Spotlight on Jamie: Bicol Influential Bloggers

Gotta Love Gota!

I am not much of a beach bum, but when I heard that the next getaway of the Bicol Bloggers would be to the beautiful islands of Caramoan, Camarines Sur, I can never say no!

The Bicol Bloggers were invited by the Camarines Sur governor, Gov Migz Villafuerte, to explore as well as promote Caramoan for 2 days. This youngest governor in the Philippine history is very nice to accommodate us to one of the world-class resorts in the World, Gota Village Resort! So world-class that it will be the home of the Survivors team this May!

*mandatory touristy pose*

We spent our first day in Caramoan solely to explore the endless beauty of Gota. Not your ordinary beach resort, I’m telling you!

Their cabins are available in Small, Medium and Large Wood Cabins. 3 Medium Wood Cabins is what was given to us since we’re 9 in the group, 3 persons each cabin. Still felt like there’s more room for others tho~

SMALL WOOD CABIN
2,500.00/night

1 QUEEN SIZE BED “ 61 UNITS
Standard Occupancy 2 pax
Air conditioned room with TV and DVD player
Private toilet bathroom with hot and cold shower

MEDIUM WOOD CABIN
2,750.00/night

1 QUEEN SIZE BED “ 39 UNITS
Standard Occupancy 2 pax maximum of 3 pax
Air conditioned room with TV and DVD player
Private toilet bathroom with hot and cold shower
With mini ref, receiving room, and dining area

LARGE WOOD CABIN
3,000.00/night

1 QUEEN SIZE BED “ 11 UNITS
Standard Occupancy 2 pax maximum of 3 pax
Air conditioned room with TV and DVD player
Air conditioned room with TV and DVD player
Private toilet bathroom with hot and cold shower
With mini ref, receiving room, and dining area

What I like the most in their cabins is their beds. 100% coziness that you’d just like to snug in there for hours after a long tiring day of swimming and enjoying activities. And may I also add, 3G is very much usable in this area! Internet is fast like speeding bullet. Made our social-media-freak hearts really happy!! Check out our official hashtag of the trip #GottaLoveCamSur on Instagram to check our ATM uploads.

Caramoan getaway would not be as perfect if you’d not check in to this resort on your stay. This village resort has its own 2 beaches.

One at the very front of it..

and another one to its left that will require you to walk to this adventure-like pathway between rock formations and mangroves.

This is one of my favorite spots here in Gota. I really felt like I was in Bali or another country. But this is Philippines, guys! Our very own humble country.

The path leads to another beach of the Gota Beach Resort that serves as their port for those who would like to island hop. You can also enjoy this for picture-taking and dipping as there are also amazing rock formations in this beach.

I hope this post made you giddy to go to Caramoan this summer! If not, watch out for my blog post about our second day because we did some adventuresome activities, like island hopping and rock climbing! Much, much more amazing-out of your expectation photos to be posted!

SPOTLIGHT RATING:
Sleep Quality: 5/5
Location: 5/5
Rooms: 5/5
Value: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5

I can't believe I'm rating this as perfect 5/5! This is very true on my experience tho~ Sleep quality is excellent as what I've mentioned above. Locations is perfect as it is just walking distance from the beach and Gota has its own port too, for those who will island hop. Price for its value is very reasonable as experiencing this place is very precious already. Service is amazing too! Even when we asked them to get rid of the bee inside our cabin in the late night, they served us still! I cannot say anything with their cleanliness as I've never experienced any bad thing about it. 5 out of 5! *wink wink*

Gota Beach Resort is located at Brgy. Ilawod, Caramoan Camarines Sur. Contact the m via phone +63920 967 2942 or +63920 965 0390, via email gotavillage@gmail.com or restygotavillage@gmail.com

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Gov. Migz Villafuerte

Photos: Mine and Nick Pahati’s

*side news* Gota Village Resort is not temporarily closed this May as to what others are saying. It is, though, fully booked as the whole team of Survivors staff booked all their available cabins, so there won't be any available cabins for accommodation for the whole month of May 2015. Gota staff though had advised us to check in Hunungan Cove instead, if interested to visit Caramoan this May. Click this link to know more about Hunungan Cove.

