Rizal's Finest!!!

Before the year ends, let me share with you our trip to one of Rizal's finest places.

Instead of throwing a birthday bash for chi (my hubby), this year we decided to have a family trip to the nearest place where we can have a unique experience. My searching brings me to this place in Baras Rizal called "Balconahe Nature Camp", I found it in Air BNB and decided to book a 3 days 2 nights stay after reading so many good reviews about it.

Another good thing is having a near falls that is not yet discovered by many people, which they called "Palo Alto" falls, it's perfect for me since I always wanted to see falls and experience swimming on its natural water.

So here comes our trip, morning of September 7, 2018 which is the exact day of chi's birthday, we went to Rizal via commute, the easiest way from our place is by going to cubao and riding a UV express going to Cogeo. From there, we ride a jeep bound to Sampaloc, Tanaay and drop in front of Balconahe Nature Camp.

Prior to riding a jeep bound to Sampaloc, since we passed through Cogeo market, we decided to buy extra food and snack for our 3 days stay, not the main food though, cause I already read that Balconahe serves delicious but reasonable priced dishes, so I intend to try every meal. :)

Reaching Balconahe Nature Camp, the vibe is already relaxing, we even saw some kids sliding in front of the Balconahe's gate using "karton" since the way is slant, you know? the old way of sliding before slides are invented. :)

Anyways, about the place, it is beautiful as it is in the pictures. A perfect place to bond with your family and the nature. They have no wifi and TV in there, which is cool since you went there to relax and bond.

They have only 3 glass cabanas covered with curtains, which means only limited guests can stay overnight so it won't get crowded and to make sure guest can truly enjoy the place and relax. Just to let you know, we are the only guest that day so we get to enjoy the place on our own.

They have a large common area just beside the pool which really looks like a spa, there are sofas, pillows everywhere, hammocks and tables/chairs all around the place so you can choose where you'd like to eat, relax and even sip your coffee.

Since we arrived there at nearly 5pm, we just roam around, take pictures and rest a bit then order our dinner. we order beef caldereta (180php) and chopseuy (180php), serving is already good for 2-3 persons, and there rice is priced at 25php. The review that I read is indeed true! Food are delicious and worth every penny that you'll be spending. It's just unfortunate that during our visit they don't have a stock of brewed coffee which they usually served unlimited to the guest.

That night, we just have a bonding over movies since I brought my laptop and sleep early since we are planned to visit the Palo Alto Falls the next morning.

We woke up at around 7am and order breakfast, around 9am we went to Palo Alto Falls which is jeep and tric away from Balconahe nature camp, jeepney fare is 9php, just tell the driver that you are going to Palo Alto falls and he'll drop you at the tric terminal, tric fare is 70php one way, I really enjoyed the tric ride as we pass through a farm like places where you'll see a lot of cows and goat travelling together and eating grass. Really feels like you are in a place far away from urbanization. Just don't forget to get the tric driver's cp number so you can text him to pick you up, there's no other way to commute back aside from that.

Reaching the place, there is already a counter there where you can pay your entrance fee, entrance is free if you're not going to swim but you only have 15mins to explore the place, while you have to pay 100php, a small fee to take you to an amazing paradise. There are also cottages you can rent for a fee, we did not get a cottage anymore since we are planning to stay there only for a few hours because we only brought snack in case we get hungry while swimming.

As per the signage, you have to climb 129 steps to reach the Palo Alto Falls, and mind you, it's not tiring at all, our 10 years old son is even taking a video as we climb because every sight in there is amazing.

Getting at the top, we are wowed and stop for a minute just to stare at the falls. There's only 1 group of friends with us that time so we really enjoyed the place just before other groups arrived around noon.

The water is cold but not as if you can't swim, it is very natural and weather is so fine that day which makes me very thankful because a storm just passed by before that day.

It was very peaceful hearing the sound of nature and feeling the natural air of god's creation. I can never ask for more than a perfect trip like that.

After 3 hours of enjoying the Palo Alto Falls, we decided to descend and have our lunch, good thing there is a small carinderia in the tric terminal. Manang even gave us Guyabano for free. :)

As we go back to Balconahe, we decided to get an enjoyful dip in their cleaned pool which is filled with natural water coming from the falls which they only filter before the water reached the pool. By that time there is already another family check in the room beside us as kuya said when I asked him yesterday if the other rooms are booked.

That night we ordered there chicken and fries for dinner, they have some snacks there like biscuits and crackers available for sale, they even have a beer so me and my hubby decided to have some beer while watching movie in there common area.

