Hotel De Oriente in Las Casas

One of the highlights of my stay at Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar was visiting and going inside Hotel De Oriente.

Hotel De Oriente in Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar

This building was named and modeled after the original Hotel De Oriente, which was built in 1889 and was the first premiere hotel in the Philippines. According to my guide, the original hotel was the first building in the country to have electricity and the second, after Malacanang Palace, to have a telephone. The new Hotel De Oriente in Las Casas now serves as a convention centre. In fact, it was the venue of the APEC Summit in 2015.

Interior of Hotel De Oriente

What I found most striking is that its interior is filled with beautiful and intricate wood mosaic. The ceiling showcases mosaic representations of National Artist Carlos "Botong" Francisco's paintings.

Wood mosaic representation of a Botong Francisco painting

At the center of the ground floor is a large mosaic representation of Juan Luna's Spoliarium. It actually appeared in one of the wedding videos and I immediately wondered where that photo was taken so I was very excited when I saw it. Naturally, I had to have my own photo taken with it.

Wood mosaic representation of Juan Luna's Spoliarium

The guide told me that all the mosaics in the building were created by local Bagac women (Las Casas is in Bagac, Bataan). They designed the mosaic, planned out how the wood would be laid out, identified what color each piece should be, and put everything together. That is really impressive!

Also stunning are wood carvings featured throughout the building interior. The guide told me that Las Casas hired wood carvers from Paete, Laguna and Betis, Pampanga. Apparently, many wood carvers in the Philippines tried getting work abroad as fruit carvers abroad but many came back home because fruit carving turned out to be quite different from wood carving. As such, it's really good that they found work here. The resort is still not done, with a lot of work still planned for the future, so these wood carvers will continue to be employed at Las Casas in the foreseeable future.

Local artists were also commissioned to create paintings of flowers that are on display inside the Manila Hall. The guide told me that the painters created these artworks using their imagination so it's possible that some of these flowers might not actually exist in real life.

Inside Manila Hall

I believe there are are some Las Casas packages that include entrance to Hotel De Oriente. If you decide to visit or stay at the resort, be sure to check out if your booking includes a ticket to the convention centre. If not, I highly recommend paying the P200 entrance fee because it is absolutely worth it.

Next: Final thoughts on my visit to Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar

Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar

I had been hearing about Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar for a while now and over the years, I've seen a lot of beautiful photos taken by my friends who had been there. I've always been interested to see it myself. And now, because my friend invited me to his wedding there, I finally got to visit this beautiful and very photogenic resort in Bagac, Bataan.

Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar

Because I booked a room, I had the opportunity to see Las Casas both at night with all the lights and during the day.

Night lights along the banks of the Umagol River

After the reception, before heading back to my room, I strolled around the resort grounds to take photos. Hotel De Oriente looked stunning...

Hotel De Oriente at night

...as did Casa Hagonoy.

Casa Hagonoy

I took a quick look at Estero De Binondo, which was just behind my hotel building. 

Estero De Binondo

I walked over the bridge to one of the "islands" in the resort to take a snapshot of Plaza Francisco.

Plaza Francisco

The next morning, after breakfast, I decided to return to the locations I visited the day before, such as Sanctuario De San Jose, the church where the wedding ceremony was held...

Sanctuario De San Jose

...and Plaza Mayor De Tobias, this time without the reception set-up. There is a large fountain right at the center of the plaza.

Fountain at Plaza Mayor De Tobias

Underneath the Lola Basyang Bridge on the side the faces Hotel De Oriente, you will find sculptures of Philippine mythological creatures: a tikbalang, a manananggal, and a kapre.

Sculptures of Philippine mythological creatures underneath the Lola Basyang Bridge

I also didn't know that Las Casas was a beach resort. I didn't bring any swim gear but I didn't feel bad about it because I didn't really have time to swim anyway since check out was at noon. Instead, I decided to take photos of the beach and the sea.

At the far end of the resort is a jetty lined with beautiful and intricately designed lamp posts.

jetty with beautiful lamp posts

I also spotted a memorial that was built in honor of Filipino and American soldiers who fought during the Battle of Bataan during World War II.

Memorial for soldiers who fought in the Battle of Bataan

I decided to go back to my room at 11am to get cleaned up before checking out and heading home. My room was a deluxe room that I booked via Agoda. It was pretty big, with a king-sized bed.