1 comments

, by Jamie

bicol

Bicol Bloggers' #SSSStaycation: Crown Hotel

Our next stop on our Bicol Bloggers’ #SSSstaycation? My favorite part. Checking in at our home for our staycation, the Crown Hotel!

To read the backstory of our Bicol Bloggers’ #SSSstaycation, you can click here. And for all the posts in this series, it's in this link!

As the blogger who’s been called out by the bed the most (nighttime worker here), I am the most excited to meet my room for the night (and even in our short time breaks, I snuck in some power naps! Haha). Crown Hotel did not disappoint me!

Crown Hotel has been operating since the 60's, making it the longest operating hotel in Naga City. It's amazing how it stood the test of time, fire and calamities. It has become a landmark in Naga City, being at the heart of the city. Located just in front of the Plaza Quince Martires and beside Plaza Quezon and Plaza Rizal. Imagine how many fascinating stories the walls of this hotel could tell you!

Crown Hotel offers the best view of Naga City in their rooms! It caters to every customer as it has many type of rooms in your preference. Their price is very competitive too! I'd say it's the cheapest in its category. And what I like the most about this hotel is it's located in the very heart of centro, so every place can be easily reached by foot or by tricycle/jeep.

Their available rooms:

Executive Suite A - Php6,000

I want to live in this room! It has its own living room.

I want to live in this bathroom! *just kidding* This bathroom is really spacious and has some fancy bathtub!

This hotel is also famous for tourists participating in the annual celebration of Peñafrancia Festival here in Camarines Sur because this hotel has the best view for that, especially in their Executive Suite A!

Executive Suite B - Php4,500

Deluxe Twin Bed - Php3,000

Our room for the night was the same as this, Deluxe Twin Bed. Can be occupied by two people, but when you're clingy like us Bicol Bloggers, you can make it four! *LOL* There are also rooms that connects to each other if you'll be checking in with your family and friends.

Deluxe Single - Php2,500

If you are on budget, you can try their standard rooms. Lesser facilities you can enjoy but would never sacrifice your comfort! And even if this is their standard rooms, I think this room is still very spacious compared to other hotels in this price.

Standard Single - Php1,500

Standard Twin Bed - Php2,500

Generally, I am very pleased with my experience in this hotel. It's very satisfying for its value, and their staff is very accommodating and pleasant. See my ratings below. Once I got the experience their service on our first day, I already said to myself, I'll be coming back to this! Crown Hotel also has a cafe, resto and mini bar inside it which I will be blogging soon!

SPOTLIGHT RATING:

Value: 5/5

Location: 5/5

Service: 4/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Sleep Quality: 4/5

Rooms: 4/5

Crown Hotel is exactly located at Elias Angeles corner P. Burgos Sts., Naga City, Camarines Sur, Philippines. They have a free shuttle service to and from Pili Airport daily. Contact the hotel at (054) 473 8305 for bookings. Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/crownhotel.ph | New website will be launched SOON! http://crownhotel.ph

Photos by Nick Pahati

1 comments

, by Jamie

Apuao

Island Getaway: Apuao Islands 2014

Approaching summer season reminded me of my island adventure backlog last May! This getaway is still a part of the #DateInDaet bloggers' event organized by Ms. Apple Allison of Sole Searching Soul.

If you haven't read the first part of our DiD adventure yet, you can click here to know more about that. We ransack all the corners of Daet to find the perfect place to dine in, have fun and experience the bona fide Camarines Norte.

So hey! Here comes the second day! Our island getaway to Apuao Islands! Technically, this is not a part of Daet anymore, but still part of Camarines Norte. Apuao is part of Mercedes, the second class municipality of Camarines Norte.

How to get to Mercedes?

