la puerta al paraiso

Barely a week ago, the four divas reconvened and spent three glorious days on the road and under the remaining heat of the summer sun. 

Day 1 (18 May) - Scientist met Lawyer and Engineer at the pier. First stop was lunch at Perri Todd's while waiting for our check in time at Days Hotel. We had a giant burger (as big as a plate) and a plate of pasta which held  us through a very late dinner.

When Teacher arrived, we rested at the hotel and watched the american idol 11 race to the finals. I was already set to see MY Phillip Phillips on third place but the fans prevailed. Then I was torn between voting for patriotism or for love.

All the singing triggered among us to sing as well so off we went to Smallville and hunted for an available karaoke room but we had no luck. Instead, we had a leisurely Japanese/Filipino dinner before going back to the hotel and watched the american idol review :)

the mess hall which doubles as reception

Day 2 (19 May) - Maximizing our stay at the hotel, we spent most of the morning enjoying the buffet breakfast. At 10, we checked out and hit the road going to the pier. Crossing the narrow expanse of water between Guimaras and Panay island cost only P14.00 but the PUJ driver that conveyed us from Jordan to Lucmayan where our resort is located asked for P700. It was steep but if more than four are sharing, the rate is quite reasonable given that the trip was completed in one hour, traversing kilometers of unpaved highway.

As agreed over the phone, we had the hilltop room overlooking the cove below.

The best thing was that we had the pool to ourselves for the afternoon. We lost track of time that the staff had to take our order (for dinner) while we were still frolicking in the warm sea water. We left when the sun has finally set , when mosquitoes started to make their presence felt and when I could no longer keep up with the question and answer :)

Day 3 (20 May) - Water sirens that we all are, we hit the pool after the requisite sunrise shots from our private cove until it was time to leave.  After check-out, we had our driver pull up at the Trappist Monastery The original plan was to spend the night here. That we were not able to do so was fine as it was not as remtely located as I imagined it to be. The noise of the passing traffic was just a complete turn off. It is even distinct inside the monk's place of worship.

What's going home without pasalubong? Before heading to the pier, we grabbed some packets of "otap" and butterschotch from the trappists and delish siopao from Roberto's.