The next morning, we ordered their Beef bulalo which is unquestionably delicious. We swim again at the pool before getting ready to go home.

May I also commend this 2 kuyas that makes a big part of making our stay perfect. They are very accommodating, polite and are always ready to assist on your every needs. They are also the one who cooks the delicious dishes.

By the way, the morning before our check out time, I met the owner's tita (Marc's tita) and she was very accommodating too, she even asked us how was our stay in their place.

All and all, our trip to Balconahe Nature Camp and Palo Alto Falls is one of the best trips I had this year. Truly mesmerizing and relaxing. Thank God for his beautiful creation. :)

Sombrero Island: A Mesmerizing Beauty!

One word in the title is never going to be enough to describe Sombrero Island, but mesmerizing I think is the best word to give you the first impression about this island.

It was summer 2017 when we went on Sombrero Island which is located in Masbate, yeah I know, it has been almost a year before I find time to write about this trip.

Anyway, let's get started! We leave manila at around 1:00 am and we arrived at San Andres Quezon roughly around 7:00 am, and that was really faster than expected, it was supposed to be an 8 hours travel time, but because of our amazing driver which is actually the husband of my office mate happens to be not just familiar but has a family owned cottage in Sombrero Island, we were able to shorten the travel time. It was not really the Sombrero Island we stayed at, but rather it is called Burias Island, since there were no cottage in Sombrero Island and staying there is prohibited.

Going back, we arrived at our friend's family house at around 7:00 am and have our breakfast, they have an unusual kind of rice though, it was stickier and wrap with I think a banana leaf and formed as as a triangle, but it was delicious and an ideal food for travel.

This is the rice I am talking about.. :)

After sorting some of our things, we board at their boat and start our travel bound to the Burias Island, travel time will depend on how speed your boat is, but since we only had 1 motor that time, it took us 4 hours or so to reach the Island, but it is indeed worth the long travel!

We already ate our lunch on the boat since it was already afternoon when we arrived at the Island.

And even if you are still kilometers away, you will already see that the Island is surrounded by a very white sand, and what more when you are already in it.

We had the boat by ourselves!!

Arriving in Burias Island already had me mesmerize and get me even more excited to explore the Island and the other Islands near it.

Arriving in Burias Island

Arriving at our cottage in Burias Island

Our Cottage

We rest a bit, sort our baggage and get ready for an Island hoping, honestly I forgot the name of the Islands we went through, but you can see some pictures below and I assure you that every Island is worth visiting. By the way, we stayed at our friend's family owned cottage in the Burias Island.

Here are some pictures of our Island Hopping...

A blue lagoon like..

Sand bar

Jumpshot!!!

It was already dark when we went back to Burias Island from Island hoping, we were all hungry already and thank God that dinner is already prepared by our friend's mother, everything is delicious, we don't even feel that we are in an Island miles away from the city as we really have a great set of delicious food, although I really like the feeling of eating in a provincial way where they eat in a banana leaf or palayok.

We don't really plan on camping although some of us brought their tent as we were assuming that all of us won't fit on the cottage as it only has two rooms with its own cr, but as some of us settle down inside the cottage's rooms to sleep, we realized that it was really hot since it has no fan and if there is, it is too electricity consuming since take note that we are in an exclusive Island where they only use generator to at least have an electricity for light. Therefore, we just get our beds and lay it outside, over the sand and decided to just sleep under the stars with the ocean's wind blowing to us, and yes it was wonderful and more comfortable.

I was awaken by a cool morning breeze, and was so thankful that I was able to witness a beautiful sunrise, I spend almost half an hour just staring at sun slowly rising and giving shine to everything. Just a few minutes after that, we prepared and ate our breakfast and get ready to explore the Island and enjoy the sea.

Our bed over the sand

Sun rise!!

kain po! :)

We find a good spot in the Island, set our big umbrella and start exploring the sea with our life vest and goggles. It was indeed mesmerizing, I don't really mind getting burn under the heat of the sun or even tasting the salty water of the sea as all of that is blown away by the beauty of this Island floating in the center of a very clear sea water.

Look how clear the water is!!!

Just kids playing on the sea under the sun!

My two machulit relaxing and exploring the sea!

Won't mind getting buried in this very fine and white sand!

Around 4:00 pm when we decided to walk around and explore the whole Island, it was wonderful and we even manage to get some beautiful rock and coral reefs pieces along the beach.

The balancer! hahaha

Wearing the Sombrero Island in the Background!

Creamy Mais Con Yelo in a hot afternoon!

