Mont Albo massage

With all the stress work and other physical activities can bring to our body we need to pamper it once in a while. It is one way to give back to our bodies so that it won't give up on us someday. A good massage will do ease much of our tired muscles that will definitely make our body feel great and revitalized.

Enough said, we went to try out Mont Albo Massage Hut in Parksquare, Ayala Center(across Glorietta/SM Makati and Dusit Thani and beside Dragon Wok restaurant) and try their specialty, Hilot with Bentosa. This was my first time while this is the second for my girlfriend. She brought me here cause she said I will definitely like it here. I really love Hilot as it relaxes muscles and that is what I always wanted.

It's a full body massage so naturally we were only left with our underwear on. I laid flat on my back and the therapist started to press and rub my back with her palms, fingers and elbow (I'm not sure if I'm right about this cause I'm on my back right, haha). It went on for I think almost 20mins and I really loved it. I have always wanted to have it concentrated on my back and I found it here.

After that it's time for the Bentosa (suction cup). Since this is my first time, I twitch whenever I hear the lighter being lit up and a cold object being placed in my back. Maybe it's the anticipation hahaha. 8 glasses were vacuumed by using I don't know if it's a candle or something else and then placed on specific acupuncture points of my back and suck the air away. I felt a slight tingling sensation at first but translated to just warm feeling afterwards. While leaving the glasses on my back the therapist massaged my lower extremities(thighs, legs and feet). It stayed on my back for at least 10-15mins and another set of massage routine was performed on my back upon its removal.

Arms are massaged afterwards. Now it's time to lie on my back. Massaged was performed first on my face and head. It was good. Then my arms again together with the chest area. Then last are the lower extremities again with some stretching.

I think they used coconut oil on the massage. It was a great feeling after the massage. I'm definitely going back there. Massage only cost P350 and an additional P80 for the bentosa. Truly affordable and much worth it. A highly recommended massage spa for those enthusiasts out there.

I was not able to take pictures so just go over on these links.

webpage: http://www.montalbomassage.com/site/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Philippines/Mont-Albo-Massage-Hut/117189854977629

Kamayan sa Palaisdaan

On our overnight stay at Rockpoint Resort & Spa last August 28, just before we went there we had a stopover for lunch at Kamayan sa Palaisdaan in Bay, Laguna. We couldn’t miss this chance to try the food here since there are only two Kamayan sa Palaisdaan present today, the other one in Tayabas, Quezon.

This is another reason why we chose to take our overnight vacation here. Just so we could try out Kamayan sa Palaisdaan. Hehe.

They have a spacious parking area for tenants and a place for reception or other events. Furthermore inside, there you would find the main restaurant. Floating cottages docked on the side of the man-made pond are where the guests take their meals. You could also enjoy the pleasure of feeding the fishes on your spare food.

A statue of a woman, maybe a goddess or just someone relevant to the history of either Laguna or Kamayan... just another of my make-believe stories because I don't know who this is. hahaha

We ordered seafood kare-kare, lechon kawali, inihaw na talong (grilled eggplant) and fresh buko juice for our lunch. While waiting for the food I had the leisure to roam around and take some pictures of the place.

The landscape is wonderful. This place would definitely appeal to the nature lovers out there. If you want a different ambience on your lunch or dinner dates then this place is a must on your go-to-list.

me sipping some fresh buko juice

The food was served already. Lechon kawali tasted great. It has just the right amount of crispiness we want. The inihaw na talong is also good. It was one of the favorites of my girlfriend so she ate most of it. Seafood kare-kare has the mixtures of squid, shrimp, and crab plus the regular ingredients of a kare-kare, peanut sauce, eggplant, string beans, lettuce and bagoong. It also tasted good. Kare-kare is one of my favorites and this didn’t fail me.

seafood kare-kare

lechon kawali

inihaw na talong

us both

Here are other landscape pictures of Kamayan sa Palaisdaan, Bay.

Another bonus and two thumbs up for us is the band that serenades the guests on each of the cottages they are into. They rendered us “Faithfully” and “Beautiful in My Eyes” by Journey and Joshua Kadison, respectively. The latter, it’s their selection. We had a hard time requesting a song. And we were surprised when they sang it because it’s one of the songs I do sing for my baby.

We called them “The Bay Band” hahaha… about their voice, well they sing absolutely great! It’s like I’m listening in a radio. If I’m a judge in a singing contest I’m definitely going to give them a perfect score.

Here is a video of "The Bay Band". Most of the video you would see me gorge over the poor crab. Just don't mind me eating and just enjoy the song okay... hahaha...

Definitely a highly recommended restaurant for food and nature lovers. If you want to have a fresh ambiance while taking your meals and relax afterwards by resting in your huts then this place is for you.

Back in Bohol - day 1&2 (3/12-13/2010)

We haven’t had enough of Bohol didn’t we? Summer has come and here we are again back here. This time we had two companions, Allan and his wife, Janet, the former being an officemate of my girlfriend.

