Yuri's Birthday at Acuatico Beach Resort

Just a couple of hours ago, we were chillin' and taking it easy at a small chunk of paradise in Batangas called Acuatico Beach Resort.

You see, two weeks ago, I was determined to plan something special for Yuri's big 3-O.  Yep I thought that it was only right that we celebrate this milestone in a stress-free and work-free environment.  I knew for a fact that it was just not gonna happen if we spent it in Manila.  We still had to do a bit of work in between naps and swims but hey, that is completely tolerable when you're at a place like this.  My hubby's birthday needed to be celebrated properly, and we needed a vacation really badly!  The resort was DI-VINE.  Here, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

View from the restaurant.

On my  way to the beach.

The view from the bar is spectacular!

Beach front.

I could live here.  Seriously.  Yuri and I fell in love with the place the instant we stepped out to the pool area.  The rooms were up to par too with high thread count linens (yep I'm a linen geek), a flat screen cable TV, and each with an individual porch.  The bathroom could be a tad roomier though, but other than that, all the comforts you could expect from a high-quality resort was there.  It was definitely a lot better than what we expected.  It was a fitting setting to celebrate my hubby's uber special day.

On the first day, we just kind of lazed around and swam for a bit.  That didn't last for very long since the sun was out with a vengeance that day.  We eventually set up camp at the bar instead.  It was too hot to do anything else anyway.  I had a couple of drinks and made friends with the bartender, or bartenders rather since we were there so long they had to change shifts.

Tequila Sunrise.

Come evening, me and Anne (the evening shift bartender) were the best of buddies.  It was a good thing too, because she was in cahoots with a little something I had planned for Yuri.

Somehow I managed to convince Yuri to have dinner at the bar instead of the main restaurant.  I figured it would be easier to plan his surprise at the bar since Anne would be there to help me execute everything.  It didn't hurt that the we ended up having the whole bar to ourselves so it was quite romantic.

The bar at night.

Anne came up with the birthday pancake idea which they gave to Yuri for free.  That was really nice of them.  I told her to do whatever she thought was appropriate since I couldn't talk with her for too long or else Yuri would be suspicious.  After serving us our dinner, she busted out her "Happy Birthday" CD and gathered a few other staff members to sing Yuri a happy birthday.  They came complete with party hats and all!

They came at him from all sides!

Yuri was so shocked that he didn't even notice the Barbie party hat they had put on him.  LOL.

My birthday boy.

We were both really touched and I was relieved that they managed to pull it off so smoothly.  What a fun night!

The service here is impeccable.  The staff is professional and oh so accommodating.  I honestly don't have a single bad thing to say about my stay here.  In fact, we're looking forward to going back.  Hmmm I'm sure I'll come up with an excuse when the need arises.

We had a grand time at Acuatico.  The three-hour drive from Manila to Laiya, Batangas was more than worth it.

Happy birthday Yuri! <3  Here's to a lifetime of adventure and awesome food together! :))

Tel. #: +632 892-7577 to 79
Website: http://www.acuaticoresort.com.ph

Baguio Strawberry Fix

I've a bit of catching up to do.  Let me backtrack to a week ago.  Seven days ago I was in Baguio with Yuri.  I was on a mission.  The plan was to do nothing but sleep, cook at home, and get our Strawberry Taho fix.  We didn't want to deal with the Baguio traffic, which can get pretty ridiculous during the holiday season, so we planned our trips outside to a minimum.  Besides, we came armed with assorted sausages, mozzarella, shallots, garlic, rice, bread, a tray of eggs, and assorted seasonings so we were quite happy at home. 

On our second day there, we decided it was time to brave the streets of Baguio to go looking for our Strawberry Taho.  It took us a full hour to get to Burnham Park and then another hour to abandon our plan because we couldn't find a place to park.  So a supposed  ten-minute minute drive turned into a two-hour nightmare.  We went back to our place and switched plans.  We walked.  Not to Burnham Park but to Mines View Park.  It was just a ten-minute scenic trek from our place to Mines View and Good Shepherd.  I was just happy to get to somewhere after all the fruitless driving. 
       

Finally, there it was.  Strawberry Taho! :)  A snack of fresh silken tofu, strawberry syrup, and pearl sago.  It has real strawberry bits which makes it more believable.  Only in Baguio.  They sell the Regular Taho too but why'd you want to eat that when you can have this???  Bad news is that the price has been jacked up to Php 20 per cup.  It used to be only Php 15 per cup the last time I had it, but Mines View has always been a tourist hotspot so they could've been milking it and charging a bit more.

 
While I was there I bought some fresh strawberries as well.  I've never been a fan of ultra-crowded places but we were literally in and out of Mines View in five minutes.

Bottomline was, I got my strawberry fix and I was one happy girl.