Hotel and Inn Feature: Francesco's Inn & Restaurant (Daet, Camarines Norte)

Francesco's Inn & Restaurant

Twin bed suite

The spankingly new, 3-storey Francesco’s Inn & Restaurant has four tastefully-designed and decorated, airconditioned suites (king bed, queen bed, twin bed, PhP2,000-3,000) with private bath (bathtub for king bed suite), 21” LED cable TV (34” for king bed suite) and personal mini refrigerator, all served by a front desk office.  

At its ground floor restaurant, one can dine on pica-pica consisting of sizzling sisig (a Filipino dish made with parts of pig’s head and liver and seasoned with calamansi and chili peppers) and tofu and a chicken sate mixed with rice, served with a special peanut sauce and garnished with shrimp kropeck.  

Queen bed suite

King bed suite

Sizzling pork sisig

ts restaurant serves pork (spare ribs, inihaw na liempo, pata tim, crispy pata, tenderloin, roasted asado, sinigang, etc.), beef (kare-kare, filet mignon, osso buco, beef steak, etc.), chicken (cordon bleu, pollo arrosto ala dazoi, kip sateh, etc.), fish (pescado en salsa verde, fish with oyster sauce, sweet sour fish, fish Picasso, etc.) and seafood dishes.

The restaurant also serves soup (bulalo, cream of mushroom, etc.), vegetables (chopsuey, pinakbet, beef ampalaya, binagoongang talong, etc.), salads (Caesar, potato, pasta slaw, omelet, etc.), sandwiches (hamburgers, clubhouse, etc.) and pasta (pasta gamberi, lasagna, carbonara, etc.) and noodle (pansit canton, bihon, etc.) dishes as well as traditional Filipino (tapsilog, longsilog, tocilog) and American (ham and eggs, tuna omelet, etc.) breakfast.

Sizzling tofu

Chicken sate rice

Francesco’s Inn & Restaurant: Suzara cor. Dimasalang St., 4600 Daet, Camarines Norte.  Tel: (054) 440-0031.  Mobile number: (0917) 856-1642.  E-mail: am_aimee@yahoo.com. 

Resort Feature: Pineapple Island Resort (Daet, Camarines Norte)

Pineapple Island Resort

Boating and fishing lagoon

The premier water park in the province, Pineapple Island Resort sits on a sprawling, 5-hectare eco-tourism property surrounded by a lush plantation where sweet pineapples are grown.  

It has a uniquely-designed, 720 sq. m. swimming pool with water slides of various levels plus a 200 sq. m. kiddie pool with turtle slide and play station. 

Bamboo picnic huts (PhP300-400), tents (PhP250-300) and poolside umbrellas (PhP150-300) shade visitors from the heat of the sun. Entrance fee, per person, is PhP125 (day rate), PhP150 (night rate) and PhP250 (overnight rate).

De luxe family cabins

Orchid Hall

For meetings, seminars, weddings, reunions, conferences, team building activities and other special occasions, there's the indoor, airconditoned AAV (the initials of the owner) Hall and the outdoor Orchid Hall. 

The resort also has an orchidarium, greenhouse, a children's playground, videoke room and a Y-shaped, man-made boating and fishing lagoon. 

For those who want to stay overnight, the resort has native, economy and de luxe family cottages (PhP1,000-3,000) and 10-pax Raquel dorm (PhP1,500-3,000). 

Pineapple Island Resort: Brgy. Calasgasan, Daet, Camarines Norte.  Telefax: (054) 441-5006, 440-1356 and 571-2651.  Mobile number (0920) 9618236.  E-mail: pineappleisland.resort@gmail.com.  Website: www.pineappleislandresort.com. Open 9 AM-11 PM.

Restaurant Review: Chef Mama Grill and Resto (Pineapple Island Resort, Daet, Camarines Norte)

Chef Mama

Delectable morcon

Barbecued chicken

The airconditioned, classy, fine dining Chef Mama Grill and Resto, the in-house restaurant of Pineapple Island Resort, is owned by Ms. Arlene Abecina-Vergara.

A superb cook, Arlene operates a food chain in Naga City (Sienalou, ryers and Caramel) in Camarines Sur.

Laing

Tofu sisig

Here we were served a delectable array of great tasting and resonably priced dishes.

It included grilled chicken, tofu sisig, pumpkin soup, laing, morcon and blueberry shake with delicious leche flan and turon with sesame seeds for dessert. 

Leche flan

Other bestsellers on its menu include ginataang bilo-bilo, crispy ube turon, and delicious chocolate cake.  A refreshing sight, while dining, is the  lush Butterfly Garden with its wild ferns, pond and mini-waterfall just outside.   

Butterfly Garden

One of the resident butterflies

Pineapple Island Resort: Brgy. Calasgasan, Daet, Camarines Norte.  Telefax: (054) 441-5006, 440-1356 and 571-2651.  Mobile number: (0920) 961-8236.  E-mail: pineappleisland.resort@gmail.com.  Website: www.pineappleislandresort.com. Open 9 AM-11 PM.

Resort Review: Bagasbas Lighthouse Hotel Resort (Camarines Norte)

Date of Stay: February 1 - 4, 2011

RATING (Scale of 1 to 10)

Location: ******

Rooms: ********

Condition and Cleanliness: ********

Staff Performance: *******

Room Comfort: ********

Food and Beverage: ********

Other Amenities: ********

Value for Money: *******

Bagasbas Lighthouse Resort

Bagasbas Lighthouse Resort, Daet's premier resort along Bagasbas Blvd., is set right along Bagasbas Beach, the town's famed piece of surfing heaven, making it all the more desirable for surfing, skimboarding, sea kayaking and kitesurfing aficionados.  

