It was a nice Sunday road trip to Laguna.  We did not encounter any major traffic, the only one in front of a mall in Laguna.

We left Manila past 9 in the morning.  It took us about an hour and a half, including the stop we made at a 7-11 store in Calamba, to get to the resort.  My brother planned to just look for some resort on the way, or go just go to the resort that we frequent when we were little.

While buying some supplies at 7-11, some guys approached my brother offering private pools.  When he was told that we could get one at PhP3500, he considered it and we followed the guys to Wonder Spring Resort.

Wonder Spring Resort is located on the National Highway in Calamba, Laguna.  It would be on the right side of the road (when from Manila), in between Batis ng Makiling and Monte Vista Resort.

There's limited parking but I guess most of the guest's cars could fit in the allocated spaces.  They also have free Wi-Fi, and it's fast!

It turns out the resort is a "collection" of private pools, each named after a car manufacturer.  We were in Mazda.  I saw another one named Nissan.


We got a 2-bedroom private pool for PhP3500.  It's actually a 3-bedroom house (PhP5000 if we're going to use all 3), but since we're not that many and we would just be using 2 bedrooms, they gave it to us for PhP3500 (lean season price).  The master bedroom has 2 big beds and it's the only room that has television.  The other room has 1 big bed and a single bed.  All rooms are air-conditioned.  Restrooms are outside the rooms, shared by the occupants -- 2 comfort rooms and 2 shower rooms.

The water in the pool are "natural" hot springs (that's what they claim).  There are 2 slides, one for the not-so-kiddie part of the pool and the other for the adult-part of the pool.  In addition to the pool, they also have billiards and videoke.  The good thing is that the videoke machine is not coin-operated.

Oh, and in case you need some supplies, there's a 7-11 just outside of the resort and some convenience stores on the other side of the street.

Below are some pictures of the resort.

Swimming Pool

Entrance (on the left side) and billiard table

Videoke Machine, CR (2) and Shower Rooms (2)

Kitchen Area

Refrigerator and the 2 rooms

View from the slide

View from the slide

At last, Cold Stone Creamery opened it's first store in the Philippines!  With the emergence of US-based restaurants here (i.e. IHOP, PF Changs) in the last year, I was kinda hoping somebody would also bring this here.  Voila! Wish granted!  

I've actually known of this last March when they put in the announcement in the location that it was coming soon.  But there's no mention of the estimated date (or even month) of the opening.  And so, I followed their Facebook page for updates.

Store Location:
G/F Serendra Piazza (in front of Market! Market!)
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

The store's location (taken last March)

Cold Stone is now open daily (taken June)

The store opened to the public almost a week after their soft launch (a by invitation event last May 23).  Based on what's on their door, they're open 10:00AM and closes 10:00PM from Mondays-Fridays, and an hour later (11:00PM) on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.  However, as of this writing, it was announced in their Facebook page that they're open Sun-Thu 10:00AM-11:00PM and Fri-Sat 10:00AM-12:00MN.

Store Hours

Not a lot of people were in line yet so we were able to chat with the staff for a bit.  While in line, they would give you the menu to help you choose which one you want.  They have their Signature Creations, which is the same in Cold Stone branches in other countries.

The menu

How to Order:

1. Choose your favorite Signature Creation from the menu or Create Your Own.
2. Choose your size: Lick It, Like It, Love It, Gotta Have It, Mine, Ours, Everybody's
3. Add a waffle cone or bowl.

Prices range from PhP95 to PhP1288 for the ice cream.  A plain waffle cone/bowl is an additional PhP35, PhP45 for the coated ones.  Additional mix-ins cost PhP35/each.

Price List

Signature Creations

Company History

Ice Cream selection

Their mix-ins have a Filipino touch in it.  If I remember it correctly, they have Hany (a variation of ChocNut) and dried mangoes.  I forgot what the others were.

And so, what's the first Cold Stone creation I tried here in the Philippines?  Of course, it's the Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip (Like It size) on a candy-sprinkled chocolate-coated cone!

Oh, and before I forget, for those who've been to other Cold Stone branches, they're also doing their stunts with the ice cream.  They just need to do more practice.  But, come on, they're just new so that's acceptable, I came here for the ice cream anyway.
Update: As of June 23, 2013, the store hours are: 11AM-10PM Sunday-Thursday and 11AM-11PM Friday-Saturday.

It was Wednesday night when my brother asked me to tag along their family outing. He wanted to go to Subic instead of Laguna. My role would be companion a.k.a. alternate driver when he gets tired. I agreed when he said he would shoulder the expenses (and we'll be eating at Meat Plus).  And so, I went with them.  It was a working road trip for me since I have work to finish.

We left early in the morning (5AM) to beat the morning weekday traffic in EDSA. We stopped at NLEX to get some breakfast.  Then, we proceeded to Clark first since it's still early. My brother and I opted to  just stay outside while the others go inside Nayong Pilipino.  Entrance fee is PhP100 for adults and PhP50 for students.

Sunrise at around 5:30 AM

Early morning view of Mt. Arayat

We were on the road again after about an hour.

Working while on the road

Lunch break: Meat Plus Cafe :)

Sirloin Steak

Pleasure Mountain for sharing

After lunch, we went to Baloy Beach in Barretto to look for accommodation.  There is a PhP30/person entrance fee for those who would be staying/taking a dip at the area.  It is refundable if you decided not to stay there.  My brother chose Lagoon Resort due to cost and amenities (it has a swimming pool and has access to the beach via Treasure Island resort). I spent most of the time in the room working as I'm not in the mood to swim.  But I went to the beach area (early morning) just to get a feel of the sun and sand, and to take some pictures.

Baloy Long Beach on the map

Baloy Beach

Baloy Beach

Lagoon Resort

Toll fees from Manila to Subic and vice-versa:
NLEX                    PhP218.00
SCTEX                  PhP168.00
Subic-Tipo            PhP  22.00

* For NLEX North-bound, you have to pay PhP45.00 at Balintawak toll plaza.  The remaining PhP173.00 will have to be paid at Dau toll plaza.

Avilon Zoo is currently the largest zoological institution in the Philippines in terms of land area and collection of animals. The 7.5-hectare (19-acre) facility located in Rodriguez, Rizal houses more than 3,000 specimens of exotic wildlife representing more than 600 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, freshwater fishes and invertebrates.(Source: Wikipedia)


The regular entrance fee for adults is PhP400 and PhP300 for children.  But I got a deal from Metrodeal for PhP199/person.

Going there on a Sunday morning, I decided to take the Marikina-Montalban route.  Having seen the road and experienced driving here (with the traffic and never ending two yellow line two-lane roads), I have already made up my mind that I'll take the Batasan route on the way back.  Anyway, it took us about 1.5 hr to get here from Taguig area (the drive home took only an hour).

Entrance

Reception Area

They don't have a map of the place yet but they are offering the services of a tour guide for PhP350.  Since we just wanted to tour at our own pace (and we're on a budget), we decided to do it on our own.

It was a short walk from the entrance before we got to this sign.

Here are pictures of some of the animals inside Avilon Zoo.

Barn Animals

Horses	Donkey and Deer
Wild Boar	Sheep

Birds

Ostrich	Cassowary	Hornbill
Macaw	Toucan

Turtles and Tortoises


Reptiles

Spiders and Scorpions


Crocs and Gators


Others

Arapaima	Leopard	Bengal Tiger
American Black Bear	Orangutan	Capybara

Most of the animals are hiding in the shade.  I think they're also feeling the heat of the sun.  We were not able to see the lion and the hippopotamus.  I'm not sure where they were during the time of our visit.  Overall, we enjoyed the place.