We find Bohol as our relaxation haven. Compared to other beaches here in our country, there are not much people here. Someday this place might change but I hope it’ll remain how it is right now. Anyway we booked again at Dumaluan Beach Resort because they have very affordable rates.

aboard the plane

aerial snapshot of I don't know where

aerial shot of tagbilaran-dauis bridge

We have officially landed in Bohol again. It's so good to be back in a place we have come to love.

We took the cheapest room available, which is the standard rooms because we are budget vacationists. The room is spacious but no ref and bath tub. It's ok.

standard room

Compared to before, we are more of beach bums here since we had no land tour. Allan and Janet had their tour on the first day while we stayed on the beach. By dinner we met with them at Bohol Bee Farm through habal-habal (motor bike back-ride) and took our meals there.

some of the cottages in DBR1

One funny note on our habal-habal ride was the rear tire got flat while on our way to Bohol Bee Farm. Blame it on the rocky path to BBFarm or blame it on us. Are we too heavy that the tire gave up on us? Hahaha… anyway thanks to that incident we walked few meters on a rocky road just to get to our destination.

While waiting for our orders we went to the deck that showcases the view of the sea. Massage also is done here. A perfect place for a massage indeed as the splashes of the sea in cliff’s bedrock is very relaxing to the ears. The fresh breeze of sea air can also be felt. We didn’t try the massage here but for sure it would be a great experience.

a view from the BBF deck

HDR - overcast

Here are some of our organic meals. I forgot the name of our meals but they do taste good.

After dinner we went back to the resort and bid goodnight on our first day. We have to wake up early tomorrow because we’re scheduled for a sea tour on some of the neighboring islands.

We packed the things we needed to bring that morning like tripod, snorkeling gear, camera and some cookies for merienda. We left at 6AM with the warm heat of the sun good enough to warm the surroundings. Moments later the heat was prickling hot. Being forgetful of me, I didn’t put sunblock on my shoulders and the result, well it seems like I am wearing a sando. Hahaha.

on our way to the island tour

First on our tour was dolphin watching. It would be my first time to see a dolphin and hopefully I’d be able to take a snapshot of it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take a picture but at least we have seen few. They are aloof probably because they aren’t tamed and who wouldn’t especially if boats are chasing you. Hahaha…

It’s funny to see boats rushing as if we’re in a chase. At one point we’re in full stop, and then we’ll move slightly, then going to rush to where dolphins are sighted. I’m not saying it’s funny to chase the dolphins. I do pity their situation. Maybe they feel like they’re being chased and be cannibalized by us humans.

Dolphins only appear very early in the morning. Maybe we’re a little late since sun was high already that time and no dolphin sightings occurred anymore.

Next on our tour was Balicasag Island, a marine sanctuary for the fishes and definitely good for snorkeling. We took on our snorkeling gears and underwater film-camera (which is not good btw) and off we go to the water. The view, well it’s unbelievable! Different school of fishes can be seen. Even the corals are wonderful. I definitely enjoyed my first snorkeling experience.

balicasag shore

Why I say our underwater film-camera was a crap. Well, I can’t look at it in the viewfinder. I have mask on right. Tsk. So my only option is to just point it anywhere. The result after we developed it, just a waste of money and effort. Hahaha…

Walking underwater is really hard. You would be stepping into corals which are in irregular shapes, rough, and a little bit slimy so it’s slippery. My gf even got bruised when she slipped in one of the corals. Extra care is needed when walking and as the saying goes “Please watch your feet”. hehehe

We also took our lunch at Balicasag Island. We selected from the fishes available and they cooked it for us. The food was a little bit pricey though because sea foods are being bought in the city since their place is a marine sanctuary so no fishing. I liked their initiative not to fish and protect their resources.

cropped panoramic view of balicasag island

Last on our tour was the Virgin Island. Why virgin? Ahm, maybe because nothing happened here yet? You know what I mean. Hahaha… Kidding aside, Islands that are left undeveloped or untouched by civilization are called Virgin Islands.

The island is absolutely beautiful. Another splendid combination of blue, green and white met our eye. Blue sky reflected in the water, in the middle was an island with white sand and trees everywhere. A long stretch of sand bar leads you to the main island. It’s only a small island and you can explore it by just walking. I was also forced to try the meat of sea urchin which actually doesn’t taste good. Hahaha…

me at virgin island

long stretch of sandbar to the main island

just jump!!!

sea urchin

We got back to our resort in the afternoon and went straight to DBR Grill for some refreshments. We rested a bit and get back to enjoying the pleasure of the swimming pool and the beach.

It’s a typical afternoon and night for us. Just like before, we just stayed at the beach waited for the sun to set on the other side. We took our dinner of course at DBR Grill and then back to our rooms for the goodnight sleep.