When we got back to the cottage we just took a bath and get ready to eat our delicious dinner. That night we did a little food trip (like a bonfire) and decided to sleep early since we'll be going home early morning.

Sunset at its finest!

I felt a little heart ache after realizing that its time to go home and leave this beautiful Island, but that's how life is, however you wish to stay on an adventure, the time to get back to reality will still come no matter what. But nonetheless, spending 3 days and 2 nights in Sombrero Island is worth all the time, the money and the energy. Actually being able to go there with a much lesser cost is already a big opportunity and advantage for us, since normally, getting there is a bit pricey.

Going home, we spend almost 12 hours in the road because of the traffic, but like what I said, it's all worth it. :)

Mei Elegance Spa

Actually I still have a lot of places on my review list waiting to be written which I cannot find time as of the moment due to my busy schedule at work, but I did my best to insert this review of Mei Elegance Spa to get you guys aware and set your expectation since I am not seeing many or even any blog reviews for this Spa in Del Monte Avenue QC.

We've been here last Saturday, March 24, 2018, which is just 2 days ago, yesss, even though this is the latest place I've been, I manage to put this one on the top page of my review list... here's why!

If the first 2 paragraphs of this post sounds like negative and ranting to you, you are on the right track because it is... let's start on the reservation process...

I called there number a week before our preferred schedule, I was able to talk to one of the staff and told him that I bought a voucher from Metrodeal (75 minutes massage with manicure or pedicure for 249 pesos) and I want to make a reservation for 6 persons next saturday at 7:00pm, he hold me on the phone for a while and told me that the owner or their boss said that they don't accept early reservations, and I'm like "really?? why??", he said that they put each customer under the name of the staff during the day of our visit so he can't place my name that time instead he told me to call a day or two before our preferred schedule, then I ask him if he can just note the schedule under my name in case there would be any other customer who would call before me and ask for the same schedule, at first he still declined but I insist so he noted for it. (That time, I was thinking they don't have many customers ever since so they can accommodate anyone even without a reservation.)

Friday night which is a day before our schedule, I called to confirm our schedule with them and this is the first time I really felt the rudeness of that staff, it was the same staff I talk to, last saturday who declines my reservation, he told why I just called only today because he was waiting for my call since last wednesday, I told him that he is the one who told me to just call a day prior to our schedule, after some more explanation, he confirm again our preferred time, then I said 7:00 pm, then he ask me if we could go there earlier than that as they have an scheduled reservation at 8:00 pm, and I'm like "WTF??", (no I didn't really say that)... I just told him, "I told you so, that's why I insist on you noting our schedule, and I really thought you don't accept early reservation"... I have no choice, so I told him that the earliest time we can commit is 6:30 pm since some of us will be out of the work only by 5:00 pm, but will try our best to be there as early as possible.

So this is it, we were there by 6:30 pm or even a minutes earlier, actually our 2 friends were there 15 minutes earlier and they bought some drinks on their cafe first while waiting for us (yes there is cafe connected to the Spa which I think has the same owner). When we enter the Spa, some staff greeted us and a guy staff approach me, ask for my voucher and hand me a form to write our names (this is the staff I talked through the phone and I'm right he is not welcoming and a bit rude), our agreement was to have 2 batch, so the 3 girls will be massage first while the 3 boys will get their pedicure then exchange after the 1st batch because they cannot accommodate 6 persons for massage at the same time.

After a bit while of waiting, they called the us girls and have us seat on their foot washing area, after that we were given a slippers to change ours, after the washing procedure we are waiting for the next instruction and looking at them seems like they are looking each other like they don't know what to say next who will say it, after that dead air, one staff go upstairs and we just followed her even though they are not saying anything (prior to this, that rude guy staff ask me if its okay that the therapist will be 2 girls and 1 guy, then I said a big "NO" for the girls, maybe for the boys its okay I said, then he just nod and go to their I think staff room, I even here him saying to his costaff in a bit loud and rude voice "puro sa inyo to! ayaw ng lalake!).

I let that pass and ignore their rudeness as I don't want to judge quickly and ruin our day since we're here to relax...

This is the cafe connected to the spa

This is their waiting area

Soaking and washing feets area

Going upstairs the structure of the Spa is good, there massage area is only divided by curtains which is usual to small Spas like this, we were pointed to our massage beds (curtains our open so we can see each other, and we prefer it though), they told us to remove our clothes and wear the shorts. After a while, they are back and ask us if we are ready, then we said yes.

