villa escudero august 12-13, 2005
my friend maggie, the one i went with in bangkok, went on another holiday albeit a very short one. we went to villa escudero in quezon for an overnight stay. we left last august 12, a friday and returned the following day.
we almost didn't go because it was raining here in makati and we weren't sure if it's the same thing in quezon. they didn't have any phone number in the directory for the resort. all they have was the phone number of the manila office. we couldn't call them because the office doesn't open till 9 am and we wanted to leave by 7 am. the resort is 2-1/2 hours from manila by bus so if we leave at past 9 we'll be late for the check-in time which is at 11 am.
anyway we just decided to meet at the bus station and if the weather looked good by the time we both get to the station we'll proceed, if not we'll not go and have our stay rescheduled. they allow that so whether we go or not was no big deal. however we wanted to go that day because who knows when we'll have the time to go next.
well, since it looked like the sun was finally coming out we decided to go to villa escudero.
along the way the rains would fall and would stop after a few minutes. when we got to the gate of the resort it wasn't raining anymore.
but it would drizzle every now and then. happily for me the rains stopped and i was able to get some pictures. for an overnight stay i used up 5 rolls. i just love taking pictures of everything. i'm sure that those who'll look at my pictures would complain again that they hardly see people in them. i like taking pictures of sceneries and flowers. they just don't understand that there are pictures where it's not necessary to put people in.
so what did we do at the resort? we didn't swim because the water was cold but also because there were lots of foreign objects floating in the water. that's understandable because the rains brought with it leaves and insects and other stuff and they fell in the water. well, even though we didn't swim my new speedo bathing suit got wet because we lay against the concrete wall of the falls. i don't know how to describe it, sorry. the water was cold but i braved it for the picture taking. :-)
we posed as if we were posing for the fhm magazine because there was nobody around. or so we thought. we didn't know that we could be seen from the upper deck. gosh! it was embarrassing to think that we were seen. hopefully they've forgotten by now what we looked like. :-)
we went rafting on the lake. we wore life vests. it's said that the lake was 30 ft. deep so those who do not know how to swim must not go rafting. though i don't know how to swim yet i did go. there weren't any waves and i didn't do anything foolish to rock the bamboo raft. however maggie freaked out when i stood up to hand her my camera and when i got it back. :-) i was very careful in walking toward her so i knew i wouldn't fall or overturn the raft. the guy who was in charge of the bamboo rafts said that there was no danger of overturning the raft but one could fall. maggie was only 2 steps away from me so i was confident that no danger would happen. although looking back now accidents do happen. anyway i'm glad i didn't fall.
maybe the reason why i was also confident was because i was wearing a life jacket. oh, well, that's over now.
while my arms didn't ache from swimming they did ache from paddling the raft. if i must say so, we worked pretty well as a team. we were able to maneuver the raft towards where we wanted to go and we didn't get stuck anywhere. we stopped because we wanted to take pictures.
we rode a carabao cart 3 times. it was nice. and in each cart there was a singer and a guitarist who sing pilipino songs. the driver of the cart could take you whereever you wanted to go.
there was a jeepney too for the same purpose but, naturally, we prefer the carabao cart. there's nothing like that here in the metropolis.
our room was nice. there was a double bed and a single bed. it had a second level but there weren't any beds/mattresses there because there was just the two of us. the room could accommodate as many as 6 people. it also had a ceiling fan, a desk fan and a toilet and bath.
the museum was a disappointment though because i don't think they have a proper curator to look after the items there. it was a jumble. that's a pity because there were lots of things to see there especially for one who is a history buff. 'm sure one could happily spend some hours there just looking at the things on display, if it was arranged beautifully.
the escudero family loved to travel and from their travels they brought back plenty of things. so there were asian stuff, european, filipino. and most of the items had no labels in them so you don't know which era they're from or what they are. the filipino clothes were worn by mannequins with caucasian features. i don't know why they couldn't have gotten filipino ones.
filipino dances were performed in the afternoon and it was wonderful to watch. i don't know how to dance so i like to watch people dancing. and in the evening, while we were having dinner, they were practicing for their performance during the resort's 15th anniversary. it wasn't a dress rehearsal yet so i didn't take pictures.
the food was good but i enjoyed breakfast most of all because they served an all-filipino entree. it wasn't a buffet style breakfast though because there were only a few people who stayed overnight. ditto dinner.
lunch was buffet because the resort gets plenty of people. usually the tables were set up in the falls but because it was raining we had our lunch in a covered area. at the falls you eat while your feet are submerged in water. that can be pretty refreshing. it's okay that we did not get to experience that because we were able to have our fhm :-) picture taking there. if we had eaten at the falls the tables would not have been cleared till very late, i presume, and there would have been plenty of people there.
it wasn't difficult to get to the resort, especially for us who didn't have any car. you just go to the bus station in buendia and take the jam bus going to lucena. then you tell the driver you want to get off at villa escudero and pay P116. then you get dropped off at the entrance. then the guard at the resort's gate would call the resort so that a jeepney could pick us up.
that also is the same in going back. except that this time we took the great star bus. the fare was lesser -- only P111. its terminal was beside jam. had i known that we'd have taken the latter bus in going to and from villa escudero.
maggie and i spent P2170 for our overnight trip. this amount already includes all 3 meals, the rafting on the lake, the use of the swimming pools and the jacuzzi. however if there had been 6 of us we'd have spent around P1500 each. all in all we had a great time.
