Experience Bali in Balete, Batangas

After the amazing volcano crater and Taal Lake tour via Balete, Batangas, we were then invited to visit Cintai by Corito's Garden to experience Bali in Balete.  It will only take you 10-15-minute ride from Punto Miguel.


There's a big colorful sculpted wall of Corito's Garden on your right if you're coming from Punto Miguel.  The facade gave me the impression that there's more to see inside the compound.

As we drove uphill, two big sculptures welcomes you.

..and this is just one of those two huge sculptures erected on the roundabout.

The roundabout pretty much gave me the illusion that I'm no longer in Batangas.  Roundabout pa lang yun, ha!  They definitely did a great job on working on the garden, placing the right sculptures and details around giving the Bali vibe.

Being a very detail-oriented person (and working for production/set design with my big bro and his team), I appreciate this kind of place that really defines who they are and what they want to bring to their clients--and they definitely brought Bali, Indonesia here in Balete, Batangas.

According to their brochure and website, Cintai (chin-tai) is the Indonesian word for love.  Similar to sinta, no?  Having the same stories from casas or breakfast inns, Cintai started out as a family rest house.  They later developed and opened Cintai to the public to share their love for their mother.

top left:  Centerpiece of the roundabout.  I see two extraterrestrials befriending a human being.
top right:  Reception area.
bottom left:  One of the benches located near the reception where I placed Cintai's brochure on top.
bottom right:  One of the passages around.

There's a day tour rate at Cintai, though for us, we were given free access since we won't be staying long and it's getting late anyway.  We just wanted to see what's around.  Yey for us! :)  Thanks, Mayor Joven, again and again, for the opportunity.

top left:  Restroom, yes, you read it right.
top right:  Playground for the little ones
bottom left and right:  Main pool

You'll definitely get lost around Cintai since there are so many pathways that will lead you to different places.  Definitely ask for a map at the reception.

Cintai is a great place for events: weddings, reunions, conferences, honeymoon, and team building.  Click here for rates.  I will definitely come back here some day!  Though I have to save up for this, it's quite expensive for me.  But instead of flying all the way to Indonesia, this is way cheaper.  There's no beach side here, though.  :(

top left and right:  Garden Villa
bottom left: cute pony! :)
bottom right:  huge cage for the monkey

Their rooms are way huge, perfect for family and friends.  You can even do a cartwheel inside the room or even at the bathroom!  Seriously!

There are animals everywhere.  It's a great sanctuary for different animals.  The pony is so adorable, I want to take him home.  My very first encounter with a pony!  :)  I saw a peacock too, up-close.  :D

top left: One of the paths at Cintai.
top right:  Entrance to Pavilion Tresna
lower left:  Can you see what I see?  There's the peacock I'm talking about.
lower right:  One of the figurines near a restroom.

Do you know that the intricately carved wooden door of Pavilion Tresna is worth Php 2 million?  Yeah.  That is one helluva door!

Pavilion Tresna

top right and lower left:  Executive Villa

We weren't able to see the rest of Cintai since we were exhausted from our Taal Volcano trip and it's close to dusk.

Cintai, I'll be back!  :)

Taal Volcano Crater via Balete, Batangas

This post is my day trip experience at Balete, Batangas-Taal Volcano's Crater and Lake.  
My apologies for posting this late.
P.S.  This blog post is loaded with pictures!  I tried so hard to keep it to a minimum.  :p

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Come to think of it, I've been to Tagaytay plenty of times since I was a kid and mesmerized by the beauty of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano, but I haven't gone to both, up-close.  Not until last 21st of October (2012) where I, along with fellow blogger/local travel enthusiast Tim and his sister, Mikee, were invited by Meet Manila, Ms. Riva Galveztan of Casa Marana, and Balete, Batangas Mayor Joven Hidalgo to experience a day tour at Taal Volcano via Balete.  I haven't heard of the town (Balete) before, so that's a good start.  Exploring a new place is definitely a plus!

