A few weeks before 2014 ended, a sudden wave of nostalgia hit, and memories of the good times in Cagbalete Island resurfaced.  There was a hankering for another trip, somewhere preferably more accessible but just as affordable (if not cheaper).

We’ve set our sights on a beach resort in Laiya and we had everything was set – dates were reserved, leaves were filed, accommodations were booked.  You know how these sort of things go, just when you’re all roaring and set something unexpected comes up to ruin your plans.  In our case, that ‘something’ came in the form of Typhoon Ruby, who brought in a storm signal number 3 to Batangas.  We had no choice but to cancel and the resort we booked was a little bit of a tough cookie in releasing our deposit.  But I guess in retrospect it all worked out for the better because during the cursory pre-holiday groupon site-hopping, I stumbled upon this deal on Ensogo.ph:

The package offered was a day tour of Cintai by Corito’s Garden in Batangas, inclusive of lunch and snacks, for 999PHP (adult rate) and 599 (children below 12 years old).  Personally I was extremely excited because I’ve only ever seen Cintai by Corito’s Garden advertised by another, infinitely more posh groupon website, and even then their discounted “promos” were out of my budget.

There was a bit in the Ensogo deal’s fine print that said something about a ‘weekend surcharge’ and because I’ve been burned by these types of fine print details before, I decided to contact the resort and clarify before buying the vouchers.  The staff of Corito’s garden were quick to reply and were very much transparent, explaining that “weekend” covers Fridays and Saturdays and “surcharge” means paying the difference between the promo price and the regular rate (1850php).

The idea was presented to the Cagbalete girls and almost everybody was on board for a quick drive to Batangas (Nelva unfortunately had to go to work on weekends) on a Sunday so that we can go around the weekend surcharge clause.  The vouchers were bought and the reservation was a breeze.  SMS messages were exchanged and within the day the Corito’s Garden staff was able to send over their confirmation.

Come the Sunday of the event, we started off pretty early because the day trip was only from 8am to 5pm. I drove to Alabang to pick up Noreen in Northgate and Emi in Festival Mall, before heading off to Calamba to pick up Abby, after a quick coffee stop at Petron CBTL (they were nice enough to let me coerce them into helping me complete stickers for their journal haha).  There was a bit of a run around in Calamba because I misunderstood where I was supposed to pick up Abby, but even with the delay we were in Cintai by Corito’s at around half past eight.  Because it was a Sunday morning, traffic was extremely light and the whole trip probably didn’t take over two hours.

Immediately this big hulking eye-catching sculpture came into my view and I knew that we’ve hit the jackpot.  Even the receptionist’s post was picture-perfect.

I’ve read online that Cintai by Corito’s Garden was a Bali-inspired resort; the word Cintai literally meant ‘love’ in Balinese.  The photos I saw online definitely made it seem like the place existed outside the Philippines, but no amount of internet-stalking prepared me for the real Cintai by Corito’s experience.

The fresh cool breeze that was ever-present, the well-manicured lawns with no piece of litter in sight, and the sweeping view of the lush green trees that surrounded the resort was breathtaking.  Not to mention the mind-boggling attention to details on the design of the resort.

All of the buildings were photo shoot worthy, so much so that we spent a good three solid hours in the sun, just roaming around and amassing a staggering 400 photos between the four of us.  I am extremely grateful that because it was a Sunday, we almost had the place practically to ourselves because there were no other tourists to ruin our shots.

Even though I’ve never been, in my head I think Cintai by Corito’s Garden is comparable to Batanes because it is literally impossible to get a bad photo.

Another thing that I was not prepared for was the fact that Corito’s Garden also an open zoo of sorts.  I kid you not when I say that an alpaca just oh-so-casually crossed in front of us, interrupting our gossip session and leaving us with jaws dropped.  Not only did we see a healthy smattering of native chickens and cocks, they also had a Philippine Bald Eagle, a couple of ponies and a handful of peahens and peacocks.

I saw three swimming pools but only two were open to the public on the day that we were there.  Despite the near-freezing temperatures, we still decided to go in for a quick dip because hey, we did pay for that privilege.

The Corito’s Garden Staff later told me that the place was built as a private resort originally so that the family matriarch, Mrs. Corito, can have a place to recuperate in with her bout of a terminal illness.  Apparently Mrs. Corito used to frequent Bali and the design aesthetic helped take her mind away from her ordeal.  When she inevitably succumbed to her illness, the family decided to open the garden to the public so they can share something of their mother’s to the rest of the world.

Call it cheesy, but as I sit here now writing this, I realize that maybe this was the reason why I had such a good time in Cintai by Corito’s Garden.  The place felt very warm and inviting and I guess because the place was quite literally built on love, the feeling sort of spills over.

Check out the Cintai by Corito’s Garden website for their available packages.

* This was not a paid post either by Cintai by Corito’s Garden or Ensogo.ph.