Related to my previous post, this shows the actual time and money we spent while on the park. You can use these as a guide.
13th of February 2016
See my story here.
Valentine’s Day 2016: Enchanting Dinner In The Sky
13th of FEBRUARY 2016
One of the common ideas to spend Valentine’s Day with your family, friends and love ones is visiting an amusement park. One of the greatest parks all over the country is found at Sta. Rosa Laguna.
Enchanted Kingdom is one of my favorite places during my childhood. It’s been a long time since I last visited this place.
Upon searching Enchanted Kingdom website, I checked their promos and I found this ad:
Photo from Enchanted Kingdom Facebook Page
It is a very good package for a whole day celebration with your love ones or you can do a double date as well or if you are a group of four, you can avail the package for four. I had a reservation to secure our slots for the day. You can visit the Enchanted Kingdom Website to check reservations for future promos and make sure to follow instructions.
Watch their promotional video.
How to get there:
1) We met at Centris, Quezon Avenue so we are going to take a bus on JAM Liner , East Avenue. Take a ‘Balibago’ Bus.
I am not good on monitoring landmarks so I have to read another blog for this:
If you are keen on monitoring landmarks to help you estimate how far you have gone, please take note of the following South Expressway exits. Counting from Mantrade: (1) Merville Exit (2) Bicutan Exit (3) Sucat Exit (4) Alabang Exit (5) Susana Heights Exit (6) San Pedro Exit (7) SouthWoods Exit (8) Carmona Exit (9) Mamplasan Exit (11) Sta. Rosa Exit.
After the Sta. Rosa Toll Exit, the bus will turn left going to the Sta. Rosa town proper.
Reference: Explore MyPHILIPPINES.com
2) You can ask the driver or bus conductor to drop you at Walter Mart, Sta. Rosa. On the left side of Walter Mart, you will see Mc Donald’s there. That is where you will see a Tricycle Terminal.
3) Ask the drivers where you can take a ride to drop you at Enchanted Kingdom. Shortly, after 10 Minutes, you will be at Enchanted Kingdom Grand Gateway.
Upon Arriving, first thing to do is to claim our stubs, tickets and submit our proof of payment at the Group Sales Office. This is quite a very huge place but you can get your map upon entering for your convenience.
Victoria Park & Grand Carousel seen at the entrance
You can get lockers at Eldar’s Specialty Shoppe at the side of the Victoria Park. They offer rentals for strollers also if you have small children with you.
Anchor’s Away | Midway Boardwalk
I’m excited because this is one of my favorites.
Flying Fiesta Joy Ride
Flying Fiesta | Boulderville
After waiting for three good rides, we felt the hunger. Each ride costs you 1 hour of your waiting time before you could enjoy them for a minute or two. Well, that is so normal for places like this.
Cheesy Twogether Promo
Near the Flying Fiesta, there are stalls where you can buy food. We had this ‘Cheesy Two-gether’ Promo. An Italian Style Spaghetti, some kind of strips of chicken with Mustard-like dip and a burger. The food is quite surprising for my taste buds because I can taste too much spices on the Spaghetti Sauce and a good enough burger that comes with it. The chicken strips is okay.
After that, we headed to the Eldar’s tent for a 4 pm show that is still part of our package.
Photo from Enchanted Kingdom Facebook Page
Come and watch Salvo as he is summoned by Eldar the Wizard on a quest to find Princess Mei Mei’s Jade Necklace. Shows at 4pm and 6pm at the Eldar’s Tent
-Enchanted Kingdom
The show lasts for 30 minutes only. We are not given a chance to take photos with the stars because we have to rush to take some other rides.
Air Race | Spaceport
I took this video while waiting for our turn. One of my favorites because I almost cried due to laughing so hard because this ride tickles my stomach. 😀
Wheel of Fate | Brooklyn Place
Souvenir Photo while our dinner is being served and comes with a rose.
Dinner in the Sky
The experience is superb for an hour of spending time together alone – a sudden escape from the crowd. Good food is served while romantic songs played in background.