To kick-start our trip, we all met at Magallanes Shell Station around six in the morning.  We instantly found our shared traits on the hour trip to Balete.  Having found fellow local traveling enthusiasts and possible future travel buddies was an accomplishment!  I've been trying to look for such and I finally met them.  

If you're taking a car for the trip, take SLEX and exit at Sto. Tomas heading towards Star Tollway.  Take Malvar Exit from there, then turn right at Barangay Bulihan and straight to Balete.  Follow road signage to Punto Miguel Lakeshore for the sightseeing boat tour.

If you're commuting, take any  bus to Lipa-Tanuan.  Drop off at Levi Town in Lipa and take a jeepney or a tricycle to Balete Municipal Hall.  Behind it is where Punto Miguel Lakeshore is situated (fronting Taal Lake).

But for our group, instead of heading straight to the lake, we went to Mayor Joven's humble abode just three minutes away from Punto Miguel.  As soon as we hopped off the van, we were welcomed warmly by Mayor Joven and his wife, along with his staff.  

bottom left:  Mayor Joven Hidalgo; right: our breakfast c/o Mayor Joven

Hospitable at its finest!  Fried tilapia, sinigang na tilapia, rice, suman, and kapeng barako for breakfast.  Yum! :)

No need for sugar on their suman.  Kapeng barako is my fave coffee, ever!

According to Mayor Joven, Balete is a former barangay of Lipa City.  The town now serves as the gateway to Taal Volcano and its crater.  Unlike the usual route from Talisay, there's a trek that will lead you to the crater from Balete's side of the volcano.  Since the town is fairly new to tourists (local and foreign), Mayor Joven and his municipality are very enthusiastic on developing their side of town, and us, bloggers, are very willing to help promote the place.  By 2013, the local government will start developing the shoreline of Balete by putting infrastructures for tourism, which is a great place to open businesses too, thus more jobs for the locals.  :)  That's what I like most about Mayor Joven, he is working his way to develop his community, focusing on tourism and discipline, as it will generate income to the town.  That's why I asked if there's any historical landmarks around the area that would add to their tourist destinations, but he, unfortunately, said that it no longer stand since the historical church (I forgot the name) was put down by the landowner and barricaded it with high walls.  Though there's Marian Orchard at Barangay Malabanan in Balete.  It's a spiritual place for religious tourists.  Will definitely check it out some time soon.

Top left:  our boat to the volcano; top right: Mayor Joven leading us towards the port at Punto Miguel Lakshore.
bottom left:  (left-right) Mikee, Tim, me, Mayor Joven, Riva;  center-right:  our entourage c/o Mayor Joven

Right after breakfast, we walked our way towards Punto Miguel led by the mayor himself.  He wasn't able to tag along on the trip due to his commitments that day.  We were then accompanied by his staff and local policemen.  That's what you call entourage ;)  Wow, we're definitely pampered and secured! :)

Gloomy weather at Taal Lake.  Refer to where the arrow's pointing at, that's the volcano's rim.

top: Tagaytay City (see those three buildings, I believe that's SM Wind Residences.  I really don't like condos); the mountain on the far right is Mt. Mapayong.
bottom:  nearing Taal Volcano's shoreline.

top left:  touchdown Balete side of Taal Volcano
top right:  Tim, Riva, Jener and Arianna
center left:  Jener and Mang Itoy (one of our tourist guides), Kuya Mar (Ms. Riva's driver), and Police Officer Rara Layon
bottom:  my horse, Angelica (named after the actress, Angelica Panganiban, seriously)
bottom right:  one of the steep treks towards the crater.

Honestly, it was my first time riding a horse.  I even thought they were ponies because they look small for a horse! LOL.  I'm more of a trekker, but since everyone's riding, I gave it a try too.  I kept on petting Angelica, telling her to take care of me.  :p  I'm quite anxious on the entire ride due to the steep slopes.  Oh, by the way the entire trip was sponsored by Mayor Joven Hidalgo (much thanks, Mayor!).