Deluxe room with a king-sized bed

It also had a pretty spacious bathroom. (There is actually a bath tub on the other end of the bathroom - it was right behind me when I took this next pic - but I didn't get to use it.)

bathroom in the deluxe room

My room doesn't have a glass window but it does have a large wooden door that opens up into a small balcony. I was lucky that my room had a fantastic view of the beach. I didn't open it during the evening because I didn't want bugs to get in but I did keep it open for a short time in the morning while I got ready to check out. Naturally, I had to take a photo.

Incredible view of the beach from my room

My friend recommended to me that I go inside Hotel De Oriente and I did. I will write more about this in my next post.

Next post: Hotel De Oriente

Destination Wedding

For the first time since the pandemic started, I attended a wedding in person. My friend and ex-colleague Jeyo married Michelle in Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar in Bataan and I was invited to join their celebration.

The drive from Metro Manila to Las Casas is about 4 hours so I decided to book a room for the night. A few of our ex-colleagues were invited but only three of us confirmed. However, a few days before the wedding, the two people who said they could go suddenly had to send their regrets. This now meant I wouldn't know anyone else at the wedding. However, I booked my room via Agoda and I selected the cheapest option, which meant that it was non-refundable. Plus, my vacation leave had already been approved (the wedding was on a weekday). I had also never been to Las Casas. Finally and most importantly, I was going there for Jeyo. As such, I decided to still go.

The ceremony was held at Sanctuario De San Jose and it was scheduled to start at 2pm. I arrived in Las Casas before 2pm but I got confused with the entrance and check-in set-up at the resort (I will write more about this in a succeeding post) so it was around 3pm when I made it to the church. While I thought I was massively late, the ceremony ended up starting at around 4pm so I made it with time to spare!

Sanctuario De San Jose in Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar

While the couple was having their wedding pictorial, cocktails were served to the guests at the courtyard of Casa Binan. I didn't want to eat too much because dinner was going to be served shortly but I did drink a lot of water. It was tremendously hot that afternoon and the dress code for men was a suit so when I arrived at the cocktails area, I probably drank five glasses of water in a row hahaha (and a few more glasses after that). One wonderful surprise was that they served "dirty ice cream" or the traditional Pinoy sorbetes which was perfect for a very hot afternoon.

Casa Binan in Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar

The dinner reception was staged outdoors at Plaza Mayor De Tobias. I headed to the reception area while people were still having cocktails so that I could take photos.

When I got there, the wedding coordinator told me that I had been moved to the VIP table. It seems my friend felt that I might feel out of place at a table where everyone else knew each other (which wouldn't be the case at the VIP table because most of the people there don't know each other either anyway). I had to ask the wedding coordinator a few times if he was sure and he was. Thankfully, there were no assigned seats so I got to pick the one that was furthest away from the stage.

Before the program started, all the guests were asked to head over to the edge of the Umagol River. The couple made their grand entrance on a raft that crossed the river. Cool!

The reception was a beautiful celebration of the couple's journey and their love for each other. While it featured the usual program or some variation of it, the speeches were heartfelt and the wedding videos, especially the same day edits, were beautifully done. The great thing about having a wedding at Las Casas is that it is so photogenic. The food was also really good!

The program ended at around 9:30pm. My room was a short walk from the reception area so it allowed me to see the resort at night. I was exhausted when I got back to my room and it was such a relief to get out of my suit! Needless to say, I took a long, hot shower after that.

I'm happy that I was able to attend Jeyo and Michelle's wedding. It wasn't easy, given the distance and the heat, but I felt good that someone from our set of friends was able to go. I also did get to enjoy the resort a bit more the next day. I will write more about my Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar in my next posts.

Next: Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar

LTO Woes

I just registered my car at LTO and what a horrific experience that was! It was a far cry from what happened last year, when it took less than four hours for me to get insurance, have emission testing done, and pay the registration fee. I was expecting it to be the same this year but I ended up having to go to LTO twice, losing a day and a half in total. Wow!

DAY 1

I arrived at LTO at 830am. I proceeded to get insurance before heading to the nearest accredited emission testing center which was a short drive away. Unfortunately, when I got there, the guy who inspected my car told me that my car plate light was busted and that I needed to replace it to pass the emission test. I knew there were several car shops a few kilometers away so I drove there, hoping at least one of them was open and would be selling car plate lights. Thankfully, I found one. However, when the person at the store checked my lights, we found out that they were working. Ugh. What a waste of time. I thanked the guy and drove back to the testing center.

