Bukidnon: Dahilayan Forest and Adventure Park



We initially planned on going swimming when we went home to Bukidnon last month but decided to go against it since it was really chilly.  We decided to just bring the whole family to Dahilayan Park in Manolo Fortich instead. 

Dahilayan is around an hour and a half away from Malaybalay, my hometown and the capital of Bukidnon.  It is probably half an hour away from Cagayan de Oro City. One will have to pass through the vast pineapple plantantation of Del Monte Philippines in Camp Philips and it is truly a delight to see the huge-ness of the plantation even for a local like me (ano pa kaya para kay J na laking ciudad, lol), it is definitely a sight to see and experience. 

Before we reached the park, we dropped by my sister's aunt-in-law's house.  Their place was great and very relaxing.  My mother said she wouldn't mind retiring in a place like that... Ako man, di na ko choosy noh, ganda ng bahay nila! 

My sister Meryl and J

friendly puppy



yep, this is part of their bakuran

with the kids

I was disappointed that there were a LOT of people when we arrived at the park but then if all these people will experience the beauty of my homeland and spread the word it will be a huge help to boost our tourism. With kids in tow, we went on to enjoy the place. 

sibling with mom & niece

Awww, giraffes!

ahemmmm

My sister and brother-in-law tried the Zorbit... you'll go Jack & Jill down the hill strapped inside an orange bubble. Good luck! They came out fine, dizzy but fine. :)

 

that orange bubble

strapped



We continued goofing around and having fun.

Acting, good job!

bagay



mas bagay

Feel na feel namin

it was so chilly someone eventually fell asleep

Next... Experiencing Asia's longest zipline.

Caylabne: Las Casas De Cala Buena

The name sounds really posh - Las Casas De Cala Buena...  and it really was.  This is yet another random trip that we took with the FamBam because... wala lang... just because we love random trips.  I'm actually amazed at how we were able to push through with these trips since it's really not easy travelling with more than 20 individuals at a time.

Las Casas is part of the Caylabne Bay Resort, it is a group of mediterranean-inspired villas separate from the resort's hotel itself.  From Las Casas, it's probably a good 5-minute scenic walk to the beachfront from where the hotel, the restaurant and the other facilities are.  One will pass by a nice bridge (see pic below) where you can take postcard-wannabe photographs of the mountains, mangroves, and the estuary - where the river meets the ocean and where the boys were able to catch a lot of fish.

Ironically, as this is a trip to the beach and although I was able to enjoy the beach, I had more fun taking in the serenity of the mountains and the forest hence I realized I only took very few photos of the beach itself. 

We stayed in a villa with its own private pool. Imagine the joy of the kids swimming and playing in it until the wee hours of the night! :) It was nestled between a forested mountain on the left and a healthy mangrove swamp on the right.  Although the place, not just our villa but the whole resort, seem to have seen its better days, there is still this distinct luxurious feel to it.  It looked like an old and deserted mediterranean subdivision.

Deserted was nice since we seem to have the place to ourselves (I will not tell ghost stories in this blog).  We were able to play around, relax and bond.

I could not imagine how one can get to this place without private transportation since it seems complicated doing so.  It is located in Ternate, Cavite and is near Puerto Azul (which I gather is pretty well-known to everyone, well, except myself) and we also passed by what they call the "magnetic hill".  It is also near the jump off point for trekkers to Pico de Loro - the mountain not the beach club in Nasugbu.  The drive was quite fun and scenic especially once you leave the main road.  We spotted birds, eagles, lizards, and monkeys!  Lots of monkeys!

Monkeys wearing blue rompers holding on to a camera while two other little monkeys looked on.

Not the usual beach weekend for us but definitely one for the books.

Little Bridge Resort: Beautiful Sunset

Earlier this month, we went on a random trip to Taal, Batangas just to unwind and to make the most out of the holidays and the summer vacation of the kids. 

Main reason of going though this trip is to go swimming and enjoy the beach.  My excitement was however on checking the town - old houses and of course, the famous cathedral. I've been to Taal thrice and I can never get enough of the old Spanish colonial architecture, the grandeur of the Taal's St. Martin of Tours Basilica and the magic of the Our Lady of Caysasay's well. 

We stayed at The Little Bridge Resort.  I didn't have any hand on planning this trip and as mentioned, it was pretty random, we just went on not questioning where we're going. Yeah, there's a hint of disappointment there because we never get to try swimming in the beach - it was super crowded and the water doesn't seem clean.

Thankfully resort was clean and looks well-maintained.  The staff are also friendly and accomodating.  We stayed in one of their cabanas - we requested for extra mattress since there were around 7 kids and 15 adults in our group. I didn't believe we could fit in one cabana, but we made it happen.  I love how huge their pillows and how soft yet firm their mattresses are, plus their AC was working really well. 

Photo courtesy of The Little Bridge Resort

So aside from our disappointment with the beach, we still had a lot of fun - the kids especially.  The resort's pool was clean (I think they had a total of 4 big pools) and I love how it made me swim long laps.

Photo courtesy of The Little Bridge Resort

I actually had a lot of fun in the waters I wasn't able to get a lot of pictures... but I was lucky to have gotten my camera from the cabana in time for the sunset.   That was one of the highlight for me - the beautiful sunset. 

We never get to explore the town though, which was really ok since Taal is just a few hours drive from Manila, we can always go back.  There were too many of us and we left the resort at around noon, it was too hot to roam around with kids in tow. We just decided to drop by Calaruega on our way back to Manila - that's a different story I have to write about.

At the end of the day, it's the company that makes every vacation fun and memorable. I will never get tired of doing these trips. ;)