Pico de Loro and a Very Special Day

Mama turned 72 !  She wished for an out of town trip with her grandchildren on her birthday, she gets it!

Pico de Loro was the choice because it has a beach, it can be reached by car and it has a country club offering different activities, for guests of all ages- very ideal for family.  It is not an inexpensive choice but hey, it was a very special day.

Our birthday girl :)

When I googled Pico de Loro- I was a bit confused because the search returns information about Hamilo Coast and about Pico Sands.  I later figured out that there are 2 options for accommodation at Pico de Lord.  One is to book a unit in any of the Hamilo Coast condominiums, which are rented out by their owners via Airbnb.  The other option is to book a room with Pico Sands Hotel. 

Pico Sands Hotel lobby

Airbnb is a cheaper than the hotel, however guests need to pay additional Php 1,200 per person, to be able to use the facilities. The rooms with Pico Sands Hotel, on the other hand, include use of facilities plus buffet breakfast. Renting with Airbnb would be good for small number of guests.  However, since there was 9 of us, we found it more cost effective and convenient to book rooms with Pico Sands.  I would also like to mention that each booking at Pico Sands Hotel entitles Philippine Airlines Mabuhay card holders to earn 500 miles- guests only need to present their card upon check-in.

By the kiddie pool!

I did the reservation through the Pico Sands Hotel website, and 7% of the price was required to reserve the room.  I booked 2 De Luxe rooms, and since it was long weekend, each room costs Php13,300 for 2 adults and 2 children, or 3 adults and 1 child. An additional Php2,200 is charged for additional adult guest, for the breakfast and amenities.

My brother, his fiancé, my mom and myself arrived at 11:30- too early for the check-in time, which is 2PM.  We did check in anyway, though rooms were available only by 2 PM.  We were given a wrist band each, so that we will already be able to use the facilities, including the country club.

One of the most prominent feature of Pico de Loro was the man-made lagoon, in the middle of the hotel and the condominiums.  I heard that the lagoon is both of aesthetic purposes, and also it is where the waste water is treated.

We took pictures of the lagoon and then went to the pool side, which is right in front of the country club.  There is a pool side restaurant, Lagoa, and we decided to have lunch.  The price at Lagoa is surprisingly normal at an average of Php400- for a dish which is good for sharing.  And we found the food really good! I would recommend guests to try their shrimp and squid cooked in coconut milk dish.  

Such at Lagoa!

After lunch, we did a round of the country club.  There are a number of amenities, which will be enjoyed by everyone.  On one side of Lagoa restaurant, guests will find the basketball, badminton and squash courts.  There is a room for table tennis  on the ground floor and a gym on the 2nd floor.  On the other side of Lagoa, there are bowling lanes and billiards in one room, and videoke rooms across it.  There is also a big play room for kids, There are also tables for chess and even mahjong. 

At 2 PM, we went back to the front desk and our rooms were ready.

Both rooms are  on the 3rd floor and facing the lagoon.  A De Luxe room is  around 37 square meters and has a balcony.  It has the usual amenities (TV, airconditioning unit, towels, toiletries, bottled water, and coffee and tea set) plus beach towels.

Mom, brother and soon-to-be sister in law rested, while I waited for my other brother and his family.  When they arrived, I went down to get their wrist bands for them, and to handed them their key.  My nephew wanted to play table tennis right away, however, it was fully booked so they reserved for the next day. They opted for the beach, instead, while we chilled at the pool side, with our fruit shake.

By the pool side

By 5 PM, we took the free shuttle to go to the beach. The shuttle picks up passenger from the hotel, and from the condominiums.   When we get to the beach, we were happy to see my niece and nephew enjoying the sea, and the sand! We waited for the sunset at the beach side,. Unfortunately, the sun set behind the mountains today…so, no beach sunset shots for me.  

She enjoyed the sand more than the water :)

Beach!

By 6 PM, we took the shuttle back to the hotel, only to find out that it is actually very close to the hotel, and we could just have walked.  We freshened up and prepared for dinner.

The not-the-birthday girl ready for dinner.

We had dinner at Lagoa restaurant and our birthday dinner consist of crispy pata, sinigang na baboy, kare kare, the shrimp and squid in coconut milk (again), ribs, and Jalin Jin , a Korean dish.  And yes, all were good! We did enjoy the food, and the after dinner chatter.  

Birthday dinner!

The three victors: Victoria, Victor and Victor Miguel

We woke up the next day to very strong rain the next day.

We started the second day with buffet breakfast, at the restaurant downstairs. Breakfast can be taken at Lagoa. For breakfast, there’s the bread station for the toasts and bread, cheese, butter and jam.  Then there is the fruits and salad station, as well as the cereal station.  There is also the main course station. During our visit, there was adobo, sausage, and bacon, among others. Outside is the egg and pancake station. Overall, breakfast is ok but not exceptional.  I did love the cheese though!

