Unpleasant Experience at Canyon Woods and Agoda

 

I booked 2 days and 2 nights stay at Canyon Woods in Batangas and it was an unpleasant experience.

I booked it via Agoda and the issue started on a Friday, when we got lost in Batangas. I called the 3 numbers of Canyon Woods and all numbers were unreachable. I reached out to Agoda to ask assistance in contacting the hotel, via email and call, and they too were unable to reach the property.

It took us an hour with Agoda but they too, were unable to reach the resort for directions. Both email and SMS.

They initially offered to book us somewhere else, but since I heard so much about Canyon Woods, I decided to still continue with my current booking and just ask around. So I learned that the Nasugbu Driver, who we asked in Manila if their bus passes by Canyon Woods, is actually thinking of Canyon Cove. That’s why he said yes.

Initially when we book it a month ago, it says it’s located along Nasugbu Highway. That’s where the initial confusion is. In reality, the resort is located in Laurel, Batangas along the Border to Lemery Road. Border of Cavite and Nasugbu but it’s not on the Nasugbu Highway.

We rode back, via tricycle, and it was a P100 ride – some 10 kilometers back to Cavite route just to trace where Canyon Woods is. We reached the Border and from there, we rode another tricycle to Canyon Woods on the way to Lemery.

Upon our arrival, we told the reception about it and she simply swept it under a run as in nothing happened – as if she didn’t hear our complain. I don’t want to ruin the entire trip so I decided to complain about this entire fiasco via Agoda.

The resort is an old one. In fact, 2 high rise buildings are not in use due to renovation. The resort has been in existence since 1997 and we’ve seen it on their Club House, which really look as if it got stuck in the 90s. Some of the shower heads are not operational. We even visited their other outdoor pool at the Pavilion – and same story. It gave us the feeling of an old abandoned resort.

There’s not even an electricity at the Pavilion during our visit. The artificial lake doesn’t have any boats and as if it has receded by a meter. The hanging bridges we passed by were not operational.

After our stay, I reported the issue to Agoda and they initially agreed to provide us a 10% rebate. I didn’t agree because I feel that we deserve a 25% rebate due to the hassle of unable to reach them during a critical time. They said they conducted an investigation with the resort and they didn’t provide the rebate I wanted. So I told them that I’ll simply write our unpleasant experience with the hotel and delete the app altogether. They’re very unhelpful and failed to compensate us accordingly.

They really should update their website because the pictures they're displaying is from 1997. It's awfully different these days.

My Trip to Bicol 2025

I started my trip from Canyon Woods in Laurel, Batangas, which is about 10 kilometers from the border of Tagaytay and Nasugbu.

I rode a jeepney to Lemery around 10:00 AM. After about an hour, I arrived at the town center. I took some pictures of the usual subjects of my trip: the main church (usually located in the Población), the munisipyo (town hall), Rizal's monument, the palengke (marketplace), the town plaza, or some ancestral houses.

My next stop was Batangas City. I did the same thing there. Then, I rode a jeep to the Grand Terminal, which is located about 45 minutes from the town center. To my surprise, there weren’t many buses going to Bicol, or at least to Quezon. I asked some bystanders, and they pointed me in the right direction.

Fortunately, there was a non-air-conditioned bus going to Lucena, which is the "bottleneck" city for buses going to Bicol. Almost all buses pass through this part of Quezon Province. I left Batangas City at 2 PM, and the travel took almost 4 hours. The bus that was supposed to go from Batangas City to Lucena passed through other towns like Candelaria, Sariaya, and others.

Finally, by 6 PM, I was in Lucena City. I roamed around the Población area and took pictures of my usual subjects. I also had dinner at KFC. By 7 PM, I was at the Grand Terminal (which is not as grand as its name suggests). There were two bus companies traveling to Bicol. By 10 PM, I was en route to Bicol via Raymond Transport.

The bus had trouble around midnight somewhere in Quezon Province. A mechanic was in the aisle of the bus and went down a stairway leading to the engine. The bus reached Sorsogon City by 10 AM. Yup, it was a 12-hour trip.

The bus' signage indicated it was going to Gubat (Sorsogon), but I was too tired to travel further, so I got off at Sorsogon City. I rode a tricycle (P22) to the city center, took pictures of the church and other landmarks, and had lunch at Jollibee. It was raining that morning.

By 12 PM, I was on a mini-bus to Matnog, Sorsogon, the southernmost part of Luzon. The trip took 1.5 hours. There wasn’t much to see in Matnog, except for the arch that marks the departure from Luzon Island. I took pictures of the church, peed at a nearby construction site within the church compound, had some bread at a local bakery, and then returned to Sorsogon City.

By 3 PM, I was on my way to Daraga, Albay. The trip was also 1.5 hours long. It was cloudy when I arrived. I had to climb a hill where the church was located. It felt like I was in Baguio City. Then I saw it—Mayon Volcano.

