Hello, Summer!

We went back to the Malarayat Suites in Lipa, Batangas last weekend and had more fun than when we were there just last January (see related post here). First off, we were upgraded to deluxe room! I checked and it was double the price of the superior room we had booked. I wondered if by chance the hotel's administration or marketing office saw the blog post I had written on our last stay, and rewarded my family for promoting their hotel. Haha, wishful thinking, I know! So now I write a follow-up to thank our favorite out-of-town, go-to getaway hotel.

Deluxe Room in Yakal Suites

Getting ready for the hot summer months, it was a perfect getaway. The sun was up and the drive over SLEX was still breezy on that Saturday. Only a few weeks from now, traffic would surely congest the roads to the south as people start to flock to resorts. We grabbed lunch along SLEX and reached the hotel just right in time for the 2pm check-in. We intended to maximize the stay. My kids rested a bit before hitting the pool. The last time we were there, the temperature was 21 degrees Celsius, daytime. Notwithstanding the chill, the kids attempted to take a dip, only to come out just minutes after. My daughter didn't even get to wet her hair. The water was too cold even at 11am and with the sun up. They settled for the playground instead.

Our recent stay was more relaxed. The kids got to enjoy the pool in the afternoon after checking in and then again for a couple of hours the next morning. The water was cold but the wind was not as chilly as it was back in January. They super enjoyed swimming with the new friends they made. My husband got enticed to jump into the pool as well to teach my daughter (Gabee) to swim and to show my son (Garrett) the right form in preparing to dive in. Gabee did learn to swim! And, of course, we were so happy!

As always, we couldn’t get enough pictures. The place is pretty especially with good lighting from the sun. The experience elicits natural smiles that come from happiness, and which not only curl the lips but make the eyes aglow. Bonding with the family can happen at any place, at any time, but I’d say the memorable bonding moments are made when there’s an effort to get out of things and places routine. It happens more at places like this when we shut off work and pay full attention to family.

Cold Weekend-er

Lipa's "bed" weather did not disappoint. The wind was howling during the night. It felt like there was a storm, but the wind lulled this family to sleep until late morning the next day. The kids slept like logs and had to be woken up. 

The weather is great! How I wish we could always wake up to mornings like this. It’s such a treat to not have to use the aircon and even the electric fans the past days. I’ve just read in the morning paper that temperature in Baguio dropped to 8.1 degrees yesterday, the coldest in five years.

I am happy to write my second post for the year in this cold morning weather. I want to share about the weekend getaway my family just had. We drove South from Manila to our favorite weekender spot – to Lipa, Batangas. We go there every so often to visit with friends. On this recent trip, we were really thrilled to have experienced the near-Baguio “brrr” temperature. My kids who sweat easily and do not get to wear their sweaters back home despite cooler temperatures, had to put on extra layers in Lipa.

Upon reaching Lipa, we noticed that the car was registering almost the same temperatures outside and inside, 22 and 21 degrees Celsius. It was awesome! That got us excited as we expected the temperature to drop further into the night. The northeast monsoon or what we know as Amihan did not disappoint us. It got colder indeed. We were out (literally out in an open space) chatting with friends while the kids ran freely at 11pm. I thought that that “brrr” experience compensated for my longing for Baguio last Christmas. And I was very thankful.

I have a soft spot for Lipa. It is my mother’s birth place. We used to visit with relatives back in the 80’s. Our relatives are mostly in Mataas na Kahoy, a place named as such because of its high elevation. I remember going there during fiestas and distinctly remember how cold it was in the barrio/bukid, particularly in the mornings. Some years back, my husband used to frequent Lipa because of work, through which he met what is now his small circle of very select friends. Before, we would even contemplate retiring there when we are old and in our sixties. It’s the weather, the people, and the food that make Lipa a nice place to think about spending our sunset years in. It doesn’t hurt to plan early, you know. Hehe. :-)

When in Lipa, we never miss going to the small restaurant Goto sa Barangay for their Batangas goto and fried murang isaw (cow’s intestines). Their goto is nothing like the usual one I also love to buy from the fast food chain Goto King. It is not rice-based, consisting only of cow’s entrails boiled with onions, garlic and pepper, and served very hot with lots of fresh onion as topping, and fish sauce with calamansi and red chilies (siling labuyo) for the dip. I totally crave for this each time. It’s perfect with steamed rice. One cup is not enough. That yummy, yes!

My super favorite one-of-a-kind Batangas goto, and Garrett's favorite pancit canton. We love it here at Goto sa Barangay, Lipa.

Batangas folks are known for their hospitality. We are lucky to have friends who go out of the way to prepare delicious, mouth-watering dishes for us, like chicharon, sinaing na isda, and mais na gulay. We were treated to dinuguan and grilled fresh pig liver, a pre-taste of the food feast the following day for the town fiesta. We got the best puto (rice cake) from the town of Rosario, to dip in the 'bloody' delicious dinuguan. And to top it all, we had the famous kapeng barako to enjoy before and after meals, in the cold weather. Add to that the laughter and stories shared, and we really had a fun, relaxing weekend. 

L-R (clockwise): Kapeng Barako - Batangas local coffee; grilled liver, fresh from a newly butchered pig; my son Garrett with our host, Jet.

