Gem Talks

My 2018 started with so much blessings. I got to go back to Cebu last January twice! It was both for work and pleasure. I thought I wouldn't be able to spend my hubby's birthday but he flew to Cebu and we had a memorable trip!


Here's the summary of my 2 week trip to Cebu!

How many times have you tried planning an outing with your friends? We all want to have that summer outing with the barkada but oftentimes, it doesn't materialize. Here are some no-brainer tips on how we make our barkada outings happen.

My friends and I have been friends for almost 2 decades. If you think setting up a barkada outing is hard as a student, imagine how harder it is when all of you are working and when all of you have a family and kids! But friendship has to be nurtured in order for it to continue blossoming. This is why no matter how difficult it is to find time, it should be done.

#1. Use a social media platform where it is easier for everyone to communicate.

Back in the days, we created  Yahoo Groups. We forgot about it and switched to Facebook group. But since some of our friends decided to stay away from FB, the fastest way for us to communicate is through Viber.

#2. Make use of a poll to decide on the DATE

Someone has to initiate. Give different dates and have your friends VOTE. If you belong to a big friendship group like ours, you have to accept that it might be impossible to have every single one join. What's important is that you pick a date where majority of your friends can attend.

#3. Decide on a budget

Ask how much is each one willing to spend. If you have a friend who is financially challenged, see if the rest of the group would agree to a contribution. But if all of you are working, please don't be a pain! Learn how to save money.

#4. Agree on the location

Tagaytay? Batangas? Subic? Boracay? The highest vote wins.

#5 Start researching and reserve the venue.

If your outing requires a plane ride, assign everyone to buy their own ticket. Research on different resorts. Call to ask for rates and availability. Communicate the rates and once everyone has agreed, call to make the reservation. 50% downpayment is usually required. We assigned a point of contact who will either collect the payment or shell out the downpayment for collection later.

#6. BE THERE

Show up and have fun! This is the last step.

I have been in a state of hiatus! This is something I need to get over with. Since we are back to the rainy season here in the Philippines, let me reminisce and post about my summer escapade. I have been to Boracay countless times and I can say that it has its unique beauty. However, I have to admit that there are more islands and beaches in the Philippines that can beat the beauty of the well commercialized La Boracay. In my Iloilo City trip last summer, I was able to tour a little with the limited time I was given to stay in the City (my travel was intended for work). The highlight of them all was my trip to Higantes Islands.

When you research about Iloilo City, you'll read about Guimaras Island. This was exactly what I had in mind. I was so ready to see Guimaras. However, the locals that me and my colleagues got to know told us that we shouldn't miss, and we DEFINITELY had to go to Higantes Islands. I got my phone and checked on the unfamiliar name and boom! Seeing the first picture made me decide immediately to change my Guimaras plan to Higantes Islands instead.

 Let's start first with our tour in some parts of Iloilo. We went to Miag-ao Church, one of the historic churches in Iloilo. After this, we dropped by Sulu Garden, a Japanese inspired restaurant, where we had our "merienda". This is just a few walks away from UP Visayas. From UP Visayas, we took a jeep (or s shuttle) to Garin Farm. Too bad it was already late afternoon. The farm closes at 5pm and we arrived there 4:30pm. Thus, we decided to walk and see this old but beautiful San Joaquin cemetery.

 Check out the vlog of this trip here.




Although I would love to share in this blog the prices/rates of our Higantes Islands trip, the locals were very kind to treat us so I wouldn't know exactly how much a trip here would cost. From Iloilo City, we travelled 2 hours to Estancia. From Estancia, a boat ride for another 1 1/2- 2 hours took us to the beautiful Higantes Islands. Of the many islands of Higantes, we were able to go to Cabuyao Island, Tanke Island (Tank), and Antonia Island. There's no better way to admire the wonders of these islands than a video!


 Here's the trip to Higantes Islands.


The islands are soooo clean! They are not salty at all so I enjoyed swimming! If you guys happen to travel in Iloilo, ask about Higantes Islands. It is one of the hidden paradises here in the country!