Unfortunately, as I was driving back, Waze started acting up badly. I was unfamiliar with the area so I had to rely on Waze and it kept rerouting me. While it took me maybe less than 15 minutes to drive to the car shop, the return trip took almost 45 minutes! By the time I got back, there was already a long line of cars. As such, it took a while for my emission test to be done.

It was around 11:30am when I got back to LTO. By then, I was told I could no longer be accommodated. Apparently, there is only a certain number of people who can be processed each day. I was advised to return a few days later and that I should get there at 7am or earlier. Because I was quite busy, I ended up returning more than a week later.

DAY 2

I followed the advice I was given and arrived at LTO before 7am. Even then, there was already a long queue! I got there before LTO was open so the line didn't move until car registration processing opened at 8am. It was 9:30 when I got to the front of the line and was served.

Problem: I was told that because the car was registered in my mom's name, I needed to present an authorization letter from my mom, along with a photocopy of her valid ID and a photocopy of my own ID. What?! I had never heard of these requirements before! (They certainly didn't require these from me last year.) In retrospect, I should have checked the LTO website for the list of requirements but I didn't expect there to have been changes in this process. Ugh.

I asked the person if I could just show him pictures of the authorization letter and the valid IDs on my phone. He said they required actually physical print-outs. He told me that if I had these in my phone, I could go to one of the print shops around LTO and have them printed there. However, I didn't want to link my phone to a computer at a print shop due to possible mobile phone intrusions or malware. They would also end up having copies of my files that include personally identifiable information which would be a huge privacy risk.

As such, I decided to go back home. I called my mom and asked her to send me an authorization letter and an ID which I then printed out. I didn't have a photocopier at home and I didn't want to be bothered looking for one that was open nearby so I took a photo of my ID and printed it out as well. Once I had everything I needed, I drove back to LTO. It was 12 noon when I arrived. The guy who processed my papers in the morning told me to walk up back to him once I had all the requirements without having to fall in line again so that's what I did. He accommodated me and gave me queue number 80 for the registration fee payment.

I decided to ask the lady who was processing the car registration payments what number was being served. She told me they were only at 56. I did the math: it took 4 hours to process 56 people so I figured it might take 2-3 hours before my number would be called. She told me I could go have lunch and if my number was called and I wasn't there, they would set my papers aside until I got back. I decided to look for a nearby restaurant where I could have lunch. (By then, I had been awake since 6am and still hadn't eaten anything!)

True enough, it was around 3pm when my number was called. They first verified if we were there so that they could confirm which official receipts to print out. They then called our names again, this time to make the payment. It was 3:30pm when I left. Since I got there at 7am, that meant it was a total of 8.5 hours from for time I arrived at LTO until the time I left. Remember that this was already my second trip. So much time lost just to register a car, a process that is done each year!

Considering that everyone has to have an account at the LTO Portal, I was expecting the process to be much faster this year. Instead, it took me significantly longer to finish. At least I now know what to do next year.

On a more positive note, I finally got to resolve the problem with the LTO account I set up last year for the car. Because the vehicle is registered to my mom, I had to create an LTO account using her name last year. However, since she wasn't with me, if I used her email address to create the account, a one-time password would be sent to her and I might not be able to get it fast enough to complete the creation of the account. The LTO tech guy was able to create an account without an email address and he gave me a temporary password. Unfortunately, I forgot to log in within 24 hours to change that password and when I eventually did, the temporary password was no longer valid so I couldn't log in to the account. Because I was in LTO for a few hours this year, I was able to get the tech guy's help to unlock the account and reset the password. For the first time in a year, I can finally access that account. Whew!

Wimbledon 2022

Congratulations to Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina for winning the Men's and Women's Championships at Wimbledon.

Last night 🏆#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Z3Squ4c6B3

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2022

Novak Djokovic overcame Nick Kyrgios in the final. This now gives Djokovic his 21st major title, moving him past Roger Federer to solo 2nd among the men in terms of most grand slam titles won. He now also has 7 Wimbledon titles, tying him with Sampras at 2nd overall (behind Federer's 8). I wouldn't be surprised if Novak wins more majors before he eventually hangs his racquet and he has a decent chance of winning at least one more Wimbledon. Nadal got deep in his draw but unfortunately, after an incredible come-from-behind 5-set win over Taylor Fritz in the semis where he struggled with an abdominal injury, he had to withdraw before taking the court to play Kyrgios in the semis. It has still been an immense year for Rafa and hopefully he gets better soon. He missed the US Open last year and I would love to see him play in the tournament where he has won 4 titles.

