Lesson learned over the long holiday: never go out of town at the spur of the moment lest you end up ruining the last stretch of the holiday and risk a word war with husband.
Holy Wednesday was too late to make any reservations to any hotel, counting little unknown resorts from faraway land (Pundaquit, Zambales) which I only stumbled upon on the Internet. Everything was fully booked. Yes I hear you. We should have planned weeks ago. But planning is futile if you don't have moolah which was the case in our situation. This is not to say we are cash-strapped. We are just preparing for the financial crisis looming ahead of us (read: enrollment). Bah it's no joke to send your children to school especially if they attend exclusive institutions.
Anyway, we still decided that we wanted to take the kids for a swim last Saturday - at the last minute. As soon as Argel woke up, he turned on his laptop to search for a resort, hoping there's one within the city that's not yet fully booked. Alas, we came across 9 Waves in San Mateo, Rizal. The name sounds dubious...is it a spin off of the original 8 Waves in Bulacan? Who cares. The kids love water so I'm sure they won't mind. I called the resort, intending to make reservations. The person at the other end of the line answered: "
May natitira pa pong rooms, pero hindi pedeng magpa-reserve sa phone. Kailangan niyong pumunta dito." And that's we did three hours later.
To our surprise, 9 Waves was inside a small subdivision in San Mateo. What the heck. It's still a resort, there's still swimming pool. The only problem is, the resort was packed that the guard had to shoo us away because they can no longer accommodate incoming guests.
Geeeezzz. This is what we get for being spontaneous...
Again Argel had to find a net cafe in this strange city to look for an alternative. His search came up with Club Manila East. I think this was the one that was featured in Jessica Soho. The one with artifical waves, surf instructors, and kayaking activities. Ok. Not bad. Not bad at all. The only problem was, it was at the opposite end from where we were. And by the time we reach Club Manila East, it would have been afternoon already. Frak!
Our last resort (no pun here) was to head back home and pray that everybody has gone out of town that nobody thought of going to Ace Water Spa, which was a spitting distance (that is, if you spit like a monkey) from our house.
Hooray! There were a handful of people alright, but not the rowdy crowd you'd see in Bora or Puerto Galera. My kids were excited. Entrance fee was kinda hefty. 550 for adults, and 25o for kids (and this is discounted rate already, huh?) Add to that the swimming trunks we had to purchase at Ace (apparently a strict dress code was being implemented here, and my boys were not dressed for the occasion) and our bill amounted to something. BUT it was well worth it. We all enjoyed the pool and the special water machines that massaged your back and arms while you wade in the water. Unfortunately, I didnt get to try all of those because my condition prohibits me to do so. I almost swore that I would make a trip back next month when my husband pointed something floating in the water. Is that what I think it is? Oh. My. Gulay. Yes, it is WHAT I thought it was. Somebody pooped in the pool. A toddler maybe? Shet. Has it been there for long? Argel immediately dragged us to the floor and called the attention of one of the life guards.
Ano ba yan. It was almost the perfect getaway for us...almost becos we didn't plan on it...almost because the kids had a blast...almost until some poop popped out of nowhere.
