph was so sick when we went back to the resort; he has fever and barely spoke because of headache. Wifey Khen was so there to-the-rescue, such a nice view. With our little portable stove and lots of groceries at hand, we cooked our dinner inside the room! Hahaha. Parang bawal pero tinuloy pa din namin. LOL. We ended up filling the whole room with the smell of fried egg and hotdogs.

 

Bataan Mt Samat

The next morning, after we finished our breakfast and packed all our things, we checked out at the resort and headed straight to our next destination – Mt Samat in Pilar, Bataan. The road to the mountain was quite a challenge; I think similar to Baguio. I searched in Google map and found this that made my eyes got bigger! Oh my, parang roller coaster. No wonder madaming riders ang nakasabay naming paakyat.

 

They allow people to climb up to the top but just a few minutes before we reached this door, the guard put the "No Power" sign board in front. T_T

Mt. Samat souvenirs

We spent most of our time taking pictures of Blue kasi biglang sumikat ang araw. It was cloudy the whole morning.

Because Jospeh has acrophobia LOL, he was not able to do this jump shot!

Bataan Pawikan Conservatory

When I knew about this next place, I almost jumped! Hello??? I love turtles!!! … not as much as I love cats but …they are turtles!!!!!! Century old creatures, sleepy, slow and they are precious.

Before we reached Pawikan Conservatory, we stopped by at a local Japan Surplus store along the highway. They have pretty interesting stuffs there like bikes, appliances, cabinets, tables, chinawares and almost everything!

There are bikes!

Different kinds of china wares

Just before the sunset, we reached the conservatory. Oh my! We learned that Pawikans breeding season is from October – February! Weeee. The day before we went there, there were few eggs hatched and gave baby turtles we let go to the shore!

Here are Dory and Nemo. Hehehe. Wala na kaming maisip na name eh

Bawal tong ginagawa ko dito kasi nangangagat pala tong oldies na pawikan. Don't worry, hindi ako nakagat. Hehehe.

If you visit Bataan, please do include this place in your itinerary. It is nice to help the people who run this place, which from what I learned were former pawikan eggs busters who were selling eggs for their living, eventually left that kind of job to help conserve our precious Sea Turtles. Spread this! 

Subic Dinner

As we reached Pampanga, we had our last stopover at KFC Subic. We were all pagod and almost lowbatt lalo na yung mga drivers. May nakaaway pa kami na mommy sa counter LOL… ^_^v  I must say I enjoy this trip a lot. If I would be given a chance to do it, I would do it again with the same people. Maybe we could try the Eastern part next year J …

 

To Marc, Khen and Jo:

Without you guys, this road trip won't be as fun as what we had. I'm looking forward to many more years of adventure, thousands of mileage, taste local foodies, swim in nicest beaches, catch beautiful sunsets, burn hundred gallons of gas and count many more stars at night with you three!!!

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Western Luzon Road Trip (Cavite-Pangasinan-Zambales-Bataan-Pampanga-Cavite Series) [Part 2 of 3]

The Search for Potipot Island, Zambales

Trust me when I said Pangasinan was the only one on our “sure” list. We never reserved any boat or booked any hotels to stay in for the night – we only kept our precious tablet PCs and cell phones with GPS and Internet!!! Technology ruled in this road trip.

We travelled south from Pangasinan to Zambales via Dasol and Santa Cruz for about 2 hours. Potipot Island lies within Barangay Uacon (pronounced as “Wacon”). As we reached Candelaria in Zambales, we knew we were very near our destination because according to our GPS, we were. At first, all of us were very confused as we saw several sign boards about boat rentals/resort banners, but none seemed caught our instinct to choose them. When you visit Potipot Island, you have the option to check in on a resort along the shore line of Brgy. Uacon and hire a boat that will take you to the island.

We were originally planning to camp on one of the islands in Hundred Islands but we decided to do it in Potipot. So instead of checking in to any resort, we only looked for a boat that will take us to the island. It was around 3:00 PM, we ended up entering a small road with a sign board “To Potipot Island/ P400.00 Boat Ride”. It was a remote place, which has a bunch of kids and most people were so confused to see us – which, by the way, bothered me a lot. O_o We asked someone that could take us to the island and it seemed that what we were doing was something that is not normal. Hahaha! But then, we finally closed a deal from a local bangkero for P800.00 (back and forth). Since no resort for us, our bangkero offered a nearby lot to park our car. At first, I was not convinced to do that but we all took the risk even though we were so scared that something would happen to our car.

After the car fiasco, we immediately loaded our things to the boat. I think, for the rest of us, I was one of the most excited about the camping!!!! After 5 minutes, we hit this small patch of land with fine white sand surrounded by clear waters.

These are the things that you could do in Potipot Island:

1.    Swim in the clear waters

2.    Throw physical games at the beach

3.    Picnic with your family or friends

4.    Build sand castles

5.    Lie under the sun

6.    Take pictures, tons of pictures

7.    Pick fruits within the island

8.    Camp overnight

9.    And my favorite….stargaze under the magnificent sky at night

We spent the night cooking hotdogs, eggs and worrying how we could fit into a tent with only 3-person capacity. Hahaha! Marc ended up sleeping outside the tent… awwww. The night was very very cold. Joseph was not feeling well that night and we all hardly taken decent bath. Mga gusgusin kami. :-)). But if given another chance, I would definitely go back there. That is how I love camping!

The next morning, we had back aches and colds :)) Hahaha! We had one last round of early morning swim. The water was very cold and calm. That morning was a gloomy,cloudy one. Unfortunately, no sunrise for us in Potipot...

