Playa Calatagan

It was my first time in Calatagan and I had high expectations. Never mind what people are saying about it being so far away. Basta.

We went there (mom, wacky, alex, ponce, sofie, les, and paul) on an invitation by my sister’s college friend. She wanted to show us Playa Calatagan, the newest luxury residential resort by Landco, the developers of Punta Fuego. The place was still pretty barren but the reception area, the pool, and restaurant were already operational. The place looks great. The theme is ‘Asian Tropics‘ so it’s dark brown wood, thatched roofings, a mixture of hardwood and rattan furnitures, and a cacophony of native plants dotted the whole of the property.

From the cobbled-stone steps that hugged the shorelines you can already see the faint outlines of the neighboring islands, I think it was Mindoro, and miles and miles of sea. The beach, just a couple of meters away, was teeming with small hermit crabs and starfish! The kids had fun just watching the hermit crabs scurrying away from their grubby little hands. It was fun just watching them squeal with delight and panic at the same time. Kids.

I came prepared because I heard that Calatagan was a beautiful place. Aside from my respectable 5mp cellphone cam, I brought my Holga 135 for those funky vintage-y kind of shots. I took pictures of everything, well, almost everything that captured my fancy. Chairs, bridges, stones, starfishes, ceiling fans…there were so many things I wanted to take pictures of with my Holga. Unfortunately I only brought a single roll of film. I didn’t think we’d stay that long for me to need another roll anyway.

After lunch we headed out to see the model house which was a little way away from the reception/club house area. The whole residential resort is being built on rolling hillsides with roads carved to its natural contours. There were already a few houses built on some of the lots but it was still mostly barren. The model house was, as expected, a magnificent display of architecture and interior design. True to its “Asian Tropics” theme, the house was decked in stained wood, from the floors to the kitchen cabinetry and the platform beds.

Floor to ceiling glass adorned the living area as well as the dining room, affording homeowners unobstructed views of the glimmering sea and the sinking sun over the horizon. It was awesome. The scene alone is worth a million bucks in my book. The ‘awsomeness’ doesn’t end there. Just outside of the spacious dining area is a bit of garden and a small, but nonetheless, enticing infinity pool which also looks out to the clear blue sea far off in the distance.

The rooms were spacious and fitted with beautiful wooden furniture and was well-equipped with modern amenitites. Laptop, flat screen television, and air-conditioning. While the master suite had a canopied king size bed draped in silk beddings. It was truly a dream house out there away from the city. By the way, we heard that the model house was bought by the famous Carlos Palanca. The house and everything in it. As in EVERYTHING, for about 16 mil if I remember correctly. Whew! That’s a lot of moolah.

Anyway, as the afternoon rolled on, the children became listless and tired from all the playing and running around. I was to beat up from running after Wacky and taking pictures. I felt grimy from the sweat that mingled with the humid air. I wanted to wash it all away. Unfortunately, we were hours and hours away from the comforts of home. We decided that it was time to go home because we still had a long way to travel.

We got home really late. Maybe past 10pm. I was tired, grimy, and sleepy. I didn’t know which one I wanted to do first. Sleep or take a bath? We had to dress Wacky up first and put him to bed before I was able to finally lie in bed around 11pm. Too tired I was immediately asleep.

In summary, I had a great time with my family. I got to see Calatagan and took home great pictures to remember the place by. It’ll probably be years before I can come back to that place so these pictures would have to do.

Hmm, ang haba na pala ng post ko. =D