Here are some tips on this trip towards the crater:

• Be at Punto Miguel by 6AM so that you'll be at Taal Volcano right before 7AM and start trekking and be back before noon to avoid the extreme sun rays. 
• Wear long sleeves, pants, cap, and trekking/rubber shoes whether you trek by foot or riding a horse since there are large weeds with razor-sharp edges along the way and it's usually scorching hot (when it's sunny, of course).
• Beware of steep roads.
• Bring raw eggs :)

top:  At the ridge.  Stopover.  overlooking Taal Lake and Mount Maculot (behind me is Taal Volcano's crater)
bottom:  Taal Volcano's Crater

overlooking Taal Lake and Mt. Maculot

top left:  our sort-of-terminal from the ridge.  Hop onto that big rock so you could hop on your horse easily.
top right:  The crater.  The sandy-like shore on the right is where we'll be heading at that time.
bottom left:  Look at that rainbow-like crater lake.  Beautiful!
bottom right:  It's just me fixing my clothes after my jump shot :p

Too bad we hadn't brought raw eggs with us so we could boil it into the crater lake.  Might as well wear your swimsuits under your shirt and pants so you could have a quick dip at the lake.  I happen to just dip my hands and it really was soothing.

We then headed back after 45 minutes of exploring the crater, though I wasn't able to see if there's boiling mud pool or steam coming off from the ground on the other side of the crater lake.  So, yeah, bummer.

The entire horseback riding-trek, back and forth, took us only half an hour.

top right:  That used to be Gringo Honasan's resort
center right:  Bird Sanctuary
bottom left:  Binintiang Malaki
bottom right:  Mang Itoy, one of our tourist guides

Aside from the Taal Volcano crater, there's more to explore around Taal Lake.  This is not usually included on a regular packaged trip to the volcano island, but you could request this side trip to your bangkero with additional cost (that you have to haggle).

We were able to see the bird sanctuary around the volcano island, floating fishing pens up-close, a dog swimming in the middle of the lake (weird yet cute), Binintiang Malaki up-close (where it's mistakenly pointed as Taal Volcano by many, and Mang Itoy informed us that it's part of the volcano, though it's not the "core"); and saw Pulo-Pulo, small islands near Mt. Mapayong (named after an umbrella because of it's cone-shaped top).  If only I had zoom and wide lenses, I would be able to take better pictures of Kasiles (white and brown long-neck birds) and Tagaks (white long-neck birds), and the picturesque view of Taal Lake.

We even had white-water-rafting-like experience on some parts of the lake due to northeast monsoon and, boy, that was fun, yet kind of scared for our gadgets' sake haha!  We weren't able to bring our dry bags since we weren't expecting this side trip prompted by Mang Itoy.  A very thrilling ride indeed! :)  I should start saving for a waterproof camera/flip video camera for these kind of trips.

The entire Taal Lake ride took us 2 hours, as far as I can remember.  So there goes our appetite for late lunch at Mayor Joven's house.

top:  Barangay Sala where Mayor Joven's house is situated.
bottom:  Fried tilapia and adobo for our late lunch.  Yum!  Galit-galit lahat hahaha

Since Mayor Joven wasn't around, we left Barangay Sala and went to Cintai, Corito's Garden and experience Bali in Balete.  That's another post, dear reader.

The proposed itinerary for Taal Volcano Crater via Balete, Batangas after the jump.  :)

Why Travel?

My dad played a huge part on my nomadic lifestyle.  When my sibs and I were kids, we used to travel almost every month to different places and indulge on different cuisines because of my dad.  His reasons behind it is to let us explore life, develop our interests and personality, and not be left behind and be ignorant to what surrounds us.