The boat picked us up at around 9:00 AM the next morning. Thankfully, our car was safe – just with hundreds of small hands, finger, nose and forehead prints on all windows! Hehehe.

The original plan was to go to Anawangin and Capones Island right after. But plans changed, we decided to visit Bataan!!!

Subic Pampanga Side Trip

Geared up with our GPS, we decided to go to Subic for some groceries and to gas up our car before heading to Bataan. The gas was as low as P46.00 pesos around the area! I could not believe it is as high as P58.00 pesos now as of this writing.

Before we hit Subic, we encountered areas fogged with white dust in the air. The wind was crazy as we passed this bridge along a very large open area along San Narciso. We could see where the dusts coming from.

After completing our grocery list in Pure Gold and gas up at Petron, we headed straight to Bataan.

 

Western Luzon Road Trip (Cavite-Pangasinan-Zambales-Bataan-Pampanga-Cavite Series) [Part 3 of 3]

 

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Western Luzon Road Trip (Cavite-Pangasinan-Zambales-Bataan-Pampanga-Cavite Series) [Part 1 of 3]

Exactly a year after our amazing North Luzon road trip in 2010, we had our latest road trip -- this time in the Western part of Luzon! Not as far as the first one, but I would say, this was more exciting and adventurous than our last. To all who wanted to try this itinerary, please feel free to duplicate and adjust for whatever will suit your own trip! Enjoy! 

The map will tell you which places we have been. Guided only by Samsung Galaxy Tab GPS, we worked our way to our destinations with no hassle, shorter time and never ever got lost! Weeepeee!

Marc, Joseph and Khen picked me up at our house in Cavite at around 2:30AM. Just in time with our plan to arrive at our first destination at 8:00AM.

 Here's our map!

Pangasinan Sun Rise

Khen brought her SIL’s lasagna for breakfast. Actually, it was supposed to be for all of us but I almost ate them all. Hahaha! Aside from the slight traffic along Guadalupe EDSA traffic and car accident along Balintawak Highway, everything went well with our travel until we reach Pangasinan.

Luckily, the weather did not go against us. The sun just happily kicked off its lovely stages as early as 6:00AM. We all agreed to pull over along Romulo Highway in Pangasinan especially my sunrise-addict travel mates to capture the perfect sunrise.

 We had our first stopover at Romulo Highway. Do you see the nice curves behind us? On our second day, we were on the other side of it heading to Zambales.

We love the clear skies that morning. We waited at the side of the highway until this amber sun came up.

Nice view at the other side of the road...

We had our road trips with White and Cruzee, so this time we chose Blue.

Pangasinan Hundred Islands

Believe it or not, our Hundred Island tour was the only one included in our “sure” list -- the rest were all such an adventure and so spontaneous! We reached Lucap Wharf, the dock area of the Hundred Islands in Alaminos, around 9:00AM. We parked our car at an open area beside the pickup point. We paid P200.00 each for the entrance and P1200.00 pesos for the unlimited boat ride for the four of us plus tip. It would be a good thing if all Filipino would be able to visit this wonderful place, curved by nature, and be able to witness such beautiful view.

As of 2011, here's the list of fees in Hundred islands

The boat ride was not that scary compared to some of our Galera trips. The sea was blue and calm.

This was taken at the Children's Island. Madami ngang bata hehehe. Probably because the shore area is kids-friendly.

Welcome to Old Scout Island. It is a small island na may kaunting swimming area.

Look at me at the back... super excited na akong lumangoy! Sobra! Hahaha!

Trust me when I say every island looks like a turtle or an alligator! Hahaha! Or optical illusion ko lang. Hehehe.

Quezon Island

Picture taking

Cuenca Island, parang cave na tagus tagusan.

I found these corals and i was able to spell out my name!

Now in Governor's Island, my favorite among the islands we visited

It has an amazing view from the top of the island. Nakakapagod yung papaakyat kasi ang laki ng steps, pero don't worry, may nagtitinda ng ice cream sa itaas. Hehehe.

With Khen, Joseph, Marc -- the fearless road trippers! Harharhar!

I only used to see this in postcards but now, I already experienced being there! Awesome!

Shot from Joseph's cam

Eto yung nakakatawa sa lahat ng binisita namin! Marc and I went to watch the corals and giant clams. Joseph and Khen stayed at the boat. I think  mga 500 meters yung lubid na hahawakan mo para makarating ka sa isa pang end point. Parang hindi pa ako nangangalahati... inaatake na ako ng takot! I felt may hihila sa akin pababa! Marc felt I was so scared Hahaha. We ended up going back to our boat sooner than we planned LOL 

Kulitan mode. Hehehe. "Why the hell are you using your camera phone?" Hahaha! Ganda pa man din ng pose ko dito...LOL

At first, we were given option whether to visit 3 islands of our choice for P800.00 pesos (most likely where the bankero would suggest where to take you especially if it is your first time) or unlimited island tour for P1100.00; we chose P1100.00. We all wanted to reach as much islands we could, what else we have to aspire with island hopping anyway! It was not bad at all; it satisfied our passion for astonishing landscapes in the form of a hundred century old islands!

The only disappointment we had was our lunch. There was this small canteen beside the wharf. They were selling overpriced flat-tasted meals. ;’(  So watch out… you might want to try dining at the nearby resort restaurants.

Our Hundred Island tour ended around 1:00PM and headed straight to Zzzzambales! “Here we coooome!”

Western Luzon Road Trip (Cavite-Pangasinan-Zambales-Bataan-Pampanga-Cavite Series) [Part 2 of 3]

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