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

It's that time of the year when I need to renew my car registration.  This would be the first time I'll be doing it so I considered having someone do it for me.  They said it would be more or less PhP4500.  However, I found some time before the registration week and so I decided to do it on my own.

I went to FTI Taguig early Friday morning (got there around 8:30).  I paid PhP10.00 for the entrance fee to FTI then proceeded to LTO.


Requirements:

• Photocopy of Certificate of Registration (CR) and Official Receipt (OR) of payment (2 copies)
• Bring CTPL, if you already have one

Before entering the building, there would be 2 inspectors where the OR and CR would be submitted.  They would be checking and recording the documents and give it to another person who would assist you.  He would be the one to take the stencil from your car.

If you have a companion and you don't have CTPL (apparently my comprehensive insurance is no good for this), you could ask him/her to line up for the insurance (PhP950.00).  The line may be long as it was on this day.  Good thing was I'm with my mom and since she is a senior citizen, she was prioritized in the line.

During that time, I went into the door beside the main entrance of the building to have a photocopy of the OR/CR (PhP3.00), I just brought one.  This one would be needed for the emission testing.  I paid PhP410.00 for it. It might be better to have your TIN ready as it may be required during the payment.

After paying, I drove the car to the side of the building.  That's where the emission test centers are.  There are 2 test centers there.  I went in the 2nd ramp as instructed (that's for Sunrise Emission Testing Center).  It took around 10-15 minutes to finish here.  Oh, by the way, I saw in the window of the test center that they follow a limit per day: 96 for private, 64 for public vehicles).

When I got back to the main building, my mom was still waiting for the insurance policy.  After about 2-3 minutes, my name was called to claim the policy.  After that, I went back to the inspector just before the entrance of the building for him to verify the documents and sign it.

I then submitted the documents to Window 5, waited for about 5-10 minutes before I was called again at the cashier for the payment.  Here I paid PhP1,974.06.  When I got the receipt, I proceeded to Window 8 to claim the stickers.  You need to write your name and address, and affix your signature at the back of the yellow receipt.  Submit the documents to them and they'll give back the stickers and the OR.

It took less than an hour for all these and the good thing is that the waiting area is comfortable, they even have the television on.

Summary: It took me about an hour to renew my car registration.  It could have been a different story had I done it at a later time.

Costs: Total of PhP3,334.06

CTPL                        PhP   950.00
Emission Testing      PhP   410.00
Car Registration       PhP1,974.06

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.