Disk-O-Magic
After the dinner, we rushed to ride the frisbee thing called, ‘Disc-O-Magic’ and the ‘Space Shuttle’. The space shuttle ride is one of the best rides. Not your ordinary roller coaster because it will rush forward then backwardly. Not suitable for people with heart problems-really.
We like to take rides associated with water but we decided to put it last in our list since we don’t like our clothes be wet. If you really like to take that ride, there is a nearby huge blower for 150 Php. The park rides were close by 10 PM.
A day full of spinning and turning is very rewarding. We didn’t hesitated to unleash the child on us. I wish we could spend Valentine’s Day again on Enchanted Kingdom. 🙂
Photos & Videos taken by yours truly & Albert Castillo.
Itinerary& Budget: DIY Mt. Batulao
As of November 8, 2015, This is the Actual Hike and the Actual Cost:
MT BATULAO : ACTUAL HIKE
0330 Assembly Time : Jollibee Pantranco, Roces-Quezon Ave Corner
0400 Departure Time to Nasugbu
0600 Arrival at Evercrest, Finalize Supplies
0645 Proceed to Jump Off
0758 Arrival at Fork
0830 Arrival at New Trail Campsite. Rest. Register
0900 Resume trek to summit , 2nd Registration
1010 Arrival at Summit; Rest, take pictures
1030 Start descent via old trail
1230 Arrived at Camp 1, LUNCH TIME
1430 Resume descent
1500 3rd registration
1520 Back at Fork; rest
1615 Back at jumpoff; proceed to Evercrest
1630 Back at Evercrest; Clean-Up at nearby Sari-sari store
1730 Departure Time to Tagaytay,anything goes from here
MT BATULAO : ACTUAL COST (16PAX) SAFE BUDGET – ₱600 to ₱800 each
R E G I S T R A T I O N & G U I D E
New Trail Campsite Registration Fee – ₱30.00 each
Old Trail Campsite Registration Fee – ₱20.00 each
3rd Registration Fee – ₱10.00 each
Guides (2) – ₱500.00 each guide ; Tip ₱100.00
F O O D
Lunch ₱ 843.00 ; ₱52.69 each
*Adobo (Chicken)
*Hotdog
*Rice
Dinner ₱ 150 each
*Bulalo Point @ Tagaytay/stop over
T R A N S P O R T A T I O N
Van Rental Package : ₱5,000.00 ALL-IN
*Van,
*Driver,
*Diesel (Round Trip)
Van Driver Tip – ₱ 100.00
Toll fee (Round Trip) – ₱ 500.00
Van Extra Pay: Side trip to Bulalo Point – ₱ 300.00
Van Parking – ₱ 100.00
Driver’s Food – ₱ 95.00
Tricycle (Going back to Evercrest) ₱30.00
If you want to read how we conquer Mt. Batulao, click here.
DIY MT. BATULAO: ‘Bato Sa Ilaw’
“One should know the stories of the mountains, not just climb.”
Those are the words I heard from my best friend, Kim.
Mt. Batulao is one of the well-known mountains found in Batangas. ‘Batulao’ was derived from the words : “Bato” (rock) and “Ilaw” (light) or “Bato sa Ilaw” (light in a rock) which our guide, Kuya Chris, has told us that there is a yearly phenomenon during Holy Week that the lighted rocks are seen by the locals. Upon reading on some blogs, according to locals also, there are two peaks that are apart from each other. They say in some time of the year, the peaks move closer to each other then the sun rests between them that creates luminous edges on the mountains. But whatever is the reason, it is still AMAZING!
Out of curiosity and thirst for an extreme experience, LET’S CLIMB BATULAO!
8TH of NOVEMBER 2015 : My First Mountaineering Experience
I would like to share to you the actual time how long we took our climb and you can use this as a guide if you have an interest on visiting Batulao. We took New Trail to Old Trail.
We met at Jollibee, Pantranco, Quezon Avenue Cor Roces Avenue. At this time, you can have your breakfast. My friend advised me to eat pasta because your body can easily absorb the energy on it much faster than the rice. Take note, one should not eat too much. You don’t need a full stomach or else you’ll end up digging a pit.