While Novak was the favorite to win the title, Elena Rybakina was not. In fact, she was seeded #17, making her the second lowest seeded women's player to win Wimbledon since the WTA rankings began in 1975. She faced the very popular Tunisian player Ons Jabeur and you could tell that the audience seemed to be on Jabeur's side in the final. However, Rybakina kept her nerve and used her imposing power to come back from a set down to win the title in 3 sets. She is the first player from Kazakhstan to win a grand slam title. I actually really like her - I guess I am now a bit of a fan - and hopefully, she continues to go up the rankings and win more titles.

However, the result that impressed me the most was achieved by Diede De Groot, who won the women's wheelchair singles title. She has now won 8 consecutive Grand Slam titles. She won a Golden Slam last year and she is one event short of winning another Grand Slam (or Calendar Grand Slam) this year. I really look forward to seeing what other achievements Diede can achieve in her career.

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Congratulations to Novak, Elena, Diede, and to all the other winners at this year's All England Lawn Tennis Championships!

Quarantine Stories Part 21

New Fitbit Achievement Unlocked: I recently received the London Underground Badge. This now means that I have walked a total of 402 kilometers since getting my Fitbit. I did the math and this means that I have been walking more than 7 kilometers a day since I got my Fitbit. That's very (pleasantly) surprising!

My London Underground Fitbit Badge

I also just planted a new tree in my GCash GForest! While my original goal was to be able to plant a Yakal Tree because it requires the most G energy. However, it is marked as Limited Edition and it hasn't been available in more than a year. Since I wasn't sure whether it would ever be available again, I decided to get the tree that requires the next most G energy to plant: the Bakhaw Lalake.

My Bakhaw Lalake GForest Certificate

This is now the fourth tree that GCash has planted (or will plant) on my behalf. It is also the the first tree that will be planted in a mangrove in Tanon Strait. Cool!

Description of Bakhaw Lalake

I also only recently watched a movie at the theater for the first time since the pandemic. I saw Top Gun: Maverick and I'm really glad I did because it was absolutely fantastic! The original Top Gun is a cult classic and everyone I know who had seen the sequel have raved about it so I really wanted to catch it during its theatrical run. Thankfully, it lived up to the hype. SPOILER ALERT: stop reading or skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to know more about the film. Top Gun: Maverick is action-packed and intense, with incredible jet sequences and edge-of-your-seat dog fights. I loved the Star Wars-esque missile drop (even Rooster's successful hit despite not having his missiles guided by laser was reminiscent of Luke Skywalker's use of the force in blowing up the first Death Star.) It also has its fair share of nostalgia, paying homage to the original movie. One of the my favorite scenes was the one with Maverick and Ice, played by Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer who reprised their roles from the first movie. I knew that Val Kilmer survived throat cancer but that illness damaged his voice very badly so I was very pleasantly surprised to see that he was in this sequel. I also have to say that Jennifer Connelly is such a goddess and is still absolutely radiant. I'm really happy that I've finally been able to see a movie at the theater again.

I was so happy, in fact, that I went back to the cinema very soon after that to watch Thor: Love and Thunder. I had heard some not-so-good reviews from people who had seen it before I did but because Thor is my favorite superhero and I'm a sucker for big blockbuster action flicks, I still wanted to see it. SPOILER ALERT: stop reading or skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to know more about the film. A lot of the negative feedback I've heard is that it's too comedic and some people felt that maybe the film didn't strike the right balance between funny and serious. I get that, but I still enjoyed it. It was nice seeing Natalie Portman again and I loved the surprise twist of her becoming Mighty Thor and being able to wield the Mjolnir (which we already saw in the trailer). I was a bit surprised that Gorr, the antagonist in the film, was able to lift Stormbreaker, but apparently this weapon doesn't have the same special magic that Mjolnir does, so that means other people can actually lift the axe. I especially love how Thor now has Odin's ability to bestow the power of Thor to others (for a limited time!) and this makes me wonder what other powers Thor has developed over time or whether he will use this particular one again in future films. It was also interesting finding out the meaning behind the movie title. Make sure you stay for the mid-credits and the end-credits scenes.