Let's talk about the massage, so the therapist assigned to me started on my back, (she didn't even ask me as to what pressure I prefer) she just continue on the massage and it was really good on the first few minutes, afterwards I felt like the pressure is getting soft and I noticed that the therapist on my left doing the massage to my friend is making some stroke sound (if you know this one, the tapping thing) while my therapist is not doing any of that, maybe a few, then I was thinking, "do they have different steps or process of massage?" my friend even told me after the massage that her therapist started on her legs, which is different from mine to our other friend.

On the second half when she ask me to turn around, I ask her if she can put some more pressure to the massage then she said okay, but I felt like nothing has changed, its the same soft pressure. Don't get me wrong, the massage was good and there are spot that she really did well, I just wanted a bit more pressure because even though I prefer a moderate pressure, this one felt really like a soft one. I noticed another thing, my therapist keep on burping, at first I ignore it as I thought she just came from a dinner break, but she keeps on doing it until the last part of the massage, and as far I could remember on their fb page, the staff are wearing mask, and that time, I can only see one staff wearing a mask which is the therapist of my friend on the left side, but I think that's just because she has cough, my friend told me so after and I can hear it too. After the massage, they told us to rest first and wait for the hot towel.

When the massage is over, I check the time (I always do this, so I can track if they finished on the exact time), we started the massage at 6:30 and it was only 7:31, so it has been an hour only contradict to what is included on their voucher which is 75 minutes (or are they aware that 1 hour is only 60 minutes?) so we just get dressed and head onto their pedicure area which is just a few steps away.

On their pedicure area, our 3 boys friends (actually we're 3 couples) are there and already done with their pedicure, just after a minute when the staff called them for their massage while us girls seated on where they left of and drink the hot tea they prefer for us while waiting for our pedicure. (We waited for 30 minutes after staff who will do our pedicure came with an interval of like 5 minutes on each other - this is still fine since we are not in a hurry and we would also wait for the boys to finished their massage, but I just hope they have done the pedicure earlier as we have to wait for the polish to get dry, actually the boys are already done with the massage but my other friend is still having her pedicure since she the staff who did her pedicure came last.)

Area for nail services (where you are supposed to have your pedicure)

After a few minutes, we left the Spa and find a place to eat... While eating, we were talking about the Spa and the massage and everything, my husband said they have the same therapist who massaged us, the one's assigned to him was also the one who keeps burping, same with our couple friend who has the same therapist that has a mask and coughing. My husband even told me that after us girls go upstairs, the staff wash their feet as well and heard that they were discussing whether to just do the pedicure there on the washing area (which is wrong because they have designated area upstairs for nail services) he said that it was the "tomboy" staff (sorry, I don't really know how to address or differentiate staff as I don't manage to get their names) who is insisting in just doing the pedicure there, she even said "pedicure lang naman to!"... that's when my husband started talking to our friend about me having a blog and writing reviews, as he think it would trigger the staff on doing a good service instead, and yesss, that works! the guys staff told the "tomboy" staff to do the pedicure upstairs, he said ("dun na lang sa taas para makita din nila sir yung taas!)

On the positive the side, almost all of us said that they had a good massage, I thought so that too, but it was nothing special and just your average massage you won't remember in a good way and bother coming again.

But I would like to commend the one who did my pedicure, she is really good, polite and I can see her always smiling although she's wearing a mask, she even apologize for keeping us wait, and I can see her sanitizing the pedicure things before using it to me, which is a really good thing that wipe away some of my bad vibes on them.

Overall, although their massage is mostly good, the rudeness of most of the staff makes it more stressful...(yes most, I don't want you think that every staff there is rude because there a nice ones). I don't know if they are just rude to us because we are using a promo from metrodeal instead of paying the regular amount or they are just really rude and sometimes annoying! Although I'd like to say that we get what we pay for, I still think you should provide a good service even on promos, because if I wouldn't even bother to buy your metrodeal promo again because of your rude service then most probably won't even pay a single dime to pay your regular rates.

This is a tip to all Spa owners, staff and even those Spa lovers out there >> even though the massage or any other services of the Spa is just an average and nothing special, it will be a memorable one to the customers if the staff are polite, nice and friendly, since your services is to pamper and make your customer relax, a good attitude and pleasing personality is a must! While on the other hand, even how good and special your services specially the massage but your staffs are rude, it will be nothing but a trash service! I'd rather go to a spa with an average service but treats their customers as nicely as possible than going to a spa claiming they are good but treats their customer with rudeness.

This post is pretty long because I'd like to write every details of our experience in this spa, so you can be the judge and help you out if you are planning to go here.