By Air. 45 minute direct flight from Manila to Pili Airport in Camarines Sur. From the airport, 15 minutes drive to Naga City. The van terminal to Daet is located beside the LCC Mall. Currently, the van fare Naga-Daet is just Php180. Another 2 hours-drive from Naga City to Daet, Camarines Norte. And from Daet, you can ride a jeepney or rent a tricycle going to Mercedes fish port or what they also call "Pandawan."

By Land. You can take the bus from Manila through South Maharlika highway to Daet. Bus companies with daily trips to Daet are Philtranco with terminals in Pasay City and Cubao, Quezon City and Superlines in Cubao, Quezon City. From Daet, you can take the jeepney or hire a tricycle to reach Mercedes town proper. If you have a car service, it will take you just 10-15 minutes to drive to the Mercedes town proper.

Going to the Island

From the fish port, you have to rent a boat going to the island. The boat ride will just take you 30-45mins to reach your paradise destination. Boat rentals usually costs Php2,000-Php2,500, but this still depends on your agreement with your bangkero (boatman).

After reaching the fish port, the mayor of Daet, Camarines Norte, Mayor Tito Sarion was so kind enough to prepare breakfast for us at a restaurant overviewing the sea. Isn't this so nice? *u*

There are a number of restaurants in the Mercedes fish port where you can ask them to cook what you had bought in the Pandawan. But for us, it's Tinapa-Itlog-Kamatis-Sinangag (smoked fish, egg, tomato & fried rice) combo it is! Perf way to start our adventure. So yes, let's go travel to the Apuao after the yummy breakfast, shall we?

Apuao Grande is one of the 7 beautiful islands of Mercedes, Cam Norte. The other 6 islands of Mercedes are Apuao Pequeña, Canton, Quinapaguian, Caringo, Canimog, Quinapaguian, and Malasugui.

Though Apuao Grande is the most famous of all of the islands, all of these islands offer different beauty and adventure experience, including mountain hiking and trekking, boating, kayaking and even snorkelling!

Two of the seven islands of Mercedes, Apuao Grande and Caringo, are inhabited by residents. You don't have to worry about cellular signal here because all networks work here. There is also electricity in the island, but only for a limited scheduled time on the day.

Apuao Grande offers room accommodation to tourists, but if you like camping, you can also try setting your tents to this camping grounds of the island.

This paradise was once a privately owned resort by the Swagman Hotel Chain until the Typhoon Reming in 2006 run-down the island. The resort was so ravaged that the owners decided to just abandon the island. That's why if you'd explore the island, you'd still see the remains of its once productive resort.

The island also has a golf course in it. Currently invaded by horses, cows and other wildlife.

On low tides, Apuao Grande connects to another island called Apuao Pequeña. We were lucky to encounter a low tide during our visit so we also explored the island of Apuao Pequeña.

In this photo, you can see the sandbar that connects the two Apuao islands.

You can sight a lot of driftwoods in the seashore. I want take home one and transform it to a beautiful furniture! If only it's allowed~

Our tour guide told us that the owner of the Apuao Pequeña originally wanted this island to be a mini zoo that they imported some wild boars in the island. And currently, it's still roaming around.

And then suddenly.. Oops! Baby wild bore spotted! Though the mother of this little wild-ey, they say, is very seldom sighted, extra caution should always be taken to people who will explore this island.

Apuao Pequeña had also became a sanctuary of bats.

We hiked to reach the top of the island for a scenic view of the Pacific Island. I think it took us approximately 15 minutes just to reach this. I was so unprepared for this that I hiked using my maxi dress and flip-flops! But all the sweat and tiring "tiis-ganda" hike was all worth it when we saw the view on the top of the island! They call this place the secret surfing spot. Too bad I only brought my 50mm camera lens! This photo didn't give much justice to the beauty we've seen that day.

These islands are just two of the treasures of Mercedes, Camarines Norte. There are still lots to discover in this municipality. If you are looking for new kind of adventures and virgin islands to explore, this is the place to be. Easy and, I think, much affordable to reach compare to other famous beaches right now.