swimming pools

Sitio Lucia Resort, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

April 27, 2011 / Filed Under: Bulacan, resorts, swimming pools, travels

We spent Easter Sunday at Sitio Lucia Resort Garden Hotel. It is located at Pulong Buhangin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan. The entrance fee is P150 for adult and P120 for children below 4ft.

The resort is known for it’s Jurassic theme, with more or less 50 dinosaur sculptures scattered all around the resort.

I’ve been here six or seven years ago and back then, the resort was fairly new. Sad to say, they weren’t able to maintain some of the dinosaur sculptures. The color of some dinosaur has faded and some dinosaurs have chipped out paint.

We still enjoyed posing with them, though, specially the little ones. It’s their first time to see those sculptures. Ykaie was scared of the big dinosaurs. We had to remind her repeatedly that those dinosaurs were only statues and they wouldn’t move.

Because Ykaie was scared to pose all by herself with the big dinosaurs,Tito Noel {my brother} had to carry her so we could take pictures.

Since it was Easter, they have clowns and programs such as Egg Hunting and a Singing Contest, you just have to register here. Thanks to the clowns and staff who were kind enough to pose when I took their photo.

Sitio Lucia has six themed swimming pool, one of them is on the background. Since there are trees all around the resort, expect that you would see dried leaves and flowers floating in the water.

This is where the kids headed to swim first.

The kiddie pool is nice and is really big but they should’ve repainted everything– the slides, those mushrooms and the pool itself.

It was fun because I came with family but I really wished they did some kind of renovation. The resort is pretty and the rates are very affordable.But their dinosaurs will become extinct too if they don’t keep up with all the new resorts that keep on sprouting here and there.

Sitio Lucia Garden Resort
Km. 40 Fidel de Jesus St. Pulong Buhangin,
Sta. Maria, Bulacan
(02) 299-6333 or (044) 641-1046

Amana Waterpark 2011

April 17, 2011 / Filed Under: Bulacan, resorts, swimming pools, travels

Late last week, my aunt and uncle who just arrived from London wanted the family to go on an outing. So we went to Amana Waterpark. If you can remember we’ve been here last year {click Amana 2010} before peanutbutter♥ went to Dubai.

I was excited because this is actually the first time that my brother’s family is coming with us. We’ve never been out on a swimming with them. I wasn’t that excited with taking a lot of pictures, though, because eventhough there are a couple of new swimming pools and there are new life-size characters, the resort is not new to me anymore.

All I wanted was to have fun with the kids and everybody!

We got the Calatagan Cottage for P2,500 because it is the biggest cottage and can accommodate up to 30 people. We also rented a grill for P100.

The grilling and the cooking started the moment we stepped into the cottage. Ate tess was in-charge of the fish. Rome came with us straight from the night shift.

Ate Tess, Tita Raquel, Rome, Me, Kuya Noel and Ate Beck

striking a pose while skewering the pork barbecue

After that, the real poses came in..

Having dessert now… I ate a lot during lunch. We had lots of food and I think all of them were my favorites! I’ll be posting them at The Peach Kitchen later.

Swimming time came after lunch. The kids loved the water and they didn’t wanna come out until we’re ready to go home.

Ate beck, Thea, Shy, Manang, gab-gab and Joshua

It was fun swimming with the kids and watch them have fun!

I even went to the wave pool with them. We stayed along the shallow part and just let the wave beat us. We were laughing the whole time!

Tita Zeny, Ate Myra, kakai, eio, missy, and zoe arrived at the resort after lunch so they had time to bond with us. Zoe went horseback riding at around 4pm. It costs P200 per hour.

Wish we could do this again!

Piña Colina, Tagaytay City

April 6, 2011 / Filed Under: resorts, swimming, swimming pools, Tagaytay, travels

I just got back from our two-day vacation and is still haunted by the cold Tagaytay weather as I share with you the place where we stayed.

We stayed at the Piña Colina Resort.

“Piña Colina” is a Spanish phrase which means “Pineapple Hill”. As what the name means, this resort is located atop a hill surrounded by Pineapple plantations.

Ykaie even found a baby pineapple inside the resort!

This is our Casita

What made this resort our first choice was that it is very affordable. The kids wanted to go swimming and we wanted a really nice place to take a vacation. This Casita accommodates 8-10 people and costs P5850 per night on weekdays {P6,500 on weekends}. It is a two-storey unit with a living room, kitchen, two beds, two bathrooms with hot and cold shower, dining table, daybeds, pull-out beds, TV and refrigerator. There is also a grill outside, in case you want to have a barbecue. Guests exceeding 10 will be charged 500 per head.

at the front terrace

We were also charged a 10% additional because we brought food to cook. There is also a corkage fee for beer and wine. I think it’s P5 per bottle of beer and P50 per bottle of wine.

The bedroom on the second floor

They provided extra beds to accommodate 10 people. Each room at the casita was very clean and the staff are very approachable and nice. The room doesn’t have an air conditioning unit. Well, you won’t really need it since it is very cold in Tagaytay. I think it’s even colder in Piña Colina because it is located on top of a hill.

I am wrapped in a blanket most of the time we were there!

Right: The bedroom terrace overlooking a pineapple plantation Top Left/Bottom: makeshift bedrooms, 2nd floor living room and 1st floor entrance and under the stairs.

The toilet and bath which has water heater

The Kitchen

I told you that they charge an additional fee if you’re bringing food and cooking because they provide some cookware, dinnerware and utensils. They provided kettle, pots, pans, plates and glasses.

The dining area

The swimming pools

Piña Colina has two small swimming pools. The bigger one is 4ft to 5.5ft deep and the other one is the kiddie pool.

The kiddie pool is 2-3 ft deep.

at the kiddie pool

I wasn’t able to go swimming for a long time because the water was freezing. Well, actually, the adults couldn’t stand the freezing water but the kids were able to. I allowed ykaie to go swimming a little longer than me so she can enjoy it with her cousins.

There is also an elevated jacuzzi which you can use for a fee of P1,200 per hour. 10 people can fit in that jacuzzi.

The cottages beside the pool where you can rest or eat a snack while swimming.

I think Piña Colina is more of a rest house resort than a swimming resort. It provides a relaxing atmosphere for couples or families or even individuals who wants to go away and leave the busy life for a while. The pool is just an a bonus.

I had a wonderful time. Made me miss peanutbutter♥ a lot.

Curious about the food we prepared? Check them out here:

Day1 Lunch; Day1 DinnerA; Day1 DinnerB

Day2 Breakfast
Day2 Lunch at Bag of Beans

Day3 Breakfast

Piña Colina
Tolentino Ulat St., Baranggay Francisco,
Tagaytay City