Year-end Vacation at Tidewater Matabungkay, Batangas

Tidewater Resort rooms with the infinity pool

It was less than a week and the year 2014 will be ending. Before the year ends, me and my friends decided to meet up, welcome a balikbayan friend and went for a vacation. It was hard to decide where to go especially if you are on a tight budget. Choice of destinations is Tagaytay, Bataan or Batangas. After searching for several days, we finally decided to go to Tidewater Resort at Matabungkay, Batangas.

We rode a bus bound to Calatagan at the terminal at Coastal Mall in Pasay at around 8 in the morning. Drop off point is at Lian town proper as we still need to go to the marketplace to buy our food for our overnight stay. The Calatagan bound bus can also get you directly to Matabungkay. After buying food, we tried to search for a nearby ATM machine for some of my friends needed to withdraw money. Unfortunately there is only one ATM (Landbank) which is not working at that time. The other bank in the area are rural banks and does not have any ATM. Luckily two of my friends have extra cash that we can use for transportation and miscellaneous expenses. Since it was already 12noon, we decided to have lunch at a carinderia in Lian before going to our resort. When lunch was finished we went back to the marketplace where the jeepney terminal are located and rode a jeep bound to Matabungkay.

the walk at the beach

The jeepney ride was short and you can literally feel that you are in the province. You can feel the air in your face and smell the farmlands. Our drop off point is like an intersection, straight ahead is the beach, both left and right is arrays of resorts and residential houses. The jeepney driver told us that we can reach tidewater by walking through the beach’s shoreline. We follow the driver advice and went to the beach and walked at the shore looking for the location of Tidewater. It was around 1 am already and we can feel the heat of the sun as we walked through the shores. We already saw several resorts but we still haven’t found Tidewater. We asked a vendor where is our resort and the vendor helped us in reaching Tidewater.

We are all happy when we reached our destination especially after feeling the heat of the sun, we all wanted to have some rest. What added to our joy are the beautiful resort, nice view and relaxing ambiance of the place. You would be easily mesmerized by the infinity pool and the nice view of the beach. The place was not hot as there are a lot of trees providing enough shade and air that would sometimes tickle your spine. The duyan is also inviting as it just near the pool.

the duyan with a good view of the beach

the pool with the setting sun

The pool is so tempting, that you would definitely want to dive in to it immediately. The cold water would give you some shivers as you plunge to the water, but once you get used to it you will be seeing yourself swimming around the pool. You can also just simply look at the beach or the sunset as you rest at the edge of the pool.

sunset reflection

For the food, one does not need to worry where to cook, as the resort has a kitchen that has a refrigerator, rice cooker, and cooking pans and grill area. You can use these amenities with no extra charge. Even the LPG is also free. You just have to clean the utensils and kitchen before leaving. There are three kitchens in the resort so there is enough to accommodate other guests.

When morning came, me, my sister and a friend decided to take a walk at the beach. It was still dark and the fishermen are still busy with their boats. We can see the birds flying and catching fishes as they swoop at the beach. It was low tide and as we look closely at the shore we saw some starfish, small crabs, little fishes and hermit crabs. It was really beautiful and the whole beach was picturesque especially as the sun rises, except for the garbage that we would see being carried by the waves.

the fishermen's boats

low tide during the morning

the burst of sunrise

Our year-end trip to Matabungkay was enjoyable and very cheap. Me and friends are already planning to get back whenever stress hit us. I learned and discover a lot of things in our trip. Matabungaky is beautiful and we should definitely learn to keep it that way.

starfish at the shore

watching the beach

The Calamba Church and the Rizal Shrine

A trip to Laguna would not be complete if we did not go to Calamba. Calamba is mostly popular because of its part in our history as the hometown of our National Hero – Dr. Jose Rizal. So before heading back to Manila we decided to make a short trip to Calamba Church and the Rizal Shrine.

The Calamba Church and the Rizal Shrine are just across each other so it is very easy to go to both of them. And also just at the same place is the large pot known as the Calambanga that symbolizes the name of Calamba City.

 The Church of Calamba is same as the other churches that we have went to in Laguna. They are very all very old and still have the Spanish architectural design with its brick stones and wooden door that is the same as the St. John Baptist Church in Liliw and Nagcarlan Church. Aside from the architecture, you will also be welcomed by the big statues and the garden surrounding the church.

 

After visiting the church, we cross the street and went to Rizal Shrine. The Shrine was full of people when we went there as there was a school also having their field trip. At the entrance you will be asked to log in your name and some information.

The first floor of the house or the “silong” contains some brief history and information about Dr. Jose Rizal. The second floor shows the different furniture, pottery and housewares used during the Spanish period. The second floor features the dining room with a big fan, the room of Dr. Jose Rizal and the kitchen.

Aside from the house of the Rizals, the Rizal Shrine also has a souvenir shop and museum with various pictures and paintings of our national hero.

The Fusion of Food at Tokyo Cafe

 It was my second time to eat at Tokyo Café. The first time I went here was unexpected and also somewhat memorable. My first impression when I went here was it was a pricey restaurant offering Italian and Japanese food. I remembered on my first visit we ordered a pizza, pasta and chicken. Since we were not able to eat some Japanese food back then, I decided to try one on my second visit.

I wanted to try the Creamy Ebiko Pasta but it was not available. According to their menu it was a must try and one of their bestseller and also it is a Japanese pasta, so I was a little disappointed that it was not available. I ordered instead their garlic and shrimp pasta. One of my friends ordered a Ju Kalbiju and my other friend chose the Ju Oyako-ju.

When my Garlic and Shrimp Pasta was served I was surprised. I was surprised to see the abundant shrimp in my pasta. I counted the shrimp and there was five pieces of them. Unlike in some of the restaurants that I have went the most number of shrimp that you will get is only three. The other reason I was surprised is the way the food was served. It was kind of messy. There was no plating and there are drops of pasta sauce on the sides of the plate/bowl. My friend who is a graduate of HRM and had worked with other restaurants also notices this.

Ju Kabilju with miso soup

While still discussing with the presentation of my pasta, the Ju Kalbiju and the Ju Oyako-ju arrived. It was served in Japanese boxes with chopsticks and miso soup. Compared to my pasta, the presentation of the two dishes was fine. The Ju Kabilju is rice with beef while the Ju Oyako-ju is rice with chicken strips.

Ju Oyako-ju with miso soup

As we were already hungry we dive in immediately with our food. There was really nothing special with the pasta, except really for the shrimps. One of my friend even commented that the pasta taste similarly with the Italian restaurant near the area. For the rice dishes, both the beef and chicken were tender and tasty and the miso soup was also great.

One thing great about Tokyo Café is their menu. If you are not into Japanese food, you can order for Italian food as they have pasta and pizza, they also have burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads, crepes, parfaits and coffees.