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I always wanted to go to Pico de Loro, to see and experience the majestic beauty of the nature surrounding it and of course to try its stylish and elegant facilities of the resort.

Every year, we planned of going to Pico de Loro, from then on I started doing research about it. I have read lots of good reviews thus made me more eager to go there.

Pico de Loro is located at Hamilo Coast at Nasugbu Batangas. Hamilo Coast is the closest world class residential beach resort in Manila. It is comprise of Pico de Loro Cove, Pico Sands Hotel and Pico de Loro Beach & Country Club.

The members can enjoy the luxury of unrestricted access to all beach and country club facilities, preferential rates at the Pico Sands Hotel and other Hamilo Coast services and facilities and exclusive invitations to regular club events and expeditions. The lifetime membership may be extended to the declared immediate family members of the member. (source: http://hamilocoast.com/membership)

However, non-members can still enjoy Hamilo Coast as long as there is an endorsement coming from a member.

It was on a peak of Summer day when we went to Pico de Loro. Though I have several contact numbers of condo owners that I got from the blogs and other websites we still struggled on finding a condo unit for rent that is available on our target dates at an affordable price. We found cheaper rates at Airbnb, but we have a hard time booking with Airbnb, maybe because we just don’t know how to do it. And so we were left with the condo owners whom I have contacted. We were given a quote of P5,500 for 8 pax but the owner gave it up to P5,000 per night. Since we were only a group of 6 persons (4 adults and 2 kids), the owner gave it a rate of P4,500 per night. Good deal, right?!

We took the Cavitex-Ternate-Nasugbu Route. We prefer this route because of the nice views that you’ll be passing by, not to mention that the toll fees are cheaper compared to SLEX. It took us 1.5 hours to reach our destination. (Traffic starts at Tanza Cavite).

Upon entering the gates of the Hamilo Coast, you need to show your endorsement paper and need to pay for the entrance fee. We paid guest fee for the use of the resort’s facilities which includes swimming pools and the main beach. We paid 1,200 for adults and 300 for the kids. The tellers will not check whether all the details on the endorsement form are valid, amount to be paid were all based on the information on the endorsement form. You need to purchase a guest card which costs 50.00 pesos with an initial load amount of P1,000. The guest card is used for buying or renting inside the resort. The resort do not accept cash payments. However, you can also pay through credit card.

The tellers will only refer to the endorsement form and will not ask or confirm anything from you, what is written on the endorsement form is considered final.

The condo unit that we rented is a studio-type condo unit located at the fourth floor of Myna building.

Lobby

It has 1 queen sized – bed and double –sized pull out bed, a double sofa bed, and 2 single mattresses. It has a veranda which has 2 chairs and a table and a clothesline.

It is complete with cooking paraphernalia, which includes, the stove, rice cooker, microwave oven, plates, utensils and a refrigerator.

It has also a non-cable television with a DVD player, several DVDs were provided though.

The toilet and bath is clean, it has a hot and cold shower.

Outside the room.

All things inside the resort comes with a fee, for the use of towel, you need to pay P50.00 per towel and should be returned on the prescribed time. The food is too expensive. We spent the P1,000 worth of guest card in food.

As soon as we reach our rented condo unit, its almost past lunch time, so we ate our packed lunch then rest for awhile then we started to explore the resort. It took more than 5 minutes of waiting time, the shuttle service has not yet arrived, so we decided to go for a walk to the beach. There were so many people. We were lucky that we easily found a vacant beach bed.

The kids played on the sand, and we were just contented to watch the people passed by until we decided to try the water. The color of the sand is cream, it is not a pure white sand, the water is clear.

The main beach area closes at 6:00pm, so it seems just like us, the rest of the guests just waited for the sunset and left the beach then transferred to the country club (pool area). There were so many people.

It was again lucky for us to find a vacant beach bed where we can place our things.

We stayed a little late, until the people were lessened and we enjoyed the pool for the rest of the evening.

We went to the beach during night time to check out the event, but we are late, the event just finished. At the Beach club area, there is a band playing, but we cannot go further, because only members and accompanied guests can go there. So we just went back to our rented unit.

We woke early the following day, without eating breakfast; we went to the beach so we can have good photo shoots, preventing the too much crowded area.

We headed to the pool area after awhile and spend the remaining hours that’s left for us.

Comfy pool beds

We spent the P1,000 worth of cash card fee for our breakfast merienda. Their food are pricey.

Before finally leaving the resort, we did some photo shoots.

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Here are some photos of the facilities of Pico de Loro

Badminton court

Basketball court

Toilet

Locker room

Powder room

Shower room

The lobby of Pico Beach and Country Club

I can say that our overnight stay at Pico de Loro is worthwhile. Despite of the many guests at the time of our visit, I still enjoyed the scenic beauty of the resort, its closeness to nature and the resort’s privacy.

I love to go back but not anytime soon.

It’s been quite awhile that Yabu has started operating in the Philippines and people were excited to try it. I attempted several times to dine here but it is always jam-packed, there were always long queue and not to mention that budget is also a concern. However, I am persistent on trying Yabu.

When I ate there with my officemate, it was lunch time on a weekday, there were only few people. However, we still waited for our turn to be seated.

Upon ordering, we were oriented on the different sauces that they have. They have wasabi, vinegar, salad dressing and their famous katsu sauce that you have to prepare on your own. The service crew taught us how to make the katsu sauce. You need to grind the sesame seeds on a circular motion until it became a powdery like, you can smell the aroma of the sesame seeds, until you are ok with it then you can pour the katsu sauce.

We ordered the Tonkastsu and cream dory fillet, both dish comes with unlimited side dish and rice. Yabu has a generous serving, enough for a hungry person and it may be good for two persons if you have small appetite. You can ask for refill of rice and side dish without waiting for long. The meat in Tonkatsu is soft and tender.