After being stuck in Metro Manila for two years due to the pandemic, I'm happy that I am now able to travel. This trip to Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar in Bataan was the first time that I drove out of Metro Manila. One of the things that surprised me was that Las Casas is actually a beach resort. I guess this is because every photo I've seen of this resort before was of the beautiful colonial Philippine-style buildings and never of the beach.
This was also the first time that I got to use my Easy Trip RFID. I was worried that maybe it might not work since it was set up almost two years ago but thankfully, it did. I actually forgot that the card also comes with a P200 load so I put a bit too much money in it. I guess that just means I need to go on another road trip via NLEX soon.
Las Casas is a beautiful resort and it is very photogenic. That said, it does come with some challenges that you need to be aware of and ready for if/when you decide to say here. The first is check-in. The guard at the entrance did give me instructions: I should drive to the reception are, check in, then drive back out to leave my car at the parking lot because parking inside is not allowed. That said, I didn't know where the reception was so I ended up driving my car inside the resort. I thought I needed to go to the hotel area to check in there but as it turned out, reception was actually in the building right inside the entrance. I was probably the only person who stupidly drove all the way inside the resort because I got a lot of strange and surprised looks from the people inside.
After checking in, guests need to bring their vehicles to the parking lot right outside the resort premises. It's a bit too far to walk to the hotel with all your belongings but they do provide a shuttle. I think some extra shuttles were provided that day to help the wedding guests so I ended up in an open air jeepney being used as a shuttle. Under normal circumstances, that would be okay. But I had a lot of stuff with me, including a suit, so it was really difficult riding in a jeepney with everything I was carrying. (On my way back to the parking lot after checking out the next day, I rode an air conditioned coaster so that was much more convenient. Also, for check-out, they stationed a few people at the hotel so that guests could check out there instead of at the reception area. Cool!)
Another watch-out is that there is no room service nor mini-bar. There is a mini refrigerator in the room but it contained only two bottles of water and nothing else. (I believe guests are allowed to bring snacks and drinks inside the resort but not proper meals.) When I wanted to call reception to ask where and what time breakfast would be served the next day, I realized there was no phone in my room. I did spot a phone at the hallway of my hotel so I guess if you really need to call someone, you had to go out of the room and use the phone there.
I was a bit lucky though that breakfast was included in my room reservation. I booked through Agoda and I thought that the room I got didn't include breakfast. I decided that I wanted to eat something that morning since I had a long drive ahead of me so I went to the breakfast area thinking I would have to pay. When I got there, my name was included in the list which meant my food was free. Cool! There weren't a lot of protein options - I think I just had longganisa - but the spread was decent and the food was good. Needless to say, I ate a lot.
Thankfully, I did because my trip home was a disaster. I made a couple of critical errors on my drive back to Manila. First, I trusted Waze too much and didn't even look the recommended directions. Second, I didn't realize that Waze has a new functionality that requires you to enter which tollways you can access. I didn't run into any issues on my drive from Manila to Las Casas so I wasn't expecting to run into issues on the way home. However, I realized after some time that I wasn't anywhere near NLEX and the road I was driving on wasn't the road I passed by the day before. I figured that I was being given directions that avoided NLEX completely. Unfortunately, by then, I couldn't find any road signs pointing towards the highway. I tried changing my destination in the hopes that I would be brought back to NLEX but it didn't work. As such, I ended up driving on the service roads of Bataan, Pampanga, and Bulacan - some of which were extremely bumpy - for a prolonged period of time. Eventually, I saw a sign that pointed me to NLEX so I finally got on the highway. Whew! But even then, Waze kept telling me to take the next available exit. Crazy! I had to turn Waze off because it wasn't helping and by that time, I already knew my way home. All in all, I lost maybe 30 to 45 minutes of driving time but the stress made it feel a lot longer. When I got home, I updated my Waze settings to allow me to drive on Easytrip (and Autosweep) tollways. Still, I am baffled at how I didn't have this problem driving to Bataan but encountered it on the drive home.
Despite the craziness, the heat, and the exhaustion I experienced, I am still happy that I got to attend Jeyo and Michelle's wedding. I am also happy that I have now experienced Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar.
No comments:
Post a Comment