we almost didn't go because it was raining here in makati and we weren't sure if it's the same thing in quezon. they didn't have any phone number in the directory for the resort. all they have was the phone number of the manila office. we couldn't call them because the office doesn't open till 9 am and we wanted to leave by 7 am. the resort is 2-1/2 hours from manila by bus so if we leave at past 9 we'll be late for the check-in time which is at 11 am.
anyway we just decided to meet at the bus station and if the weather looked good by the time we both get to the station we'll proceed, if not we'll not go and have our stay rescheduled. they allow that so whether we go or not was no big deal. however we wanted to go that day because who knows when we'll have the time to go next.
well, since it looked like the sun was finally coming out we decided to go to villa escudero.
along the way the rains would fall and would stop after a few minutes. when we got to the gate of the resort it wasn't raining anymore.
but it would drizzle every now and then. happily for me the rains stopped and i was able to get some pictures. for an overnight stay i used up 5 rolls. i just love taking pictures of everything. i'm sure that those who'll look at my pictures would complain again that they hardly see people in them. i like taking pictures of sceneries and flowers. they just don't understand that there are pictures where it's not necessary to put people in.
so what did we do at the resort? we didn't swim because the water was cold but also because there were lots of foreign objects floating in the water. that's understandable because the rains brought with it leaves and insects and other stuff and they fell in the water. well, even though we didn't swim my new speedo bathing suit got wet because we lay against the concrete wall of the falls. i don't know how to describe it, sorry. the water was cold but i braved it for the picture taking. :-)
we posed as if we were posing for the fhm magazine because there was nobody around. or so we thought. we didn't know that we could be seen from the upper deck. gosh! it was embarrassing to think that we were seen. hopefully they've forgotten by now what we looked like. :-)
we went rafting on the lake. we wore life vests. it's said that the lake was 30 ft. deep so those who do not know how to swim must not go rafting. though i don't know how to swim yet i did go. there weren't any waves and i didn't do anything foolish to rock the bamboo raft. however maggie freaked out when i stood up to hand her my camera and when i got it back. :-) i was very careful in walking toward her so i knew i wouldn't fall or overturn the raft. the guy who was in charge of the bamboo rafts said that there was no danger of overturning the raft but one could fall. maggie was only 2 steps away from me so i was confident that no danger would happen. although looking back now accidents do happen. anyway i'm glad i didn't fall.
maybe the reason why i was also confident was because i was wearing a life jacket. oh, well, that's over now.
while my arms didn't ache from swimming they did ache from paddling the raft. if i must say so, we worked pretty well as a team. we were able to maneuver the raft towards where we wanted to go and we didn't get stuck anywhere. we stopped because we wanted to take pictures.
we rode a carabao cart 3 times. it was nice. and in each cart there was a singer and a guitarist who sing pilipino songs. the driver of the cart could take you whereever you wanted to go.
there was a jeepney too for the same purpose but, naturally, we prefer the carabao cart. there's nothing like that here in the metropolis.
our room was nice. there was a double bed and a single bed. it had a second level but there weren't any beds/mattresses there because there was just the two of us. the room could accommodate as many as 6 people. it also had a ceiling fan, a desk fan and a toilet and bath.
the museum was a disappointment though because i don't think they have a proper curator to look after the items there. it was a jumble. that's a pity because there were lots of things to see there especially for one who is a history buff. 'm sure one could happily spend some hours there just looking at the things on display, if it was arranged beautifully.
the escudero family loved to travel and from their travels they brought back plenty of things. so there were asian stuff, european, filipino. and most of the items had no labels in them so you don't know which era they're from or what they are. the filipino clothes were worn by mannequins with caucasian features. i don't know why they couldn't have gotten filipino ones.
filipino dances were performed in the afternoon and it was wonderful to watch. i don't know how to dance so i like to watch people dancing. and in the evening, while we were having dinner, they were practicing for their performance during the resort's 15th anniversary. it wasn't a dress rehearsal yet so i didn't take pictures.
the food was good but i enjoyed breakfast most of all because they served an all-filipino entree. it wasn't a buffet style breakfast though because there were only a few people who stayed overnight. ditto dinner.
lunch was buffet because the resort gets plenty of people. usually the tables were set up in the falls but because it was raining we had our lunch in a covered area. at the falls you eat while your feet are submerged in water. that can be pretty refreshing. it's okay that we did not get to experience that because we were able to have our fhm :-) picture taking there. if we had eaten at the falls the tables would not have been cleared till very late, i presume, and there would have been plenty of people there.
it wasn't difficult to get to the resort, especially for us who didn't have any car. you just go to the bus station in buendia and take the jam bus going to lucena. then you tell the driver you want to get off at villa escudero and pay P116. then you get dropped off at the entrance. then the guard at the resort's gate would call the resort so that a jeepney could pick us up.
that also is the same in going back. except that this time we took the great star bus. the fare was lesser -- only P111. its terminal was beside jam. had i known that we'd have taken the latter bus in going to and from villa escudero.
maggie and i spent P2170 for our overnight trip. this amount already includes all 3 meals, the rafting on the lake, the use of the swimming pools and the jacuzzi. however if there had been 6 of us we'd have spent around P1500 each. all in all we had a great time.
posted by lawyerlyn at
8:40 PM
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