I don’t know why but a lot of things changed when I worked in a call center. Before, I used to be a home-body. I always look forward to my rest days for that’s the only time when I can truly spend my time at home. Watch TV, read books, listen to music but now I look forward to outings more than that of spending my time at home. I guess it’s because of the level of stress that I have to endure each day at work to meet the company’s goals. Going on a holiday is a way to get some time off from everything! From the city and from the people that you interact with each day (well, at times that’s true). And one of my favorite destinations are beach resorts. And the ultimate beach resort destination that I’ve been to as of the moment was Alegre Beach Resort in Calumboyan Sogod Island, Cebu. It is one of those resorts in the Philippines that are like hotels combined with luxury and nature. Luxurious because of the amenities that they offer their clients. A bathroom is covered with marble tiles from the floor to the ceilings, a bath tub (complete with mint bath salt and mint scented bath gel), a shower room (with bath gel, bath soap, shampoo and conditioner all mint scented as well), a counter top (with a bar soap and lotion which is mint scented as well and get this… a hair dryer!). That is why, most of my colleagues were so excited about the bathroom. But what I love about the resort are:
1. The bed that was so comfortable that I slept like a baby.
2. The restaurant that served the best dishes and the best leche flan so far (it was so good that I think I’ve felt euphoria).
3. The surroundings especially in the morning (I’ll just post the pictures again for you to see what I mean).
4. The crew who are so nice and courteous (I think I have said Good Morning a dozen times in one morning! I guess that’s the reason why I had a great morning that day.)

Alright, I guess am making a lot of fuss about this and I know there are a lot of other resorts who offer the same things but like what I’ve said, this is the ultimate resort that I’ve been to as of the moment and the best experience that I had in a resort. That’s why am writing about it but that doesn’t mean I will stop going to other resorts and stop meeting new people and stop experiencing new things. Because who knows I might have better experiences to write about. Right?

I don’t know exactly when this church was built.  All I can say is this was built in the Spanish Era based on it’s structure.  St. Catherine’s church is located in Carcar City, Cebu.  It’s a 45 minute to and hour ride from Cebu City.  I went there with my friend David and Alfonso.  I didn’t know it then but it turned out we love old buildings and we love to take pictures of the places where we go to.

*Again pictures were taken using my Sony Ericsson k700i phone.  Lovely!

Well, I promised that I will be posting pictures of Vistamar but I only posted two because I was having a hard time posting pictures then.  But now that I know a thing or two in posting pictures, I’ll go ahead and post the rest of the pictures in this article.

By the way, did I mention that Vistamar is a Clubhouse/Resort of a subdivision?  So if you wanna live near a clubhouse that has a resort feel in Compostela, Cebu Vistamar still has lots for sale.

*Again the Pictures here are taken using my Sony k700i phone.

Like what I mentioned a few days back, I will be going to Alegre Beach Resort in Sogod, Cebu this weekend for the White Belt Six Sigma training for our company.  I went there last Saturday and left for Cebu City Sunday.  I am so glad that I went there for now I understand the Six Sigma process better.  Maybe it’s because I had attended a training on it before and I got to apply it to a Six Sigma initiative. I’m not sure but Marion did explain the processes well so now I have an idea on how I can help one of my agents who had a very high AHT.  Alegre is beautiful, the rooms were big and the bathroom was the talk of the group.  It was big and has a bath tab that faces the door of the washroom that looks so inviting everytime you face that direction.   The area is huge but very well maintained.  The crew are friendly and greet their guests when they pass by.  I even had to say good morning 20 times yesterday while I was walking around the resort.  The area is around 4 hectares so you will really get a good execrcise by just taking a walk around the area.  Imagine I walked for almost 2 hours and still I was not able to check out the whole place.  I was just able to check out the beach front, their aqua sports area and located their SPA.  I was not even able to take a dip in the beach that was so clean and beautiful.  Just to give you a picture of how big the place is, when we arrived there, we didn’t see other people that we even thought that we were the only guests but when lunch came, there were poeple in the pavilion.  Same goes with our group.  We went there along with 29 other colleagues and I only met most of them when we have our meals in the pavilion which served great tasting meals.  In fact in all of the places that we went to for seminars and meetings which included the Plantation Bay, Vistamar, Cebu Beach Club, Water Front and Park Lane, their food was by far the best that I have had.  And the one that really stood out was their Leche Flan.  It was so good that I felt euphoria the second the thing touched my tongue.  Maybe when the time comes, I will go back there and work there.  I wonder if working there will give me the same feeling when I went there to visit.   But I think the company is a good company to work for since I met the assistant chef who told me that he had worked there for 17 years.  Imagine that!

