F.R.I.E.N.D.S -- Wonderful Tonight

I have an inner jologs in me - since I was in high school I was blabbing about how I love/d Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight. I used to associate it with a band I watched during my third year in high school, a lot of memories here and there.. then while I was watching FRIENDS reruns earlier -- the episode where Chandler proposed to   Monica, the song played while they were dancing in their apartment with lots and lots of candles and it clicked. I remembered that years ago when this episode was aired I was one of the millions of viewers who cried and wished for very same thing to happen to me. I know that nowadays the song is  a hit with drinkers who got tired of My Way, but this song is special to me. This song is special because it signifies the princess in me. The princess who is looking forward to a series-worthy proposal and a happily-ever-after. BOW.

Bolinao 2012

I am lucky to have friends who likes to go places. We have been together on plane rides, bus trips or even just 2-hour out of town trips on a whim! After Caramoan trip, we wanted to go on another adventure. I really can't remember how we ended up in Bolinao, I have a vague memory of Mitch showing us a groupon for Puerto Del Sol, and after much bloghopping and researching I fell in love with their pool. And that was it - the pool made me want to visit the place. We settled for May 3 to 4, just because those were the days most of us were available.

We left Manila around 12midnight of May 2 via Five Star Bus in Pasay. The bus ride took 5hours which was equal to 2 movies and a couple of songs before we reached Bolinao. The bus is nothing special, it was a typical provincial bus, so if you are planning on going, better be ready for some cramps here and there once you board off the bus. There were 2 stopovers, one was on Tarlac and the next one was Alaminos.

At the bus station, there are trykes there available to bring you to your resort. Since there were 9 of us, we occupied 3 trykes - P150.00 for each tricycle. It took almost half to hour to get from the bus station to Puerto del Sol, the road was kinda rough on some parts so if you plan on going you better be ready for bumpy ride.

A little before sunrise we were at the resort already, but a typical resort's check-in time is 2pm. Good thing the resort allowed us to use their facilities prior to check-in. We were able to use their pool and freshen up by taking a shower before our land tour. The original plan was to avail of their land tour package while we wait for our check-in time, but our plans changed when we were informed that the tour which was P350.00 per head would only be for 2 hours! This was contrary to the 4-hour tour that their Manila office promised us. tsk tsk tsk.

Puerto Del Sol pool

The Jacuzzi

Since we are on a budget a 2-hour trip worth P350.00 is totally out of the question. Good thing Anna knew her way around and suggested that we rent a tricycle for the tour. Renting a tryke there costs P250.00 for the first two hours and an add-on of P50.00 for every exceeding hour. We were able to rent three tricycles for all 9 of us. It was a steal compared to what the resort was offering.

Okay our first stop was the Bolinao Lighthouse, I have been to a couple of lighthouses before but this one brings me to different time, it's rustic features and abandoned feel reminded me of what it used to be. The place definitely made me use my imagination. There is a part there where you can view the sea, the waves, the sky and trees all at the same time. It was beautiful - I would go back there for a pre-nup shoot. 

The lighthouse 

The girls

Our boys

When I began going through blogs about Bolinao, Patar beach was one the places that stuck to my mind. The bloggers commented on how fine the sand was and how beautiful the beach is. Well, they are correct. Patar Beach was an unexpected surprise, the waves were rough but beautiful, the water is clear, the view was fantastic. I like that the people maintained the rustic appeal of the place by putting bahay kubos and wooden cottages along the beach. Surprisingly, even if there were a lot of people it wasn't dirty. Patar Beach could give Puerto Galera a run for it's money. It is a far cry from Boracay but  it is worth visiting.

Patar Beach

Last stop would be Wonderful cave. I wold say that cave was able to justify it's name. It really is wonderful! It was scorching hot and going down into a pool of fresh water inside a cave is the best thing to do. I know that Anna was bragging about how much we would enjoy the cave but I didn't expect that this would be the highlight of our trip.. well for me :) 

Wonderful Cave

At around 3pm and P168.00 poorer because of the trip, we were back at Puerto del Sol. We checked in our dorm-type room to freshen up and then we went out again to enjoy the beach. We stayed at their cottages along the shore line, played some cards, slept a little, ate halohalo, woke up, kayak'd, played frisbee, played volleyball and enjoyed their pool. 

The pool was the thing that made me want to stay at Puerto del Sol, but it was disappointingly hot. If I wanted a hot pool then I would have gone to Pansol. But the pool did look pretty when the lights were on at night.

Pool at night

Puerto del Sol is one of the highend resort along the Bolinao coastline so it was expected that their food would be pricey. It was on the range of P200.00-400.00 per meal. We wanted to experience their food even for just one meal so we decided to have our dinner there. 

Miguel ordered Chicken Teriyaki which reminded me of Teriyaki Boy's version of the dish but only a bit sweeter. It was yummy, but I think I tasted better. You have to give it them that their servings are really huge. I ordered Chicken Ala Kiev and Eggplant mousakka, the chicken was big and tasty, I liked the herbs they rolled the chicken in - it was served with mashed potato and fresh garden salad in asian dressing. The Eggplant moussaka was an interesting dish, it was like a lasagna but instead of pasta noodle, eggplant was used. I liked it. I would definitely order it again. Yes, I am an eggplant lover LOL

After dinner, we went up to our room and took a bath. Our room reminded me of college days, it consists of 7 bunkbeds and the bathroom is shared with the other rooms. It has a television set - which you can't watch from the lower bunk, and a ref. It was a room made for people like us on a budget. 

where we slept

One thing about vacations is that I don't get to sleep for a long time because we are following a strict itinerary, but this trip was different - I took a bath after dinner and slept til 8am in the morning. I did not even notice when Miguel slipped in beside me. LOL

It was funny how the boys bonded over watching basketball while the girls took a bath, I like the fact that they have something in common.. makes it easier for us to plan more trips again.

So at 11am we checked out and got our complimentary shell necklaces from the front desk(buti nlng naalala ni She! hehe) and off we are to another 30minute tryke ride to someplace to eat near the bus station. We settled for pizza and pasta and then off to manila we went. 

I am looking forward to spending another vacation with this group! It was hassle-free and budget-friendly. Sagada na soon, guys? Let's go ethnic! haha

P.S pictures grabbed from Mitch and Ian :) Thanks!