02.16.10

Hidden Valley Part 2

Posted in Playing the Tourist, food and restaurants at 1:04 am by Administrator

After we poked around the grounds and the hot springs we headed down to the lunch buffet.  The buffet started at 11:30AM and then around 12 noon we were allowed to check into our cottages.  Here’s a peek at what the buffet looked like at Hidden Valley.

The fare consisted of meat, meat.

Meat, meat.

Meat, and more meat.

There was a small portion for salad, and desserts, some rice and some noodles.  With such a nice place and tasty dishes, I was a bit surprised that it was “missing” some very basic dishes.  For instance, where’s the seafood?  There was none.  Where’s the fresh fruit?  There was none.  Where’s the coconut drinks?  There was none. . . Uh, and we’re in the Pines?  Say it isn’t so!  Well it was so.  Okay, but with all this food how dare I complain?  We even had live music. . .

Uh, yeah, I know this looks a little cheesy, but really she was pretty good and had a very nice voice.  The “hearts” were likely in the spirit of the upcoming Valentines Day that is widely celebrated in the Philippines.

And bonafide award winning local Filipino beer. . .

So after we filled up, we checked into our cottages, which turned out to be rather cute.  The cottages were in groups of fours.  Here’s what they looked like from the outer ring.

See that sky window on the roof of the cottage to the right?  That’s a sky window in the bathroom right over the shower.  This is what it looked like at the inner ring of four cottages with a small center garden.

Right be me is a table with chairs and a bench for lounging about on the porch.   Just to the right of the picture is the entrance to our cottage.  This is what it looks like just inside.

This is the opposite view looking toward the door from the bed.

To the right is the front door, to the left is the bathroom with a skylight, and the spiral stairs leads up to the second floor/the attic for a couple additional beds.  This is what it was like upstairs.

There’s actually another bed off to the right of the picture which is not shown and also a small writing table and chair at the foot of this bed.

Downstairs the bathroom was quite nice, but hard to get a good angle for a picture.  Here’s my attempt at trying to get in as much as possible in one shot.

Heheh.  Well, here’s the run down.  Obviously the sink is at the bottom of this pic, the mirror reflecting a tiny portion of the shower at the opposite side  is just above the sink.  Next to the sink is the wall relief to the shower.  Just to the right of me and next to the shower is the toilet separated by glass with an etching of something tropical or some bird.   The skylight is just above the shower.  It was actually a spacious bathroom, but it was just hard to get a good shot.  And besides, I think I was not in the mood to take pictures at this time as I was itching to get back to the hot springs.

Here we are (Dad, Auntie Lita, Uncle Al, and I) enjoying a little dip.

Aaron took this shot of me with a nice view of the spring behind me.

After we played in the springs for a little bit, guess what?  It was time for “merienda.”  Ah, yes, that’s what I love about the Philippines. . . snacks.  I’d say that merienda is like the middle meal between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner that hobbits eat.  What did they call it?  Elevensies?  Or onsies?  LOL

This is the place, Marinel, where Dad kept saying, “Ah. . .  I found the place Mark would like!”  Eh?  What do you think?

Marlakins

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