laiya ‘12 (part 1)
february 2012. as part of my month-long birthday celebration, kim and i went on a road trip to virgin beach resort in laiya, san juan, batangas. if the resort name sounds familiar to you, maybe you’ve seen the movie “here comes the bride” starring angelica panganiban, eugene domingo, john lapus and tuesday vargas, among others.
the day tour rate is at p850 per head, including entrance and parking fees, free use of the beach and resort facilities (toilet and bath), welcome drinks (they served us iced tea) and set lunch. we were told bed parasols (even the bare ones—as in without curtains) are not free for use so we preferred to just stay under this tree by the beach.
we arrived shortly pass 8 a.m. and started swimming around 9 a.m. we retreated to our tree by 10 a.m. here’s the view of the beach from our tree to the left, 
and to the right. 
i tried taking a panorama shot using this app on my iphone but i’m yet to master it so excuse this not-so perfect attempt:
they started serving lunch at around 11:30 a.m. everything was good! chef’s salad with dijon mustard dressing, seafood soup, grilled pork and chicken with rice and vegetables, and lychee-and-coconut gelo.
after lunch, kim took a nap while i read a book. after 30 minutes, i felt sleepy so i took a nap as well.
we had merienda around 2 p.m. we brought chips with us (i’m not sure if it’s allowed but well, we got away with it, heh) and just bought coke at the restaurant (p60 per can—what is expensive?). after eating, we rested a bit and went swimming again while waiting for the golden hour or that time when you get good photos no matter what you do or look like and whatever the angle of the shots. 
we hit the showers before 5 p.m. so we still had time to tour the overnight area of the resort before leaving at 6 p.m. there was only one family checked in that day so we almost had the resort to ourselves during our stay at the beach.
got to love the leaf imprint pathways: 
i took photos of cute pink and yellow flowers: 
we fell in love with this small, simple and solemn open-air chapel. it would be nice if we could get married here…
also, new jump shot and headstand photo. ;)