I have always been fond of traveling. My heartbeat races when I hear a trip to somewhere I have never been to, or do an activity that I haven't tried yet. However, when I was much younger than my age today, blogs, instagram, Facebook and all other forms of social media were not the mainstream. If you forget to bring a digital camera (which you don't necessarily bring everyday unless you're a photographer), you don't have a readily accessible smartphone that you can snap to capture the moment.

It is never too late to start. Thus, I created this blog to record all my trips- the planned and unplanned "LAKAD" to remind me of the events of my life and hopefully, to give readers ideas on how they can spend a trip on a budget.

One of my entries is me and my husband's unplanned trip to Tagaytay. Tagaytay is the most accessible place to visit if you want to get out of Manila's busy roads. It is a 1-2 hour drive from Metro Manila. And because I am not and I don't know if I'll ever be a person who can read or memorize directions, we used Waze, a smartphone application, to get directions to Tagaytay.
Since we got there late, around 7:30pm, we first drove around looking for a hotel to stay at.

TheWindy Ridge Hotel

We ended up in Windy Ridge Hotel because it was very close to Tagaytay's main roundabout. The hotel's rates are average. It ranges from Php 5,000 to as low as Php 2,800 for those in budget.
The Windy Ridge Hotel Rates (*includes free breakfast)

• Ambassador Suites- 5,200     (Full view of Taal Lake with whirlpool jacuzzi, King-sized bed)
• Green Suite - 4,200                (Full view of Taal Lake, Queen sized-bed and single bed)
• Premiere- 4,000                      (Full view of Taal Lake, King-sized bed)
• Classic - 3,800                        (Full view of Taal Lake)
• De Luxe - 3,500                      (Two single bed- twin sharing/ with private garden)
• Standard Rooms - 2,800         (Double sized bed)

Since we are only going to sleep in it, we took a standard room.

STANDARD ROOM RATING: 2.5 Stars

• clean
• has shower (with hot water)
• colored TV with cable
• table, chair and cabinet
• toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, soaps, tissue)
• towels
• telephone

The hotel also has reception and accepts credit card.

Here are some customer service suggestions I have.

I hope they were proactive in giving information on the WIFI details. The standard room is two floors down. The signal of my phone was Edge so even if you have a data plan, it wouldn't work. I searched for WIFI but didn't find any. In the morning, when we had our breakfast, I saw a posted message on one of their doors saying The Windy Ridge Hotel is a WIFI hotel. So they do have wifi! It would have been better if they inform their customers the moment they check in that they have free wifi mostly accessible in the dining area.

The Windy Ridge Pool

While we were taking pictures, I accidentally discovered their pool. If I hadn't seen it, we would never know that they have a pool at the back of the hotel. We had to ask the reception how to get to the pool.

The hotel needs repainting at the back. It didn't look like the picture I saw from their website. And of course, I can't imagine who would swim in the pool with a very cool weather.

But I would give credit to the hotel attendants for being nice. One showed us the way to the pool and the other one went downstairs when we couldn't figure out why the shower heating system was not heating up.


SPA EXPERIENCE
When we arrived at Windy Ridge Hotel, we unloaded our stuff then went outside to walk to the nearest spa. Body Cures Spa. Their massage services ranges from 300- 1000 Php. Too bad I forgot to take a picture of the establishment. I couldn't find any online site of them either. Body Cures Spa is located at Emilio Aguinaldo Highway, Silang Junction North Tagaytay.

Foot Spa before going to the full body massage

And just a few steps from Body Cures Spa is Papa Prito. We ate a non-greasy pork chop with unlimited garlic rice! If I remember it right, the price was only 90 or 95 pesos!
In the morning, we had our breakfast courtesy of the hotel and we took pictures of the Tall view from the terrace.

American breakfast with coffee from The Coffee Experience

American breakfast with coffee from The Coffee Experience

There were other places I wanted to visit but I was in a hurry to go home because of work. We left Tagaytay and drove to Nuvali from Lunch.

We travelled to Coron in 2012. We booked at Coron Sunrise Inn and it was the one of the most breath taking experiences in our life.

Here's a Vlog of our Coron trip, enjoy!