Beach Weekend!

So last weekend, I went to the beach for the first time. This year. I don’t know why it took me so long, but I’m glad that I got to go because I was dangerously close to not going to the beach at all this summer. And wouldn’t that be very tragic? I mean, if you live here in the Philippines where the beach is only two and a half hours away (or 3 if you take the wrong exit at SLEX and end up in the Calamba town proper instead) from Metro Manila, it’s almost a crime not to go to the beach at least once during the summer time.

So my officemates and I, went to Aguila Beach Resort in Anilao, Batangas. The resort was, okay. And by okay, I mean it was one of those “you get what you pay for” places. There were 8 of us and we paid around P750 each for an overnight stay with breakfast. Anyway, here’s the verdict:

The food wasn’t very good, but at least it wasn’t that expensive (P130 per meal).

The swimming pool closed at 9P.M. (so early!) but at least it was clean-ish (I mean, what swimming pool is clean, really).

The room was small, the pillows were flat and they only gave 2 blankets even though there were 8 of us, but at least the aircon and fan worked, the bathroom’s drain didn’t clog, the water didn’t run out, the electricity didn’t go out and once you close the door, you couldn’t hear the noise from outside.

As for the beach, it was quite small, it was near the pier, the sand was brown, and there was a lot of people, but it was cleaner than the beaches I’ve been to in Bataan and Zambales, and Sampaguita Beach, which is cleaner and has less people is only a 15-minute boat ride away (with additional fee, of course). Also, the sand isn’t so rocky that you wouldn’t be able to walk barefoot (like in La Luz in Laiya). I took off my slippers as soon as I saw the sand and my feet didn’t have any problems.

Of course, the best part was that I went there with my friends so I knew that even if the resort had sucked, I’d probably still enjoy the weekend because you have fun with your friends wherever you are anyway. It was really fun, and I actually still can’t believe it a little bit. Because, you know how there are people whose lives are like those of people on TV? I mean, that they go on beach outings or Tagaytay weekends and they don’t have any problems related to scheduling and logistics and budget and asking permission from their parents? Well, I’ve never been one of those people. My friends from high school and I have been wanting to go on a beach outing for ages, but we’ve never managed to do it. Because there’s always someone who will complain about something — the cost, the location, parents didn’t allow him/her to go, and whatever other reason. So it was very strange, but very nice, that things sort of just fell into place for this event. It’s almost worth not having gone to the beach any other date this year.

And now, pictures!

In the car, during the fun fun fun road trip Don’t you just love road trips?

We buried V in the sand!

Last picture before boarding the boat to leave Sampaguita beach

Hope you had a happy summer everyone!

Great Food, But Racist

As much as possible, I do try to keep the rants in this blog to a minimum (hard as that is to believe). The reason being that it’s not fun to look back on sad/angry memories. Ah, but sometimes it’s hard to keep your mouth shut.

Last weekend, my friends and I went to Chateau Royale in Nasugbu, Batangas. And it wasn’t really a bad experience. But I say this only because I love my friends and I always have fun with them, no matter where we are and what we’re doing. As for Chateau Royale, well, I don’t think I’m ever going back there again. And here’s the reason why:

On their website, and even on their brochures, they will tell you that there are two places to eat: Veranda Cafe, and the Floating Restaurant. Here’s the link to their list of facilities: Facilities

So I thought, okay, we’ll have lunch at the Floating Restaurant and then have dinner at the Veranda Cafe. But apparently that’s not possible because, what they don’t tell you in the brochures (because I assume it’s illegal) is that only Koreans are allowed to eat in the Floating Restaurant.

No, seriously. When we got there, we were asked to leave the premises because we weren’t allowed in it. They said we could only eat at the Veranda Cafe. Now, I don’ t know about you, but I think this is clearly a case of racism. I mean, they told us to leave the place because we were Filipino. What the hell? What makes it worse is that it happened in our very own country! It’s so wrong to be discriminated against in your own place.

I didn’t want the entire weekend with my friends to be ruined (and we were really very hungry) so we just went to Veranda Cafe and ate there. Luckily, the food was really delicious. I mean, it was really delicious, which picked up our spirits and made the day better. But… at the back of my mind, I was still pretty mad.

Later we took the 4PM tour of the resort and asked the tour guide why Filipinos weren’t allowed to eat at the Floating Restaurant. Her answer? “Because Koreans aren’t allowed at Veranda Cafe.”

Right. OK. Maybe on paper, that’ll look like it’s fair. Except, it’s really not. Why are there places exclusive to a particular race??

I can understand if a place was “Members Only”. Because members pay extra for exclusivity. But this is clearly a race issue, because we were specifically told, “This restaurant is for Korean guests only.” Not members, but Korean guests. And what happens if you’re neither Korean nor Filipino in this resort? Are you allowed to eat at either restaurant? Or at neither restaurant? I wasn’t able to ask because I didn’t want to be bothered by the issue again while we were there. I mean, my friends and I were there for a relaxing weekend, so I didn’t want to turn it into a protest rally. But knowing the racist/mis-educated Filipinos, it’s likely that it’ll depend on who looks like they have money, i.e. People who look rich will be allowed to eat at either restaurant, and people who don’t look rich will only be allowed at Veranda Cafe (you know, the restaurant that’s “exclusive” for Filipinos).

So yeah, I’m never going back there again. And until they change their racist ways, I wouldn’t recommend anybody to go there. As if it’s such a great place. There are a hundred more resorts that are way better. And if only the food wasn’t so great, I’d probably be ranting about more things.