Breakfast in pj's

After breakfast, we went to the country club to play table tennis.  I was surprised to find that my nephew is now very good with it!   When the weather improved and after table tennis, we went for a quick swim at the beach.  Because weather was not good, the waves were pretty big, and strong - so we gave up after 5 minutes in the water!  

No to waves!

Blue, green and pink- and mostly gray.

We had a quick walk by the lagoon, before heading back to our room to take a shower. Then we packed our stuff for the 11AM check-out.

Overall, I am happy with the Pico de Loro experience-despite the weather, and the beach.  I’m glad that mom’s wish was granted and she had a weekend get-away with her grandchildren.

Novotel, the Green Initiative and a Free Staycation

So…sometimes, I do get lucky!  I subscribed to Novotel-Araneta Facebook page to watch out for their promos.  Sometime in May, they posted about their Green Star contest where they gave information about some of their Earth Day initiatives or programs to protect and conserve the resources of Mother Earth, and participants to the contest were to vote for the best one.  Participants will then post their answer the question “How can you get involved with Novotel Manila Araneta Center’s commitment towards positive hospitality?” in the comment section.  Novotel will then select qualified answers and raffle them off.  

Novotel-Araneta, Manila

I was impressed with and voted for their HealthyNSustainable initiative where Novotel’s own El Dorado Farm in San Mateo, Rizal grows organic fruits, vegetables and herbs which they serve in the hotel restaurant.  The scraps from the fruits, vegetables and herbs are also used for their cocktail infusions, which results to less wastage. Under this initiative, they also do knowledge sharing by conducting workshops in the community on sustainability, and they campaign to their guests through inspiration boards in their hotel, to make a conscious choice on sustainable food and drinks.

And I won :).  I got a message in FB messenger informing me that I won an overnight stay in a Superior Room. I booked myself, mom and brother for July 15.

The hotel is very nice- not because it is free :) but because it is very new and because of its cleanliness, modern design and coziness.  The room size is just right and the bed and small sofa very comfortable.  The toiletries are sugar-cane based and smell really good. 

By the pool side

Breakfast is buffet and though there were lesser selection compared to 5 star hotels, the food is still ample.  My favorite would be the mixed fresh fruit juice- very yummy and very healthy! I finished around 5 bottles.

Thank you, Novotel-Araneta and kudos to your HealthyNSustainable initiative!

Book your stay at the Novotel website .

Going Solo in Edinburgh

Vibrant, beautiful, historical, fun, culture, interesting, and stunning are some of the words many use to describe Edinburgh, according to surveys.  I could sum up how I see Edinburgh in one word: medieval (in a really good, nostalgic way).  And I was happy to have walked that way.  

After more than 4 hours of travel, the train finally reached Waverley Train Station, the main station serving Edinburgh. It is a big one, with 18 platforms.  I was excited to start with my solo DIY tour- but decided for a quick brunch at Costa inside the station, before heading out. 

I left the station through the Waverley Bridge Exit and was greeted by the view of the Old Town to my left, the New Town to my right and of the view of the Scott Monument, just across the bridge.  The awesome view of the Old Town and the Scott Monument  quickly transported me to the medieval period. 

I turned left to go inside the Old Town. I  walked towards Market Street, followed the road to the Museum on the Mound, walked up along N. Bank Street, and onward to St. Giles Street until I reached High Street (which is part of the Royal Mile).  And was greeted by too many umbrellas!  It was raining and tourists still poured in despite the weather! 

When the rain stopped.

After a few steps I found myself in the Parliament Square.  It is where the original Scottish parliament was.  In the center of the square is the St. Giles Cathedral.  Built in the1120s, it was formerly a Roman Catholic church turned protestant. It started to rain, and I did not bring any umbrella (despite reminders from friends), so I ran inside the cathedral.  The interior of the cathedral is exquisite! Guests are free to take a look around, but tickets are needed to be able to take photographs. 

Along the Royal Mile, Statue behind St. Giles Cathedral

Surrounding the Cathedral is the old Parliament House, built in 1642 and was used by Scottish parliament until 1707.  There is also the Signet Library, law courts the mercat cross and the statue of King Charles II.

When the rain stopped, I walked towards the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is the main road that connects Edinburgh Castle on one end, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse on the other end.  It is said to be the oldest street in Scotland, where more than a mile long of old buildings stand.  It comprises 4 conjoined streets, including the High Street. This is where one find pubs, restaurants and shops selling souvenir items and Scottish kilts. 

Scottish Kilt on display

One of the pubs

I reached the Holyroodhouse, which was closed as the Queen was visiting and this is where the Royals stay when they visit Edinburgh.  Across the Holyroodhouse is the new Scottish Parliament.