Back in Bohol - day 3&4 (3/14-15/2010)

I'm going to cover both days 3 & 4 here in this post. For these days we had all the leisure time to spend it on the beach and resort since we have no other scheduled activities. It wasn't that boring even though what we did was just stayed on the beach, play frisbee, eat, and swim.

So catching the sunrise again on the start of day 3, we were able to get this nice (I guess so) silhouette shot with the sun about to rise from the horizon.

Since we have all the day at the beach we had the time to roam around and take pictures.

3 kayaks laid between 2 trees

Every beach resort has their own rules and regulations we have to follow. It is not for their benefit but for our nature. So please comply. =)

A sunburst achieved by taking a shot of the sun behind the leaves of this coconut tree.

We also found this big cloud with the sun hiding behind it. Another chance of a sunburst effect.

this was HDR'ed already

Since sand here is very fine, it produces a smooth glass effect whenever it is wet by the shore waves. We accidentally noticed a clear reflection of our pictures when we took some so we did this.

reflection by the sand

Back to relaxation and sunburn mode. It's time to take some group pictures.

Allan, Janet, Joyce(my gf) and me

this time by pair =)

We made use of a boat that is anchored in the shore that time as our shooting spot. haha.

On to our last day, we caught up again with sunrise, as we normally schedule ourselves to. Not much clouds that morning and the bright warm sun appeared among us.

Looks like sunset but it's not. The sun was just rising.

Marion♥Joyce

a coral and the sand ripples

Last hoorah at the beach before we leave. hehe.

refreshment before leaving

at the plane back to manila

Another great Bohol summer experience. We definitely had fun with our island tour and enjoyed our stay at the beach.

My 2nd Zambales Experience (05/15-16/2010)

We were left wanting more of Nagsasa after our first camping experience there. The beauty of the place really captured our hearts and we definitely miss the place so much. We were given the chance when Lani, a friend, asked us if we want to go to Zambales again because she wants to have a vacation and she’s looking for companions. Of course we didn’t refuse to go with her. It’s our chance to go back to Nagsasa again. Btw she is also accompanied by her friend, Eric.

This time we took the morning trip through Victory Liner at Caloocan station. Good thing traffic was not that heavy and we arrived in San Antonio at around lunch time. We got Mang Johnny again for this trip as our tour guide and this time he really was the one who accompanied us with our trip. Last time it was Mang Nanti who came with us.

We skipped Island hopping for the day and moved it for tomorrow because sun is strikingly hot. We went immediately to Nagsasa where we stayed again and dropped off our belongings. People packed up the place slowly. Good thing we got the corner of the shore and we had the table for us only.

our tents

narrow strip of water

another strip of water projecting the lagoon

nagsasa lagoon

We took a quick dip at the beach that afternoon when my gf noticed something while swimming. She saw a jellyfish. I didn’t believe her at first because we never encountered jellyfishes in our first visit here. We didn’t stay that long in the beach and we got back to our tents. While exploring the place I noticed something silicone-like in the shore. Hmmmm… it was a dead jellyfish! I even joke it as some woman’s silicone popped out without her noticing. Hahaha…

a dead jellyfish

They plagued the shore and the beach which dragged us to swim in the lagoon. Water is warm in the lagoon but is a little dirty when you get farther away to the middle so we only stayed on its shore.

The rest of the afternoon is picture time of course… hehe…

at a rock formation

sunset caught up on us

We took our dinner early since we have no light source. We also requested for a bonfire but it withered quickly. While the fire is on I toasted some mallows for our delight.

bonfire light our night

Good morning Nagsasa!!! We have to pack up early that morning because we have Anawangin and Capones still in our itinerary. So far in my experience, sunrise and sunset in Nagsasa are almost the same.

sunrise in Nagsasa

more of the rock formation in Nagsasa

First was Anawangin cove. Surprisingly the lagoon at Anawangin is flooded opposite to what it was before when we first came here. Anyway, it was more beautiful than before though we had a little difficulty crossing the other side of the lagoon because the bridge connecting them is also dipped in the water.

submerged bridge

Off to Capones, this time we promised ourselves that we will get to the top of the lighthouse. And we have indeed. I was a little scared when I got to the top since I felt like I might fall but I hid the feeling once my gf is on top too. Anyway it was wonderful. A 360° view of the island surrounded by South China Sea is just breathtaking.

a view from a cliff

from inside the lighthouse

the famous lighthouse

finally at the top of the lighthouse!

It’s now time we leave again. We took a bath at Mang Johnny’s place and also had our lunch there. His family was very accommodating. They let us inside their house and treated us like special guests. Btw, their bathroom is very clean and beautiful.

If you would ever visit Zambales and plan to stay either in Anawangin or Nagsasa, do get his services. He’s very nice and accommodating. As for us, we aren’t sure when we will go back to Zambales, maybe someday. But for now, we’re off to try other places.