For those who just want to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, it is also a peaceful retreat for those who just want to relax, dine on fine food, soak up the sun holding a cool drink or watch the waves and the breathtaking sunset.  The possibilities here are endless. 

De Luxe Twin Room

Catherine's Coffee Shop

The resort has a wide choice of airconditioned double or twin rooms, from the oceanview or junior de luxe, standard or oceanview trailer, standard or oceanview family suites and the surfer room. Their Trailer Rooms are actually a container van converted into a comfortable hotel room.  All rooms are  equipped with LCD cable TV (32" in ours and 21"), minibar, tea/coffee maker and in-room safe. 

Catherine's, the in-house restaurant, is the resort's favorite breakfast and wi-fi venue and watering hole.  As this watersports wonderland is within hearing and viewing distance to the sound and sight of Bagasbas’ famous waves, the resort is a favorite for the surfing crowd and surfboards for rent (PhP150 for one hour, PhP350 for half day and PhP500 for whole day) and surfing lessons (PhP150 per hour) are offered.  

The resort offers an array of watersports

Aside from the usual surfing, Bagasbas' waves and winds are  also ideal for skimboarding(PhP100 for one hour, PhP250 for half day and PhP400 for whole day rental and PhP100 per hour for lessons) and kiteboarding (PhP2,000 per hour for lessons and PhP3,000 for whole day rental) because of the consistency of the winds from November to March.  

The resort also offers sea kayaking (PhP500 for 2 hours and PhP1,000 for whole day rental), island hopping (Calaguas, Quinamanukan and Maculabo Islands) and the less strenuous beach activities such as beach volleyball or snorkeling .  The resort is also a favorite venue for corporate meetings and events, company team building and special events (birthdays, graduations, etc.).  

Bagasbas Lighthouse Hotel Resort: Bagasbas Blvd., Daet, Camarines Norte.  Tel: (054) 441-5855.  Mobile number: (0916) 520-6783.  E-mail: info@bagasbaslighthouse.com. Website: www.bagasbaslighthouse.com.

Second Bagasbas Summer Surf Festival (Daet, Camarines Norte)

Surfing the waves of Bagasbas Beach

Events organizer Joey Cuerdo

The 2nd Bagasbas Summer Surf Festival was held at the 7-km. long, gray sand Bagasbas Beach, known for its consistent waves ranging from 2-5 ft. tall, is one of the best sites for beginners to learn surfing (with its incomparable feel of walking on water).  

According to Mr. Edgardo "Boy" Reyes, provincial tourism officer designate,"This means less risks of injury for those still learning how to surf."  Would-be surfers, mostly yuppies and college kids on summer break, interested in learning the sport were lining up to join the surfing clinics (for a fee of PhP500 each).   

According to event organizer Mr. Jose "Joey" Cuerdo of Power Play Sports and Event Management,“We want amateur or even aspiring surfers to learn the basics of surfing here in Bagasbas." The clinics teach basics such as how to position yourself on a surfboard (centered along the stringer), paddle into the wave, feel that right moment when the wave takes you (the “drop”), push down on the board and stand and safely handle the board with the waves.   

   

Oween (with hat) conducting surf clinic

Upon signing up at the main booth right on the beach, first-time surfers eager to get into the water were given surf session schedule card with a time slot for their surf session (which lasts 45 minutes), with 10 people per batch, which included surf board rental and instructor.  

Registrants also have the right to officially enter a competition of their choice or the other competitions and the right to join the clinics offered.  Aside from that, they were given one event shirt and a pair of Mojo slippers. 

Ever since these surfing clinics were put up two years ago, provincial tourism officials have noted at least a 30% annual growth in the number of visitors.  Joey treated us in the media with free surfing lessons.  Mr. Oween Andrade of the Camarines Norte Surfing Association provided the beachside instruction.  Try as I did though, I never got to stand on my board.  Maybe next time.

While waiting for their first taste of surfing, registrants were pumped with beach adrenaline via other beach activities which featured outdoor sports such as wall climbing, beach volleyball and ultimate frisbee, all designed to make the experience fun and memorable.  

An artificial, 40-ft. high rock climbing wall was set up along the beach and a world-class Open Difficulty Climbing Competition, featuring the country’s best sport climbers (ranked third in Asia), was held. Local and visitors were also treated to free climbing trials, all falling into queue to give the interactive side of the climbing wall their best shot. This never failed to form a beach crowd in front of the wall.   

A female tries her hand at the climbing wall

Forehand and backhand throws, plus high flying leaps and dives on the beach were provided by the easy-to-learn Ultimate Frisbee, a non-contact team sport that feels a little bit of the following: soccer, basketball, American football and netball. 

There are no special gear needed to play it; all you need are a wide open space and a flying disc (frisbee in layman’s terms) to toss around. 

The Philippine Ultimate Association also held a special invitational tournament for the top 12 teams of the country (from as far away as Boracay). For everyone and anyone who wanted to get down and dirty, there was the classic beach sport of beach volleyball. Teams of 4 or 6 were organized by professional game handlers of the Progressive Volleyball Center in 2 courts. 

Beach volleyball action

The Invitational Beach Volleyball Open, a college varsity and amateur team tournament, featured 12 team from Manila, Lucena City (Quezon), Naga City (Camarines Sur) and Legaspi City (Albay).  As with surfing, pros also held clinics for these outdoor sports on the beach.  Every night of this 2-day summer event was capped by a Reggae Party featuring hot reggae bands such as Coffee Break Island, a known beach party player, all playing non-stop chill out music with a smooth changeover into slow reggae, then picking up speed into fast-paced, 1.5-hr. ska and reggae mix.  DJ Anna took the booth for the sunset gigs.