The Holyroodhouse, from outside

I was there on a Royal Week!

Guests from inside the Holyrood house?

I walked back along the Royal Mile again, and was fascinated by the side alleys between the tall, old buildings. They call an alley, a close or a wind. A close is used for gated private property, while a wynd is a very narrow alleyway, wide enough for horse and cart.  

More old buildings in one of the alleys

I passed by some more attractions such as the Camera Obscura and the Whisky Centre before reaching the Edinburgh Castle.  I could only wish that they did not build the Esplanade at the entry way of the castle- the bleachers did ruin the view.   

View of Edinburgh Castle from Johnston Terrace street

I walked back and at the roundabout, I turned to Johnston terrace, which gives a good view of the other side of Edinburgh.  After a quick stroll, I headed back to the High Street. I traced my steps back to the Museum on the Mound, crossed the street to the Scottish National Gallery.

A signage in one of the buildings along Johnston terrace

View of the Scot Monument on the way to the Scottish National Gallery

The road led me to the new town, where I did some quick souvenir shopping along Princes St.  And before I knew it, it was time for me to go back to Waverley station to catch my 5:30 train.

Behind the Waverley station

So, what did I love most about Edinburgh?  For one it is very picturesque.  I love the slopes (Edinburgh is a hilly city) ,  I love the cobblestone pavements, I love the old buildings and the statues.  I loved the medieval feel.  I even loved the rain in Edinburgh!  I also loved the way it made me feel like I was part of the fiction books I have been reading: I imagined lining up the Royal Mile and bowing down as kings and queens pass by, I imagined watching knights during duels, I imagined seeing drunks coming out of ale taverns at night, and of course I imagined dragons flying above the city! 

Whisky everywhere!

Should have tried the Scottish ale!

Time to go home!

And yes, I am definitely coming back, as I have missed the other attractions. 6 hours is simply not enough!

Taking the Virgin Train to Scotland

Three weeks before my travel, I purchased my ticket to Scotland through the Virgin Train website, and got a pretty good fare: GBP 80 for return tickets. 

Browsing online, there were several options for purchasing ticket to Edinburgh but I’ve always thought it better to book direct. I booked through the Virgin Train website, which offers some advantages:

• It allows you to select the Quiet Coach (which is Coach B), if you don’t want be in the regular coach(which can be quite noisy, as per the reviews I have read).  They cost the same, by the way. 

• It also allows you to choose not only window or aisle seats, but also seats by the table, or seats with electrical socket (which are usually window seats). 

• You will be given complimentary wifi for the whole trip duration.  Tickets purchased through other mediums only get 1 hour complimentary wifi.

• If you’re lucky you get to receive an email a week before the trip, saying you can upgrade to Business Class for only 20 GBP (I received one!) which would come with lounge access, food, reclining seats, more legroom and morning paper.

So, I opted for the Quiet Coach, and window seat, and thought about upgrading to business class.

I was excited for this tour well, because finally…alone time, and my first time in Scotland!  I woke up early, and left excitedly to Paddington station.  From Paddington , I took the Circle Line to get to King’s Cross station, which is the terminal for Virgin Train.  King’s Cross is a big station, so my friend advised me to leave before 6 AM to catch my 7 AM trip. From the underground platform, I had to get out of the Kings Cross St. Pancrass underground station and followed the sign to the King’s Cross station. At the station, there are terminals where you can print your boarding pass, if you haven't had them printed yet. 

I waited for 10 minutes and then it was boarding time. I was looking for the staff as I wanted to avail of upgrade to business class however, there was no one- which was a good thing because I found that there were not that many passengers.  I had all 3 seats to myself.  On another thought, going business class would have been an experience in itself…oh, well…

Ready for the 4.5 hour ride!

Scotland, here I come!

PS: You may book your tickets here.

Finding My Way To Paddington, and a Little Bit More of London

It was a Monday, and I was so looking forward to Scotland the next day. But first things first, I had to do some last minute shopping in Portsmouth, of course.  At 60% price off, I got a really nice dress for my brother’s wedding in October at Dorothy Perkins- good job!

Louie and I had brunch at Costa, then I went on to stuff back my things in my luggage, and then she dropped me off the train station.  The SouthWest Train operates the Portsmouth-Central London line. I got the direct train to London Waterloo, which took close to 2 hours, and the train fare was around GBP13.

I did some research the night before so I could easily find my way to Paddington station, where my hotel is (I chose the Paddington area because it is where Heathrow Express is and it will be very easy for me to go to the airport).  One useful tool for me is londondrum.com , which gives information of the tube line to take, the tube route, journey time, and fare zone.  From Waterloo, Bakerloo line will take me to Paddington, I will get off at the 9th stop, which is the Paddington station, journey time is approximately 16 minutes and my fare zone is in zone 1 which means GBP2.40 will be deducted from my oyster card credit.