Stolen smiles for the camera after the preparation here at the parking area. Pay comfort rooms are available here.
At the jump off, this is where we secured guides. No food? No Problem. There is a store where you can buy hiking stuff and food.
Me and Jerna at the process of securing guides: Writing team members’ names.
There are some stone signage that tells you what peak you are in. Some signs are already gone maybe due to strong wind at the area.There are two trails to climb up to summit. The old trail and the new trail. Based on my own experience, taking the new trail is advisable if you have plenty of newbies in your group. We did pray before starting this adventure as we ask for guidance from our Creator.
There are some stone signage that tells you what peak you are in. Some signs are already gone maybe due to strong wind at the area.
As far as I can remember, this is peak 5.
First Registration. Costs 30 pesos per head. This is the time when we start eating our Trail food! Eat while you hike!
Me doing the writing process again with Kim.
TIP: Mix your trail food on a clean Ziplog bag. Doing this will lessen the bulkiness of our bags and the hassle of throwing empty packs of chips on the trail. It must be salty of rehydration & chocolates for energy. Don’t forget 2 Liters of water each!
Peak 8. This is where Ms. Diana Fajardo, a young mountaineer who fell by standing at this rock, lost his balance while taking a selfie. May you rest in peace. Please let the guides take your pictures.
Hiking is an oath for your love ones left below the mountains that we will come back to them safe. Always be careful regardless of the difficulty of the mountain. Greet everyone you meet and whisper to them, “Ingat po.” (“Take care”) just like what they say to you. It does something to me and I adore that kind of treatment, just like a warm hug. I already have in mind to take care of myself even more!
The fun part: Rope Segments. Fixed ropes are present for easier climb. Rocks are there also for grabbing. You will be needing your gloves just in case. I prefer not wearing them because I am more comfortable with my bare hands.
Me and him at Peak 9. Rest and water break after the rope segments and be ready to meet the summit.
Kuya Chris, one of our recommended guides, conquers this large rock at Peak 9. His favorite line, “Tiwala lang sa sapatos.” (“Believe on your shoes.”)
Conquering Mt. Batulao Summit
Okay guys, this is our trophy. We are so blessed that we can see the world like this: Away from work, stress and busy streets. The only problem you will have is the dirt all over your face! I’m loving my instant sun-kissed skin.
Show support for your co-hikers.
Me showing my strong and dirt all over.
Yes. Another rope segment going down from the summit. Before we go straight ahead to Camp 1, we had our second registration that costs 20 pesos per head.
Kim did the writing process for the second registration. Rest and do a little clean up.
‘Lone Tree’ got its new name, ‘Not-so-alone Tree’.
Camp 1: Rest and eat your lunch!
Selfie Moment
Pretty Ceasarie standing by the mark of Camp 1.
Photo of us with the guides
We continued descent for the third registration then back to Jump off. We arrived at Evercrest right after. You can wash off dirt & sweat with 25 php worth of water per container.
No money can buy the happiness bought by God’s wonderful gifts found at the summit: His creations: the nature, the friendship (new friends) & the fulfillment for yourself (yourself as well). My team, before we see each other as colleagues. Now, I see them as my friends!
Dinner Time! After the long day hike, we went to Bulalo Point, Tagaytay. This is where you can have one of the best tasting bulalo ever.
Be sure to finish your bowl before the cold weather mess with your food! SEBO! 🙂
Thank you Lord for keeping us safe. Thank you Batulao for your trusted rocks and cogon grasses that I used to pull when I need support. Thank you for the people behind this experience. To Kim & to her mentor, Peter. To our guides: Kuya Chris & Kuya Sam. To my fellow hikers: Mountaineering Dream Team for the friendship. To myself, for believing to my guts and never gave up.
Very rewarding experience. See you again. We survived ‘Bato sa Ilaw’!
Photo Credits: Pete Zabala, Rosel Garcia, Albert Castillo, May Maglaque and from kuya Chris for taking awesome photos of us.
Budget & Itinerary? Click here.
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