Saturday, April 26, 2014

Out of town: Datu's first trip to the beach

I have been extremely busy with a whole lot of things with work and personal stuff that a month went by and I have yet to finish this supposed summer post. But all's good. Almost done with my tasks so hopefully my rest days can be fully spent with family and not just running errands. We are still in the middle of summer so I am not exactly late yet for this review.

Thing is, we actually took this trip back in January. We had attended a Tagaytay wedding and Mr. S and I decided to take a long weekend, spend one night in Tagaytay and then another in Batangas. We did have that Canyon Cove voucher we bought last year and decided to use it for that weekend.

We were so excited since it was Datu's first out of town vacation and his first ever trip to the beach. I was looking forward for the trip for my son since he loves the water so much and he's never even been to a pool yet at that time. I just know he will be so happy wading in the water.

Nasugbu is about another hour's drive from Tagaytay so around 2.5 to 3 hours drive from Manila. I would say that drive is well worth it. The pool is so picturesque and the beach was nice and clean. But it was cloudy when we got there so we weren't able to enjoy dipping in the water too much as it was too cold. We did enjoy the beautiful view though.

Took this picture with my phone from the balcony of our room. No filters.



The kiddo enjoying the water.

We had to take him out of the water since it was too cold.
As expected, the little boy did enjoy himself even for just a little while. In the afternoon, Mr. S and I attempted to take a dip at the beach. We took the boy with us but we just played in the sand as it was still chilly. I didn't want him catching a cold.

Room with the king size bed and day bed
As far as the accommodations go, do not expect a whole lot. We did just pay Php 2999 for our voucher so pwede na rin. The bed we got was rickety. There was a noisy sound every time someone moves or maybe we were just too fat :p The size of the bed was perfect for us and the boy though. I loved that we were really comfortable. The hotels we've stayed in the past had queen sized beds so it was a bit too cozy sometimes.

The bathroom is...yes, you guessed right--old. There were a lot of rust but most of the stuff work. I did not take a picture anymore. There is an enclosed shower area and a bath tub you wouldn't want to soak in. The shower head in the actual shower area was busted so we had to use the one in the tub. Problem is, there was no shower curtain so we had to take care not to get the area beyond the tub wet.

They did provide towels, tissue paper and soap. That's it. Also, you can only ask for extra towels/pillows if you paid for the additional person who joined you. So if you are smuggling a companion in, do not ask for one so you don't get caught or be ready with an alibi. Extra person is Php 800. The person gets "free" breakfast though. No, the voucher users will not get free breakfast. Although, the newer vouchers they are selling includes breakfast and so one of my officemates say.

Two kids can stay in the day bed or two short adults :) We brought our nanny with us so she slept there. Be careful not to eat on the bed though. She fed the boy with grapes in the afternoon before we went for a swim. When we got back, there were ants in the bed. We were able to get them all out of the room so thankfully no one got bitten.

For the food, as per resort rules, you cannot bring your own inside. We were able to smuggle water, bread and chips. A friend of mine who has been in Canyon Cove at least thrice told me that I can stow the food inside the baby's bag as they don't normally inspect that. And make sure that you hide the food under the baby stuff. 

We went to the town proper for lunch. Found a great local restaurant, Kainan sa Dalampasigan, in Google (will blog about that soon). And ate at the resort's hotel in the evening. They have a tie up with Max's restaurant so there's no guessing in that area. Food was fine.

I will recommend Canyon Cove as long as you have no issues with staying in an accommodation I described above. The beach and the pool are great and seemed well maintained unlike the rooms. When you buy a voucher (bought mine through Metrodeal), try to book your trip as soon as possible as weekend slots get taken too fast. I didn't have that much of a problem booking ours as we went there on an off-peak season and we were there on Sunday.

We are planning another out of town trip very soon. This would be our first family summer getaway. Super excited. Will blog about that maybe in two months! Haha!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!