On Netflix, I got to watch Rescued by Ruby. SPOILER ALERT: stop reading or skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to know more about the film. It's a light, feel-good, easy-to-watch movie that people who love dogs will enjoy. What I didn't realize until the end, however, is that it is actually based on a true story. While there are some embellishments for cinematic effect, the big twist in the end that left me absolutely stunned is all true! That was some amazing positive karmic fortune! While I have spoiled things a bit already, I am choosing not to reveal this major climactic twist and I recommend that you go see Rescued by Ruby if you can.

I am also happy that my HBO Go is now working properly on my Smart TV. I had problems with it ever since I set it up on relatively new TV late last year. Each time I would play an HBO Go show, it would hang after several seconds, making the viewing experience very unpleasant. I initially thought it was my internet speed, although I never had a problem with Netflix. Recently, my Smart TV prompted me to update my app and that seemed to fix the issue. I have since used my TV to watch a few films on HBO Go, including Paycheck and Kindergarten Cop (I've seen both films before, but that was many years ago so it was nice getting to see them again). The Batman is available on this streaming platform so hopefully, I can find time to see it soon.

Overdoughs Cafe + Elait

I finally got to try Overdoughs cookies! And not only that, I actually got to dine in Overdoughs Cafe + Elait. Cool!

Overdoughs Cafe at the Promenade in Greenhills

During the pandemic, Overdoughs popped up in my social media feed on multiple occasions. I learned that this establishment employs deaf people and because of that, I had been wanting to try them out. I never got around to it though until recently. The first time was when I went to Century City Mall. I saw an Overdoughs kiosk at the lower ground floor and I immediately decided to try their OD Mini Chonky Cookies.

Overdoughs OD Mini Chonky Cookies and Crinkles

When I visited Greenhills recently for some errands, I decided to have lunch at Overdoughs Cafe + Elait, which is located at the second floor of Promenade Mall (in the cinema area). I ordered the Meat Me All The Way OD Sourdough Pizza (P569), which had salami, bacon, and homemade Italian sausage. I enjoyed it, but because I wanted to try more items on the menu, I ate only half of it and took the rest home.

Meat Me All The Way OD Sourdough Pizza

I then ordered dessert: Salted Dark and Cream Chonkie Rolled Ice Cream (P149) from Elait. There are two options for rolled ice cream: custard and yogurt. I decided to go with custard.

Salted Dark and Cream Chonkie Rolled Ice Cream from Elait

I decided I wanted to get some pasalubong for my family so I ordered two cups of OD Mini Chonky Cookies; I got one cup with eight regular chonkies (P209) and the other cup I got had eight chonkies with walnuts (P229).

OD Mini Chonky Cookie Cups

I also got a box of five assorted mini flaky empanadas (P200). These come in three flavors: Cheesy Chicken, Beef and Mushroom, and Ham and Cheese.

Assorted Mini Flaky Empanadas

I quite enjoyed my dining experience here and I loved the fact that I was supporting a business that employs deaf people so when I needed to return to Greenhills a week later, I decided to have lunch here again. This time, I decided to order their Chicken and Fries (P299). This combined their chicken strips with their OD fat fries, which are deep fried in beef tallow and tossed in their special Cajun seasoning. I have to say, I really enjoyed this! Not only did I think that it was a really good portion size for P299, the chicken and the fries all tasted great! I ended up ordering extra gravy (P20) because I liked dipping the fries in gravy (instead of in ketchup).

Chicken and Fries

While many of the employees are deaf,  I didn't have any problems ordering or communicating with them. Even if I don't know how to use sign language, I would just point at menu items I wanted to order. I also used hand gestures to communicate and they always understood what I was trying to say. For instance, to indicate that I was leaving it up to them which chonkie flavors to include in my assorted cup order, I just pointed to all the cookies in kind of a circular, all-encompassing motion and they got what I was saying. When I wanted water and made gestures to ask for water, they understood me as well. Thanks to Sesame Street, I actually know how to sign the alphabet but I felt that using hand gestures would just be easier. I do know how to sign "Thank you" now and I would use it when interacting with their personnel.

Elait at the Promenade in Greenhills

I'm really glad I finally got to try Overdoughs and Elait. There are several stores located all over Metro Manila so hopefully, I can enjoy their food again soon. My brother told me that their ube-flavored OD Bavarian Cream Doughnut is really good so maybe next time, I can try that.

Links:
Overdoughs: https://overdoughs.ph/
Overdoughs on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/overdoughsph/
Elait on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elaitph/