One thing that I realized when I went to Carcar this weekend is that if you decide to go to a place to see the view and you don’t know anybody in that place is to find a guide or research about the place.  So that it will be a bit organized and you’ll know where to go next.
Although I enjoyed the trip to Carcar, I felt that I still need to go back there for there were still things and places that I was not able to see.  It still is an unfinished business for me for as you can see I have pictures here but, I have questions that I didn’t get the answers.  Like the church, when was it built?  And why are there tombstones there?  Does it mean there were people buried there?  Same with the Saint Catherine’s College.  Was it really built as a school?  Or did somebody live there?  What was is it before?  A house?  A school?

I really love to travel and see places.  Especially places like Argao and Carcar for seeing these places is like traveling back in time.  Here you can see the influences of the people who came to live in the Philippines.  You can see it in the churches, the old houses, the food that people prepare and even the dialect that they speak.  But next time, I will look for a guide or at least do a research about the place that I will visit so that I will know which place to visit and I wouldn’t leave the place with questions in my mind.

I’ve always wanted to live in a castle. I guess that’s what you get in reading a lot of fairy tale stories. When I was younger, we used to live with the family of my dad’s sister. She has four children who were way older than me and my siblings so we get to read their books in their library. And since my parents couldn’t afford to buy us toys and much worse they don’t believe in toys, so I ended up readng books. My favorite book then was a red fairy tales book which had around a hundred stories. Then I would imagine myself living in a castle with the twelve dancing princesses or picture Cinderella sleeping near the fire place. And then gorwing up I would imagine meeting my Prince charming who would take me away with him to live happily ever after. Although 27 years have passed and still my prince charming haven’t arrived yet but then that will be a story for another day.

Last Saturday, May 17, 2008, my friends and I went to Argao, Cebu to attend the 3rd birthday celebration of Angela, the daughter of one of my friends. And since we had a couple of hours to spend one of my friends asked the group if we would want to see a castle. And since I’ve always dreamt of living in one, I joined him in convincing our friends to go. So we rode a tricycle (a motorcycle with a cart attached to it’s side) and off we went to the Riverstone Castle.

I was so amazed when I saw the place. Whoever built the place did use river stones to build its walls. When you pass the main gate, you will see a bridge with a small creek underneath with crocodiles in it and knights (made of cement) guarding the gates. In the main building, you will find a tavern which has an aquarium underneath it, a royal hall which serves pizza for 230 pesos per pan, a karaoke hall on the second floor, a mini court yard in the center of the property, a swimming pool and mini zoo with some exotic animals. They also have small towers that you can climb to see the forest around it and the sea that surrounds the shores of the area.

It felt weird being there. It’s like I’m in a different dimension. I was like waiting for a noble man or woman to pass by in their royal wardrobe. Hehehe… But seriously, it was a great place to visit. It’s a great get away if you would want to get out of the city to think things through or to just get away from it all. The place is really quiet since it’s outside of the town proper and it’s also almost on the top of the mountain not a lot of people would pass by the place. And since it’s a bit secluded and they only have five available rooms you’ll really feel like you’ve got the place for yourself.