Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Wakeboarding at Lago de Oro and Tagaytay Side Trip

We had plans of spending the long weekend that passed (Feb. 23-25) in Siquijor or somewhere we've never been to. However, being new parents to Sam, we couldn't just up and leave anytime we want especially when she has a date with her Vet on the same weekend (Feb 24). So the next best thing to do was to make the most out of the situation. Peter wanted to try wake boarding again, I wanted to just relax with our friend Ella, chill and be away from the computer for a while. So we opted to visit Lago de Oro again then headed to Tagaytay for dinner.


There's the wake boarding complex behind us, powered by cable wire system...

Getting our day trip tickets...


LAGO DE ORO, situated 115 kms South West of Manila on the shore of the South China Sea and on Zobel highway just over 2 hours from Makati, is the ideal get away from the cities - the pressure and smog. It is spacious - secluded - no noisy neighbors. "

>>> http://www.lago-de-oro.com/

The magnificent view of the swimming pool from the beach...

The restaurant that sells delicious Filipino and Italian cuisine!

We opted for a day trip because we had to be home for Sam's feeding late that Saturday evening. Nevertheless, I enjoyed every minute of it as I basked under the sun trying to get a mean tan. I wasn't able to take shots of Peter's wake boarding though. I got too busy frolicking in the pool and getting some nice photos there. I thought perhaps, I can take their pictures in the afternoon instead when they're more used to wake boarding already. Coz the first time we went there, we all didn't make it the first few rounds. Apparently, it's not as easy as it seems.

Hoping to get a mean tan...

That morning we arrived, I had the pool all to myself...

In Lago de Oro, there are other things to do aside from wake boarding. You can rent a carabao and frolick in the sea when it's low tide, you can rent a floating hut (P300 per hour), have your lunch there and swim among the fishes in the deeper parts of the ocean, snorkel, enjoy the beach and its small mangrove forest, etc.

the floating hut ...waiting for customers to ride them...

For the three of us, we had different plans. I only got the ticket for the use of swimmingpool and other facilities for only P650. This already included a take home towel with Lago de Oro logo and P350 worth of consumable food. For Peter and Ella, they got the whole day wake boarding ticket at P1386 each. This ticket allows them to rent wake boarding facilities and equipment from 9:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. and 1:30-4:30 p.m. The use of swiming pool was already included in this type of package but they got no consumable food.

Come lunch time, we again met at the restaurant and ordered one huge pizza for all of us (P450), followed by a home-made Italian coffee-flavored ice cream (P145). I'm telling you, they're offering the best home-made ice cream ever! I'm always salivating at the mere thought of it! *yummiest* That's coz it's always freshly made. You should try it!

The food on their menu are all a bit pricey than usual. It does taste good but I think it's better if they lower the prices a bit. Peter said that this is the case because they don't have any competition in the area so they can dictate however high they want their prices to be. Hmmm... no wonder there are plans of setting up another wake boarding complex in the Sta. Rosa area. They're investing their profits well.

In the afternoon, Ella and I explored the beach for a while. She wanted to rest her arms which were already straining a bit from holding the cable handle. So, I accompanied her in the Mangrove forest area, a place reminiscent of my visit to Dumaguete in 2005. The sea wa to tranquil and the horizon was displaying an array of wonderful afternoon colors, it was so difficult not to appreciate nature's beauty.


With two more hours left for wake boarding, we went to the site, looking forward to taking Peter's videos and pictures.

Ella, braving the murky waters of the wake boarding complex...

Unfortunately, the whole time we were enjoying the beach, Peter hurt his arm in an attempt to perfect his stance. He wasn't able to play anymore and so after Ella's turn, we just enjoyed the remainder of the afternoon playing in the swimming pool.

Peter and Ella, tired and just about ready to call it a day...

But no, no, no! Let's enjoy the pool first! Sayang naman binayad natin dito!



We left Lago de Oro at around 5:00 p.m. We were hoping to catch the sunset in Tagaytay. It was sooo amazing that the orange backdrop of the horizon got me mesmerized I wasn't able to take out my digicam anymore.


Simply making the most out of Lago de Oro!

Vendors, making a living selling shells and beach attires...

When we reached the lineup of restaurants, it was already dark. We wanted to try something new and affordable. We've already been to Jospehine's a couple of times, as well as Viewsite, Taalena, Mile Hi, Sonya's Garden, Antonio's , and other well-known dining establishments in the area. When we saw, Sunview Terraces, it didn't look very promising from the outside.

We checked out the menu and it was all Pinoy food at very affordable prices!

We checked out the roof deck, it was awesome!

We went all the way down and stayed inside the resort's premises, it was fantastic!

So that was where we had dinner which turned out to be Ella's cousin's bestfriend's (Patrick Chua) property. Small world. Hehehe. While waiting for our orders (Sizzling Bangus, Sotanghon Guisado, Longganisa Lucban Meal), I went to see one of their rooms in the event that we get to have a free weekend to enjoy the facilities with our friends. Maybe even throw an intimate birthday party for Peter come June!

The rooms were clean and nicely done, not very luxurious but cozy enough. And there's a lap pool and jacuzzi in the middle of the complex which seemed perfect for a small group of friends! Awesome!

Full and satiated, we all headed back home where we hung out some more over videoke and a fusion of cranberry, strawberry and passion fruit tea. It was a delightful Saturday and I really had a relaxing time just being with people I love. :-) 'Til my next travelogue!


1 comment:

Unknown said...

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