The last long weekend (the other week), Alvin, Anika and I went to Matabungkay Beach Resort.
When I was looking for a beach to go to, almost all resorts were fully booked. Yan kasi si Alvin, he told me na go with the flow lang daw. I should stop being uptight about everything including schedules. Kaya daw ako nag-aanxiety. Hindi talaga pwede sa akin yung ganun. I need to plan everything in advance because I get terribly pissed if nahahassle ako.
Anyway, since I postponed looking for a place to go, wala na availability dun sa mga usual beaches where we usually book.
And then I stumbled across Matabungkay Beach Resort. Binook ko na agad siya basing on my recall of how it looked like before. When I called them to reconfirm, I asked the girl on the other line if well maintained ba nila yung resort. I can’t help to be nervous about it because 10 years old pa lang ako, Matabungkay Beach Resort na yan. Malay ko ba if dilapidated na siya.
The girl naman assured me that okay pa din sila. They underwent renovations daw.
So from Tagaytay,
Top: FROM DIVISORIA; Shorts: F&H; Shoes: ALDO; Bag: KATE SPADE (thanks Ate Eileen for it!)
.. we drove for another hour and a half to Lian, Batangas to the resort.
I am happy to report that the resort is well maintained. The staff were courteous.
Except for the bathroom (the shower handle was already falling off), the rooms were surprisingly okay for a 30 year old resort.
We arrived at the resort around 530 pm. Alvin wanted to lie down on the bed. Anika wanted to swim. And I wanted to have my OOTD photos taken. The girls won so Alvin had no choice but to go with us. Natuwa naman siya because he saw his idol, Asiong Salonga (character) who is now a governor of Laguna.
Pogi pa din siya. His face was well preserved. Mukhang bata. And he was nice because I saw that he was busy but he agreed agad for photos.
We went to stroll in the beach after. It was low tide pero wild yung pagka-low tide. You can walk towards the sea. Malayong malayo ka na and yet until knees pa din lang ang water. Yun ata ang hindi lang okay in this resort. Mababaw masyado yung water.
But OMG, the sunset was beautiful.
Anika swam in the kiddie pool (the resort had three pools) then after we prepared for dinner by the beach. I got kasi their Valentine’s Day package. It includes a room stay, free dinner by the beach and flowers, bears and chocolates.
For dinner, they made us choose at the front desk ano orders namin from the selection. The food was great. Sarap na sarap ako. Again, I was surprised because hindi ko ineexpect na masarap ang food. Yun lang, hindi na namin inulit yung dinner by the beach because the service was sooooo slow. Awang awa ako dun sa waiter namin because he had to transport the food from the restaurant to where we were. Ang layo layo kaya nun. Sa sobrang bagal nila, we didn’t wait anymore for the dessert. Anika was so tired and sleepy already. They just brought it to our room.
The next day, Anika and I woke up early to go out. Atat kasi kami. Nilibot namin yung resort which was big.
Mega low tide. I wish I brought jogging attire. Masarap siguro tumakbo dito.
We woke Alvin up so we can have breakfast. Buffet was at 350+ a head and food was masarap. After eating, we rented a balsa (Php 1200 for the whole day) and stayed there from 9am to 3pm. We pre-ordered lunch and it was brought to the balsa at 12 noon.
A balsa is like a floating raft. Ours had a table, bench, a roof and a small room.
Alvin and Anika went fishing while I did OOTD pictorial using the timer of my camera. Kanya kanyang trip yan.
After a while, Anika was able to catch a fish! Grabe! Alvin and I were more excited than she was!!!
We let the fish go so technically, Anika saved a life.
Siguro sa exhilaration niya that she caught a fish, Anika was more determined than ever to catch one again. As in from 9am to 3pm, try siya ng try magfish. She knows how to put bait and she knows how to cast the fishing line to the sea. Galing. Ang tiyaga.
Sunog na sunog ang Alvin and Anika.
Ako? I just stayed in the chair under the roof away from the sun and read a book. Nahirapan lang ako because I poop and pee a lot so I had to go back and forth to the beach a couple of times. Nakikiride ako sa mga dumadaan na paddle boats. Lelz.
In between their fishing, they also swam, snorkeled and did jet ski (Php 2,000 for 30 minutes). Nagkatawaran pa nga daw sa jetski.
ALVIN: Kuya Php 1,000 na lang
KUYA JETSKI: Hindi po pwede sir. Pagagalitan kami ng may-ari eh.
ANIKA: Sige na kuya, 1,000 na lang.
KUYA JETSKI: Sorry pero hindi talaga pwede.
ANIKA (to Alvin): Sige na Babe, 2,000 na lang. Bayaran kita sa bahay.
Hanep.
It was Anika’s first time to do jetski kaya tuwang tuwa talaga siya.
ME (to Alvin): Grabe, ang mahal ng jetski.
ALVIN: Okay na yan. At least ako ang kasama niya sa unang jetski niya, hindi ibang lalaki.
Hanep again. May ganun?
So where was I when all these were happening? I was asleep in the balsa. Hahaha!
ANIKA: Nanay, ikaw lang talaga ang walang ginawa dito!
Meron noh! I rented a paddle boat. It’s like a surf board and they give you a paddle. Relax relax lang ang peg. I sat down on it and paddled just near where the balsa was. However, before I knew it, I was already so far away from them! As in malayong malayo! The more I paddled, the more ako lumalayo sa kanila until they looked so tiny to me na! That was how far I was!
ME: Babe! Babe! I can’t go back!
I was so fucking scared. Kung wala lang si Anika siguro dun, nagwala na ako sa takot! I was out at sea na! Malayong malayo promise! I was so scared baka si Jaws ay nandun! I was looking out for a shark’s fin. Alvin had to ask a boatman to fetch me. They pulled me back to the balsa. Malakas daw yung alon towards sa ocean sabi nung boatman.
Tinigilan ko nga yung paddle boat na yan, leche.
Ang dami kong sermon inabot from Anika. I should have not rented it daw kasi hindi naman pala ako marunong. What if daw wala sila ng tatay niya. What if daw walang boat to rescue me. I should have paddled daw towards them not away from them.
Grabe. Sermon levelz. May matching pamewang pa yan.
We went back to the room around 4pm after Anika swam in the kiddie pool and after eating halo halo. Hindi masarap yung halo halo.
After bathing, we walked again on the beach to catch the sunset.
The golden hour lighting was awesome.
Wish ko lang may nagpipicture din sa akin, ano?!
We asked to have our dinner served at the restaurant instead by the beach. Ito dinner namin.
Nyar, hindi ko pala napicturan lahat. Apart from the dessert (which tasted normal), the main dishes were delicious. You should try their bbq ribs. Napaka-sarap.
We went back to our room after dinner. Anika was borlogs at 7pm. Napagod.
Over-all, our experience at Matabungkay Beach Resort was nice. I would rate it at 8 out of 10. Sablay lang talaga the beach kasi super low tide all the time. But I recommend it for families. Hindi din ganun ka-mahal ang rates so recommendable talaga.
Matabungkay Beach Hotel
Website: http://www.matabungkaybeachhotel.com
Contact number: (63) 917-834-1269
Manila office: (02) 819-3080