That was then.  Until he retired from his company that he had worked for for so long, he was no longer enthusiastic on going out of the house.  I did several attempts, but to my dismay, all efforts were put into waste.  So I stayed home most of the time with him.  Work-home-work-home.. that was my lifestyle then.  Social gatherings wasn't an option too.  I only get to socialize or go out when there's an event at work.

And when he passed two years ago, it buried me at home completely.  I've been dragging myself to go to work and preferred to stay home for months that eventually reached for more than a year--due to mourning.  We were brought up to be independent so living alone is nothing new to me.  But getting used to having my dad at my side for a number of years (after leaving my city pad) was quite heavy on my part.  

Due to stress and boredom at my desk job December last year, I've decided to move on.  Help thyself is the only solution to get out of the sinkhole.  I left the company and took a risk.  With only little savings I had on my bank, I forced myself to move on.  Everything wasn't doing well.  Until I told myself that I have to stand up and chase my dreams and goals in life.   It's about time to pursue what will make me happier.  It's about time to focus on myself.  Then there goes my bucket list.  

One of which is to go back to acting, writing, filmmaking, which I, fortunately, had a blast middle of this  year and to date (except for filmmaking).  Make-up artistry comes next because I want to pursue prosthetic make-up some time, and, luckily, I got couple of make-up gigs this year and will have another one this November.  

Then focus on my culinary skills and, hopefully, put up my own restaurant, which I'm still working on today.  Too bad I'm still having a hard time looking for the right person to butt heads with (the one who would focus on the admin stuff--that I loathe, btw).  

And finally, TRAVEL.  It's been a while since I last traveled with the family, and I've been yearning for it.  Unfortunately, not everyone is available as they're busy with their own lives.  And with my friends, well, that is not an option too because they tend to back-out the last minute, which is not cool, or sometimes they always plan ahead and not finalize the trip until it's no longer talked about, OR not everyone likes adventure (I'm not that enthusiastic about shopping or luxurious-kind of travel.  I'm a nature-adventure traveler).  

To kick-start my traveling, I went to Coron, Palawan to celebrate my birthday back in April (oh, I think it was March), then Pampanga, Los Banos, Laguna, San Pablo, Laguna; went back to Corregidor after a decade, then most recently, Balete, Batangas. 

Since I don't earn that much from my side jobs and online baked goods thing, I don't have sufficient funds to go to other places, and add to the fact that I'm having a hard time tagging people along (because of the reasons I've mentioned prior to this paragraph).  I'm thankful I went to Meet Manila's launch and was able to meet fellow advocates and local tourism enthusiasts.  My Balete, Batangas trip was sponsored by Mayor Joven Hidalgo, and thanks, Meet Manila, for inviting me to be part of it as I finally met future travel buddies.  But for now, I'll save up tons of courage to travel alone this coming months, or maybe next year.  But the question is where?  Ugh.  I want to learn how to surf at Baler, but learning alone is not cool.  :| 

Going back to the title of this post:  Why travel?  My definition of traveling is to explore the culture, lifestyle, tradition, history and landmarks of a destination.  Capturing its beauty and sharing the experience through the written word makes a difference and, I believe, contributes to the society.  It serves as an eye-opener.  I'm an advocate of local tourism, livelihood, nutrition, and restoration and preservation of historical landmarks.  And I'd love to meet the locals--observe their way of life and they always..ALWAYS..serve as inspiration to me.  That's what my dad taught me (aside from trust and respect): explore, live, love, share, be grateful, and laugh.

As to quote myself:  "I don't travel just for leisure.  I travel with a purpose."

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I've been planning of coming up with a livelihood-nutrition program on different barangays or towns around the country where I'll come explore the abundant crops, plants, you-name-it; the lifestyle, culture and tradition of the locals, and teach them other ways to have a small business or on what to cook for their families in a very affordable yet very healthy way as possible.  If you happen to know anyone who's willing to do a collaborative effort, send me an e-mail at curlyscribbling[at]gmail[dot]com.  I'd love to hear from you and let's spread awesomeness to the society and create more jobs and promote tourism .  :)