Taal and Balai Isabel - Family Outing 2009
Trip Start
Apr 04, 2009
1
8
9
Trip End
Apr 18, 2009
Talisay, Luzon, Philippines
Monday, April 13, 2009
We reached Balai Isabel after a three hour drive (more or less). Expecting the front desk to be in the clubhouse, we made this our first stop. Here we saw what would be, aside from Taal Volcano, the main attraction of our stay in Balai Isabel. GMA channel's Bubble Gang was taping an episode at the pool. Of course the actresses were in skimpy two-piece bikinis, their boobs spilling over. Manuel joined the others snapping away with their cameras. I wasn't too happy with that.
The resort turned out to be a resort subdivision, like Palmas del Mar and Pacific Shores. Even the houses that we rented were for sale. Accomodations were definitely more classy than the one we had in Marinduque. Franco, the house that Alfonso and I shared, had a masters' bedroom in the ground floor and three bedrooms (two with two queen size beds each, one with two queensize, a double bed, and a pull-out bed). There should have been enough room for all of us but John, Julie, Matthew, and Bambi had a three storey, an attic loft with beds for four, and bed space in the living area. Our boys ended up in the loft with Christopher and Mark so Eva and Chico could have one room, Manuel and me the other room.
Aside from swimming and ogling the actresses and actors (Sarah took several pictures of a well built actor), there really wasn't much to do if one didn't cross over to climb Taal. Since only Eva and Sarah were with us when Manuel and I climbed Taal after his brother's wedding, I got Sarah and Francis to contribute for the boat ride, the guide, and the environment fee. John decided Christopher and Jet should also go as they've been to the USA, HongKong and Malaysia but haven't seen much of the Philippines. When Ena learned that John and Jet were going horseback riding up to the crater, she asked Hubert to go. Aux wanted her family to go but numbers were a problem since we had to maximize boats by going in groups of six. Eventually, there were in one boat, Manuel and me with 5 of our kids (Eva and Michelle excluded) and in the other boat, John, Chris, Jet, Ena, Hubert, Mark, and EJ. Chris was the biggest surprise. It was only there that I noticed he has lost some weight. He also made pretty good time and was breathing easily while we walked together.
Our stay in Balai Isabel, including and especially the Taal trek, gave us good bonding time. Another night there would have been nicely relaxing but the kids had plane tickets for Bacolod next day.
