Day Tour in Starcove Resort Hotel - Batangas

The ache to go on a road trip down south finally found a way.  MetroDeal made this real when I saw their Starcove Resort Hotel Day Tour with Free Lunch promo deal.   I grabbed 4 vouchers and booked. Then last Saturday, off to Balayan, Batangas we went with Son driving for us .

DH depended on his mobile phone’s GPS for direction.  However, it took us longer travel time coz our driver was very cautious with his driving.‘Twas already 12nn but we were yet in Tagaytay.   Having had no breakfast, these people who were hungry as a horse decided to stop over in Mahogany Market in Tagaytay for lunch.  Luckily, we still found a space to park coz the eateries were already packed with people.  We had the usual Tagaytay fare of hot Bulalo, Crispy Tawilis, Lechon Kawali (not for me) and the beef Papaitan with free eat all you can twig of sweet “Señorita” bananas.  For that satisfying lunch for four people, we paid only P780. Not bad, huh?!
 

All full and satiated, we proceeded on our search for "the new place to see".  We were trekking long and   narrow roads without any signage of Starcove in sight when DH’s GPS finally pointed to a closed gated property as the Starcove Resort Hotel.  But we couldn’t agree coz it doesn’t look like a resort/hotel from the outside.  It has no signage indicating it is Starcove.  Doubtful, onward we went 
only to pull over again to verify directions..   

 Meantime, while the 3 people were arguing which way to go, I caught sight of the mango tree bearing fruits on the fenced area of the road.  I know it’s not right but I always have that desire of picking hanging mango fruits from the tree whenever I see one.  Thus, the moment I saw those  mangoes within reach ,I let loose!  Happiness!! Lol!

 
Although doubtful, daughter asked to try follow where GPS was pointing at.  Lo and behold!,  a security guard opened the gate and confirmed it is the Starcove Resort.   Oh my!  We should have not doubted the GPS before hand. It's indeed reliable! Shame on us!

As we alight from the car, we were greeted and  warmly welcomed by a pretty girl named Jillian along with a number of courteous crews.  I looked around and saw a fairly huge resort.  This resort hotel I could tell had seen glorious days.  Though the buildings and other structures are big and beautiful,  it is showing significant signs of wear and tear. Nonetheless, with its two swimming pools, (the other one for kids), vast garden and attractive kois in a well maintained  pond, it is still worth visiting and staying.  Unfortunately I forgot to get a peek of the rooms.  Yes, we had free lunch that became our snacks.  With the word  “free”, we didn’t expect much for our lunch.  Yet we had big servings of tasty Pancit Canton and a platter of  crispy Fried Chicken, also big platter of rice plus a large pitcher of Iced tea. The food was good, however, we consumed only a small part coz we’re still full from our Tagaytay lunch.

This place is definitely worth visiting especially with group of friends or with special someone or by families like us.  Just bear with the narrow roads you’re gonna traverse without any signage to follow. :) Nonetheless, it's all worth it anyway!

Thanks for the visit everyone! Hope you are having a great week!  

Acknowledgment:  Thanks to MetroDeal for the credits to purchase this promo deal from Starcove Resort.

Give me a break!

-->What’s your plan for Christmas? I’m sure many of you are very busy now shopping and preparing for the oncoming Noche Buena and the Christmas day itself. With me here, I see nothing special with the days ahead except that we are gonna spend Noche Buena and Christmas day with my Big Sis’ family in Bataan. It’s our first time of celebrating the holiday outside of our own home and hopefully, the altered venue and the presence of my beloved sis’ family would bring some oomph to my currently dull emotion.

I have been requesting Hubby for an out of town holiday, like one being spend on Oceanfront Myrtle Beach Resorts. I know his fund is way too low to reserve for an Oceanfront Myrtle Beach Resort, let alone book a unit in Oceanfront Myrtle Beach Hotel that’s why what I am after now is just to be anywhere but our place. For almost twenty four years, I’ve been spending each and every Christmas holidays here and that’s where I think the kick wears off. Well that’s what I feel so far. A vacation anywhere in the north would be fine with me as long as we could find a place like those of Oceanfront Myrtle Beach Hotels. Oh well, not actually! Any regular hotel will do as long as we're all together.

So far, Hubby is keeping mum on my whining. I do hope that he’d say “yes, we’re going on vacation” before the year ends. If that happens, I'd be rejoicing this early!

Climbing Up Mt. Samat

Saturday, May 2 was a free day for us. My family,( together with my M-i-l and S-i-l) trekked the three hour and a half trip to Mount Samat and view the Bataan Peninsula and Manila Bay from atop the huge cross. We reached the foot of the mountain at around 9:00am and saw a lot of hikers climbing up the road. I wonder if these youngsters knew what they’re doing coz I understand, it’s more or less ten kilometers from the foot of the mountain that ascends to the top where the cross is standing. Anyway, we strolled at the park, enjoying the view and took the elevator inside the huge cross until we reached the lounge area which is actually the horizontal arm of the cross. The view from atop is exhilarating whilst feeling the strong gust of the wind. I've been enjoying the stroll that I forgot to go to the museum that displays war memorabilia. M-i-l enjoyed the place once again. This is a scenic place to bring the children to have fun and learn history as well.

Here's a brief info on Phil. History
Mount Samat is a mountain in the Town of Pilar, Province of Bataan, Republic of the Philippines that is the site of the Dambana ng Kagitingan or "Shrine of Valor". Along with the island fortress of Corregidor, Mount Samat was the site of the most vicious battle against the Japanese Imperial Army in 1942 during the Battle of Bataan. Suffering heavy losses against the Japanese, Filipino and American soldiers retreated to Bataan Peninsula to regroup for a last valiant but futile stand. This retreat to Bataan is part of a United States strategy known as War Plan Orange. After fierce battle lasting 3 days, 78,000 exhausted, sick and starving men under Major General Edward P. King surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942. It was, and still is, the single largest surrender of U.S. and Philippine Forces ever. These forces were then led on the Bataan Death March.

The mountain is now a war memorial. A huge white cross stands as a mute but eloquent reminder of the men who died there. It also acts as a tourist attraction with a war museum nearby that has a wide array of displays from paintings of the Philippine heroes to armaments used by the American, Filipino and Japanese forces during the heat of the battle. (taken from wikipedia)


The cross as viewed from afar.

The signage that points the way.

The start of the ascend to the Memorial Cross.

The base of the huge memorial cross



At the lounge atop the cross.

At the other "arm" of the cross.

The top view of the Dambana Facade.

Giving my best pose against the giant cross.
Can you see me? he he..