Weekend 2 Saturday: Palm Beach Resort
Planned after the weekend of Kamay ni Hesus was the Thomson Reuters company summer outing (sorry no budget advice for this trip). Destination: Palm Beach Resort in San Juan, Batangas. It is along the same coastline as Laiya, known for it's white sand and awesome waters.
Getting there seemed easy, if you knew where you were going. We were feeling our way, so we ended up with a total of 5 u-turns to and 1 from the resort. Long story short, the corner to turn into to get to the coastline is easily missed despite the huge signboards of the famous resorts in Laiya. We missed that by 11km. The road leading to the lined up resorts off the side of the mountain is deceiving - rough, tight roads, construction, residences and no view - but once you make the last turn, the view made me regret that I didn't bring swimming gear (I originally didn't have plans to go swimming, stupid me).
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| View from the side of the road on the slope of the mountain. Photo courtesy of Harry Danao (http://www.facebook.com/kodakero) |
The ocean was beautiful and the sand inviting. The resort itself looked so relaxing, with an infinity pool, kayaks, banana boats, native huts, and a beach volleyball area. We spent the first few hours with the company program before we hit the beach. Luckily, I was able to borrow shorts and a bathing suit from team mates, and the company gave out a shirt and a towel. It was time for some swimming! The shallow shore was a bit disappointing. I didn't expect it to be rocky. Of course there were spots that was sandy, but there were parts that made me wish I owned a pair of aqua socks. The water though felt so good! Especially since it was super hot that day and water was clear and clean.
Some of my team mates took the opportunity to kayak. I skipped that since I wasn't in the mood to nurse tried arms, especially since I just got off a late shift and haven't had any sleep. Instead I enjoyed the infinity pool and watched other colleagues play beach volleyball. We walked around the resort, found the lodgings and the playground. That was pretty much it, that we saw anyway. I believe they also offer snorkeling, but it was not part of the package I guess.
The program included games and a beach body contest. The games I saw were fun. I fell asleep half of the time. The food could have been better though. The contestants of the beach body contest were interesting enough, and I had to agree with the winners that the judges chose. It was just a day trip, so around 8PM we packed up. We tried to stay as long as we could for the company program, but it was getting dark and the trip back took hours.
All in all, I had a good time getting wet and felt a little relaxed. I would definitely go back there but I'll make sure that the second time around, I would have my swimsuit and more sleep.
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| Photo courtesy of Harry Danao (http://www.facebook.com/kodakero) |
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| Photo courtesy of Harry Danao (http://www.facebook.com/kodakero) |
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| Photo courtesy of Harry Danao (http://www.facebook.com/kodakero) |
Thank you so much for your blog. We would like to post it on our Facebook page with link https://www.facebook.com/pages/Palm-Beach-Resort/196546763760523?ref=hl
ReplyDeleteAgain, thank you and hope you can visit Palm Beach again. :)
Actually, I did March last year. My cousin, sister and I wanted to go to the beach out of the blue and I suggested that we go there commute for the fun of it. We ended up staying for the day and had a good time on the beach. If only there was an available room, or advanced planning on our end, then we would have stayed over night. :) Your staff was very accommodating and friendly. :)
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