Subic Bay Venezia Hotel

Subic Bay Venezia Hotel is conveniently located in the heart of Subic Bay Freeport Zone just a walk away from the freeport gate. This Hotel is near to duty-free shops, entertainment zone and just stairs away to Pagcor Casino.

The rooms are quite spacious, even if you ask for an extra bed there will be plenty of space for little tots to play.

Venezia Hotel is not for people, especially family with little kids, who are seeking swimming pool, and the beach.

We find the following uncomfortable: no door to the bathroom area, from the bedroom, no control for the air conditioning, which makes its super cold at night. The room smelt of a tobacco too.

There's nothing much to do here, except for television watching...
...which is a good thing, for it gives family a time to bond, cuddle and sleep a lot.

Tam-Awan Village in 2008

This Tam-Awan Village trip was in 2008. It is a bit hard to locate Tam-Awan Village especially on first visit, but once found, it’s all worth the trouble of finding it. Tam-awan is located in 366-C Pinsao Proper, Baguio City.

This is one artist haven you’d better not miss when visiting the City of Pines. Tam-awam means vantage point. On a clear day, one can view the magnificent South China Sea sunset from Tam-awan's vantage point.

Tam-awan Village has become a venue for art exhibits and workshops envisioned to foster a deeper understanding, respect and pride in the cultural heritage of the Cordillera people.

A trip at Tam-Awan is an experience by itself, especially spending it with the whole family. Crossing this bamboo bridge proved to be an exciting trip for our little ones.

" The huts in Tam-awan Village are named after the areas where they come from. From Ifugao, we have the Bangaan Hut, Anaba Hut, Batad Hut, Dukligan Hut, Kinakin Hut, and Nagor Hut. Our Kalinga huts are from Luccong and Bugnay. Except for Bugnay Hut, which serves as one of the village’s galleries, lodgers are accepted in these huts", according to our tourist guide.

Guests gets an opportunity to stay overnight in some of the nipa huts that are available at a certain rate.

Men can play pretend, that of being a savage beasts (LOL)

Women, on the other hand, can pose to their hearts content and

take as many pictures as they want.

Kamay Ni Hesus

The shrine is located on the slopes of Mt. Banahaw, Barangay Tinamnan, Lucban, Quezon.

Kamay Ni Hesus is a serene place for devout Catholics to experience tranquililty and meditation

It is now an ideal place to visit not only during Holy Week but also throughout the year

Kamay ni Hesus features gigantic statues and images of the Holy Family and other Saints

It features a church where healing masses are celebrated by the known healing priest Fr. Joey Faller.

This 50-foot statue of Jesus Christ is said to be the third biggest in the world.

Also on the site is a 292-steps hill with life size figures depicting the 14 Stations of the Cross.

Grand Riviera Hotel

Grand Riviera Hotel, located at National Highway, Diversion Rd. Ilayang Dupay, Grand Terminal, Lucena City, Quezon.

The hotel's facade is grand, they also have ample parking too.

The hotel's lobby is big, with highb ceiling and all.

The room is quite small.

Bus terminal is walking distance from the hotel.

One of it's main attraction is the Wave Pool that has attracted local residents as well. But don't expect to experience it during lean season for the hotel requires least 25 persons to swim before they operate the wave pool.
The hotel's coffee shop.

It was just us having breakfast during that time, but the atmosphere in this hotel is so laid-back, the staff moved oh so slow...zzzzz, almost had a dream while waiting for our breakfast.

The hotel has a Victorian Garden to host the picture perfect garden wedding.

Residence Inn - Tagaytay

It was a lazy Monday last April 4, we decided to go on a road trip, destination: Tagaytay - Residence Inn. I've been to Residence Inn a couple of times before, the last trip was 2006, I didn't know they have an accommodation. We've decided to spend the night here in preparation for the next day adventure.

The view is majestic, add to that the cool weather, 25C during our stay - not bad for summer eh?

We stayed at the VIP Room (Rate:P3,108 from Sunday to Thursday/P3,996 from Fri. to Sat.)

I'd recommend this place for lovers, sweethearts, and yeah adventurous families like mine who can tolerate no television. They do have a television, no cable though and the only clear channel you can get is GMA-7. Not wi-fi ready, so I wasn't able to do the articles I needed to finish.

I wouldn't recommend this place for senior citizens, people with disability and kids who have attention deficit disorder because the steps are steep, the railings are not safe enough for little ones.

My daughter's first reaction when she saw the bathroom (mind you, Julia does not talk too much), "Mom, the bathroom is too small and there's no bath tub". Shower is available but I honestly appreciate they have provided a pail and dipper (water conservation is a must!). The water heater did not function well enough. They didn't provide tootbrush/toothpaste; good thing I'm always ready with it. In fairness to Residence Inn, the bathroom is clean.

The room's interior is very nice, the space was maximized. And the view, oh this view...

The bedroom's interior design is also a welcome sight, although John and I were not able to sleep because of bed bugs.

Staying at Residence Inn is like going back to the basics: basic television (no cable), no wi-fi, tabo at timba, magagalang na mga tao...the staff are friendly, it's like staying at a relatives' place in the province. Talking to them, and hearing Residence Inn staff answer you with a po and opo brings back memories of good ol' days...

All in all, it was the POOH Family that enjoyed this place so much. From left to right, PoohLOY, POOH, PoohNAY, PoohSHA, PoohTAY.