Knowing that Waterloo is the biggest and busiest station in UK, I also researched about where to find the platform for Bakerloo line: 

• The first step would be to find out which direction to go by going to the london-tube-map.infolondon-tube-map.info : the northern terminus of Bakerloo is Harrow and Wealdston, and the southern terminus would be Elephant and Castle. From Waterloo, I were to go to the southbound platform to Harrow and Wealdstone direction and get off at the 9th stop, which is Paddington.

Image from Metrolodes.es

• The second step was to find out the platform number of Bakerloo line in Waterloo station.  I used describe-online.comdescribe-online.com to find out the platform number of southbound Bakerloo line.  Platform 4 it is! (Tip. Describe-online.com is a good tool for directions on transfer from one platform to another.Try it here) 

I was glad I did my research ahead of time-it was difficult enough having to carry around a luggage and a laptop backpack!

From Paddington station, the hotel was a few blocks away (2 blocks, taking the London Street).  It, however took awhile for me to get oriented with the place (my first time there!) and I walked a few blocks further.  I went back, saw a map on one of the posts, and found my way to Days Inn Hotel.

Days Inn Hyde Park Hotel is in Sussex Gardens street, which is a pretty nice and tranquil place , as opposed to the streets surrounding it, which I found chaotic.  There are several hotels in the same building as Days Inn.  The room size is typical of London (small) and it is expensive, but the room is clean and it is in a very good location. 

The building along Sussex Gardens where Days Inn and other similar hotels are housed.

After settling down and freshening up, I went for a walk at the nearby Kensington Gardens.  It is a free park and a huge one.  I went up to that area where I got a view of the Kensington Palace.

The Italian Garden at Kensington Gardens

One of the water fountains at Kensington Gardens

I went back to the hotel before 6:30, just in time for my reunion with my long lost friend, Herbie, who took me to a Persian restaurant , for some reason.(I kind of expected the fish-and-chips dinner haha!).  It did felt good to catch up, though. And one thing about friendship is: no matter how long you have been apart, you’re still able to pick up where you have left off, even if it was decades ago.

2 decades worth of catching up in London!

Osborne House: The Prettiest Spot

Yesterday, we were in Oxford and Bath.  I spent the night at my friend’s house in Portsmouth.  The next day , we had buffet breakfast at the restaurant in Travelodge, attended the mass, and drove to South Hampton to take the ferry to our next destination:  The Isle of Wight.

We boarded the car ferry of Red Funnel, which took us to Isle of Wight within an hour.  From the port, we drove for 5 minutes for the Osborne House.

Boarding time!

Built between 1845 and 1851, the Osborne House was the holiday home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and was redesigned by Prince Albert himself.  Said to be the one of the Queen’s favorite home, it is also where she died. 

Entrance to the Osborne House.  

The Osborne House and the Terrace Garden

What I particularly liked about the house is that it was more of a home, and not a palace- except for its size, it has a more “normal” feel, specially the nursery rooms,  family rooms and private rooms (it was said that the personal possessions in Prince Albert’s private room are as they are when he was still alive). Of course, the place is still royal and it has many mementos on display in the rooms and along the corridors, including gifts from other European royal families. There is also the Queen’s Dining Room, the Drawing Room, Queen’s Sitting Room and Queen’s Bedroom (where she died).

I was surprised to find many Indian decorations, and paintings of Indian persons and scenes. I found later that Queen Victoria also had the title of Empress of India back then. There is also the Durbar room, with the most ornate ceiling I have ever laid eyes on (the ceiling was said to be designed by the father of Rudyard Kipling, a famous author).Durbar came from the Hindi word which means court , and the Durbar room was built for state functions. 

The South Asian-ish Durbar Room

The house sits on a big estate  and is a lovely place for family picnic, which are allowed on grass anywhere in the grounds. My friends kids had fun climbing trees and running around the area.

Where to go?

One of my favorite areas would be the Terrace Garden, which gives a good view of the Solent. 

Terrace Garden

20 minutes walk from the house would take you to The Swiss Cottage, which was built by Prince Albert as play area for their 9 children.  Infront of the cottage are the royal children’s garden plots, with each of them given a patch of garden to grow vegetables.  A few steps further  is their mini fort and barracks, which I suppose was also meant as play area. A small museum can be found, also close to The Swiss Cottage.

The royal play house :)

On another route, also 20 minutes walk from the house would be the Queen Victoria’s private beach and her wooden bathing machine. 

How to get there:

We booked the car ferry and the entrance to Osborne through RedFunnel, which operates 24 hours a day, through this link.

Ticket prices and opening time:

Click here.