We are a family that likes things and places that are familiar, and so we tend to patronize the same restaurants and hotels. Sometimes I wish we were more adventurous. But then again, we come back to the same vacation spots for a reason, and we go home never disappointed. And so, for this trip, we preferred to stay again at The Suites at Mount Malarayat. It is within the Mount Malarayat Golf and Country Club and Residential Estates. There are these Suite Buildings (named after trees – Narra, Yakal, Tanguile, and Kaimito ) with rooms which can be booked online for overnight stay and extended vacation. It’s affordable. Last year, we booked via Agoda and got a standard room for only Php1,800 all in except breakfast. This time we got a bigger room in Kaimito Suites, and the rate was not also bad at Php2,787, net of tax and service charges. Breakfast is extra, but you get your money’s worth at their restaurant with a nice view of the golf course.

Malarayat Golf and Country Club

What the kids look forward to is swimming in the large pool. No matter how cold it was.

Aside from pool, there is a playground where my kids also love to spend time at. The playground is not fancy or big, consisting only of a couple of slides, swings and climbers. It’s nice because there’s lots of greenery. With the sun above and the canopies of trees offering shade, you are sure to go home with lots of beautiful pictures.

I know I am sounding like I am being paid for advertising the Mount Malarayat Country Club. This is not a sponsored post, obviously. I am not a blogger that way (I wish I were though!). But I like to share it with you, just in case you’d be interested, and by now, are mulling a weekender in Lipa. You will not be disappointed, but of course you have to keep your expectations in check, and not compare it with the hotels in Manila or other big cities like Cebu and Davao. The bathrooms are clean. The furniture is run-down, and the beds are not the comfy-soft type of mattress you have at Shangri-La, Holiday Inn, or at whatever your favorite hotel is. But all in all, the package would be worth the price. And the weather until February will surely make it worth the drive.

The drive by the way is very smooth via South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR) toll gate. It only took us 1 hour and 30 minutes going home, covering a distance of around 90 kilometers. We left at 6:45pm on a Sunday.

Loot from Hotels: Leftover Toiletries

It has been over a month now since I bravely quit work and shifted to a life of a stay-at-home mom. Do I miss work? Yes, a bit, because my day consists of the same routine and my constant company are the yayas! This week, I have gladly taken up the role I am most good at. If there’s Mr. Clean, I’d like to think I am his counterpart. Yikes, corny! Bear with me.

This morning, my mission was to clean my bathroom cabinets, organize toiletries, and dispose expired cosmetics and lotions. As I was hard at the job, these small bottles gave me an idea for another post! Yey! I need to write to get my brain and fingers working lest they become rusty!

I had fun lining up and taking photos of these bottles as they diverted my mind from the serious job of cleaning.

These are bottles of shampoo, bath gel, lotion, and conditioner from some hotels that I have stayed at. When I go on long trips, I normally bring my own trusted toiletries just to be sure, so I would have unused hotel toiletries after. I would take home the leftovers as they are very handy to bring when me and my family go out of town and stay at less pricey hotels without these nice amenities. They are also so useful to my kids for bringing to school as part of their grooming kits, and to swimming lessons/trips. 

I will tell you a bit of the trips I made as I present photos of my loot of toiletries from different hotels here and outside the Philippines. I will also add links to the hotels in case you are interested to check them out. 

I am guilty of requesting extra toiletries from 5-star hotels. Well, I just want to maximize my money's worth, and also because their toiletries are top quality like these L’Occitane samplers from Sofitel Hotel Manila.

These ones below were from Hotel Borobudur in Jakarta. I arranged bookings for a big group of workshop participants, and stayed there myself for five nights so I thought I deserved some extras to take home. Housekeeping would happily provide an extra set upon the guest’s request.

Together with my family, I spent a night at Edsa Shangri-La last May. Since we were four in the room and we had to pay extra for Garrett (kids over 7 pay extra), I had good reason to request additional shampoo and bath gel. 

This lotion was from the Landmark Hotel in Bangkok where I stayed in 2010. I know this must be expired already! It was at this hotel that I got the most exquisite massage – the genuine Thai massage – which cost me only around the equivalent of P1,000, at the privacy of my own room. It was superb, and really loosened the stiffness in my shoulders and back. I intend to return some day just for that!

It was only in 2009 that I started going on trips outside the country. It was my fortune to have Singapore as my first overseas destination to seek medical treatment. Since then, I have made six trips to this country, which is a mere dot on the world map but which attracts tourists the word over. My first set of free toiletries came from Mount Elizabeth Hospital - Parkway Health.




I had tried different hotels from 2-star to 5-star-rated ones in Singapore. Two-star hotels are no good, I would not even want to use their shampoo. Three-star hotels like Ibis and Fort Canning Lodge are clean and provide decent toiletries.

I also got to stay at Elizabeth Hotel and Carlton Hotel in Singapore, both are 4-5 star hotels. My stay in both was worth the price I paid. Elizabeth Hotel is in the Orchard area while Carlton Hotel is at the corner of Bras Basah Road and Victoria Street, and a few steps away from the Bras Basah MRT station. Both hotels provide decent buffet breakfast.

Locally, my family have stayed a number of times at Malarayat Golf and Country Club Hotel in Lipa, Batangas. The last time we were there coincided with Father’s Day. We got a good deal via Agoda booking for only P1,834 net of taxes and charges. The club’s got nice, large kiddie and adult pools. The vast tracts of green and cool weather are so worth the hotel price and the 2-hour trip via SLEX and Star Tollway.  

Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay has also been my family's favorite destination when we want a quick bonding time away from home.

Here are more photos of my loot from other hotels.

From Holiday Inn Galleria:

From Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Conference Center:

From Hotel H20:

From Discovery Suites:

I love staying at hotels, the nice ones of course with at least a 3-star rating. It goes to say that I love to travel. Until my next post then. Hopefully, a more informative one.