Aquatico, Batangas

Nice place right?  Read my story and think again.
This trip was for our post wedding anniversary.  It got ruined because of a huge lizard.... "TUKO" in tagalog.  What happened was, we were about to go to sleep and I was about to turn off the television (which was on the wall) when I saw this thing... I just thought it was a large house lizard but then when I move closer that's when I realized that it was really not just an ordinary large house lizard!  It was indeed a TUKO!  We called the housekeeping to inform them about the lizard.  It took them forever to come to our room.  By the way the resort is just small to take them forever to attend to us.  I called the second time and that's the time they come (and they thought that I was just exaggerating when I told them that there is a large lizard in our room.) Grrrrrrr!  Two house keeping guy came and a security guard, they tried to make the lizard go out the room using an umbrella but to no avail, it ran up and hid in the drop ceiling.  The manager came (a guy) he told the housekeeping guy to get a Baygon spray (?????) so that the lizard would go out from it's hiding place.  Nice thinking right!? Kawawa naman yung lizard.  What they did was cruelty to the animal.  While the guys were busy spraying the poor lizard, the manager made comments like when he was a kid he and his friends usually played with the lizard, that the lizard won't do me harm, that it will not bite, blah blah blah.  They gave up coz the lizard won't come out from it's hiding place, he told us to go back to our room and that it is alright to sleep in there.  Hell NO, I will not sleep in there knowing that the large lizard is still in there.  Funny and rude thing that the manager told me is that "ah babae ka kasi kaya takot ka sa tuko"......the nerve!  I just told him " eh ikaw kaya ang matulog dyan sa loob? Kaya mo?" (hindi sya nakasagot).  Kris and I decided to check-out and look for a place to stay for the night.  I don't care if it is 12.30 in the morning, I cannot and will not sleep in that room!  It's a shame coz the place was beautiful and relaxing, they have the beach and a nice infinity pool, it got ugly because of their service and their rude manager.  I just hope the owner of Aquatico in Batangas would take action about the incident.  It's just a small thing to fuzz about but then again what I hate about the incident is that there is discrimination on the part when the manager said "babae ka kasi".  Kris and I took the risk of checking out of that resort and look for a place to stay for the night.  God is good because we found a place to stay and they are not fully booked.  I hope whoever reads this blog and plans to got to Batangas, think twice if you want to stay in Aquatico.

The ancestral house in GenSan

It started with collecting antiques that my parents had the idea to build a house where we can put the collection we started, oh well my mom started it then my dad and now me...my brother is starting to show some interest too!  The story started when my mom started to buy porcelain antique vases and plates and brass things, which we obviously didn't get the point at that time.  There comes a time that her collection became a nuisance to the house because our house in Gensan and in Manila became a warehouse for her collection, so the idea of building an ancestral house was born.  It was built on a 5,000Sq lot at the back of my parents house.  It was a suitable place for the idea.  Most of the materials used in building the house is from the old house of my grandfather in San Juaquin, Batangas.  The big planks, windows and most of the things inside the house are from the old house in Batangas.  The bed, kitchen utensils, dining set, sala set, mirrors and  etc are from there too.  It was like the old house in Batangas was moved in GenSan.  My most favorite thing there is the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it's one of the special things that I remember in that old house in Batangas when I was a child.  Oh well, in short we fell in love with the idea of building the Ancestral house in GenSan.  Since the area is too big for the house alone, my dad got the idea to put up a cafe where visitors can see his vintage car collection, a function hall for events, a small chapel and rooms open for accommodation.  All of these are now in construction. And we hope that this would become a tourist spot in GenSan.  So people, till my next post... 

Lion's beach, Gen. Santos City

This is going to be my first post in this blog.  I just want to share with you guys places I go to and the people I meet along the way.  So for starters, I went to GenSan (short for General Santos City, located southern part of Mindanao)for a short trip.  I heard there's going to be a coastal clean up in the area of Lion's Beach in Acharon Blvd so I woke up early to go there and to take some pictures.  I was supposed to take pictures of the people doing the clean-up but rather I took pictures of the local people there.  What really gives me the idea to change my subject is that years ago this place was not appropriate for bathing and having picnic but through the initiative of the NGO's in 2003, the shores and waters of this place became a venue for picnics, family bonding, and reunions. They put up a fence within the vicinity, playground for the children, and small huts for picnic.  I've been in Gensan for so many years and yet this is my first time to visit the place.  I was so overwhelmed by what I have witnessed here, opposing to what other people say about the security in Mindanao, I must say I see only happy and loving people in a peaceful place.  I hope some of the pictures will tell you more stories I cannot write about this place called The Lion's Beach.