Its peak was covered by clouds, but it still looked majestic. I took pictures and videos, visited the municipal hall and palengke, then rode a jeep to Legazpi City.

The RedDoorz I booked was located far from the city center. I had to ride another jeep via Rawis, get off at Pag-Asa Street, and walk about 300 meters to Narra Street, where it was located. There were actually two RedDoorz locations there, one of which was RedDoorz Mariners.

I had dinner at a nearby carinderia. The tapa was delicious and only P75. By 7 PM, I was already in bed.

I woke up around 4 AM. By 4:30 AM, I was already walking toward the giant statue of Our Lady of Salvacion. Fortunately, the road was lit, but I swear, I thought I saw "white ladies" twice, just out of the corner of my eye. It still gives me the creeps as I remember it today while writing this story.

The distance was about 2 kilometers from RedDoorz. The sunrise was scheduled for about 5:50 AM. Thankfully, it wasn’t as cloudy as the day before. I was able to take some good shots of the famous natural wonder and even created a video. I also realized that there’s a smaller Mayon on the opposite side of the larger one.

Around 6:30 AM, I rode a tricycle to the Cagsawa Ruins. The fare was P150, and it was quite a long ride. There was a marker beside the Legazpi-Guinobatan Road, and I walked about 200 meters over a bridge. On my left was the Cagsawa Ruins complex/park.

There was a P45 entrance fee to the park, plus a P20 fee to enter another park closer to Mayon, with a koi fish pond. There were lots of flowers that I used as foreground in my pictures of Mayon.

I saw the signage for Sumlang Lake and decided to visit. There are some popular photos of Mayon Volcano with its reflection on Sumlang Lake. I took another tricycle for P150, but there were jeepneys plying the Legazpi-Guinobatan Road.

There was a P100 entrance fee to the park. The place was nice, with a restaurant that opens at 10 AM. It was very Instagrammable. I also saw an actual Pili tree and the abaca plant, which is very similar to a banana plant.

From Sumlang Lake, I rode a jeepney back to Legazpi City and walked around the city center. The Albay Provincial Capitol was very near the Legazpi City Hall. I didn’t find a statue of Rizal, though.

I went back to RedDoorz, took a shower, grabbed my Dell bag, rode a tricycle, and then a jeep en route to Tabaco City. I thought there would be lots of tabak (big knives) in Tabaco City, but I didn’t see any.

I had lunch at the palengke. I had ginataang langka and toge, which cost around P60. I didn’t see any local kakanin. By 1 PM, I was in Tiwi, Albay.

I took some videos of the church complex, then took a picture of a nice Rizal statue in the middle of the plaza in front of the municipal hall. Then, I walked toward the beach (Lagonoy Gulf and Tiwi Beach). It was beautiful.

I returned to the plaza on an eTrike, then went back to Legazpi. With no other plans, I rode a bus back to Manila. By 2 PM, the bus left Legazpi City. It took 14 hours to reach Manila, specifically the Cubao area. I had breakfast at McDonald's. I got a stomach ache upon arriving in Manila, but thankfully, there was a nice restroom at McDo.

Before lunch last Tuesday, I was already snoring in my sleep.

Angel's Pizza Sandoval Avenue Opening Soon

 I am excited for the opening of Angel's Pizza along Sandoval Avenue, Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City. If you're coming from Pasig Palengke, it's just after McDonald's Sandoval Avenue after you passed the bridge.

What I like about Angel's Pizza is their spinach pizza. This is also one of the most ordered pizza on our company events. I'll try to take a picture of the place. It's actually a huge place and I am surprised they decided to open a branch along Sandoval Avenue.

Rainy Afternoon With David Guison

I finally met David Guison in person and I even attended his “Blog Photography and Styling Workshop” which he conducted together with Lissa Kahayon. It is part of the Canon PhotoSkwela series and it was held yesterday at SM City North EDSA Annex.

David Guison and Lissa Kahayon discussed how they started blogging and showed us their previous pictures. You can see their transformation from their simple style (and simple pictures) to their current achievements in the blogging and fashion industry. David Guison also showed us his previous gadgets that he used in taking pictures before. These gadgets include an old Nokia cellphone, a Canon digicam and his DSLR, a Canon 1100D (similar to mine!). Now that inspires me to come up with brilliant photos as well. He’s definitely a great photographer!

Here are some of the cardinal rules of blogging that they shared. I love their PowerPoint presentation by the way. It’s very artistic.

• Give back (to your readers) – This can be in the form of blog contests and give-away.
• Quality (of posts) over quantity – It is better to have few interesting posts than lots of uninteresting ones.
• Value your audience – Take some time to reply to comments that you’re receiving in your blog.
• Be humble
• Never overshare (personal photos or information)
• Research plus incorporate your own
• Get your daily dose of inspiration
• Be patient (for blog traffic to increase)
• Be consistent – The most important thing in blogging is to blog regularly
• Be responsible (for your posts)
• Keep it simple but catchy – Pertaining to blog names and titles. Lissa Kahayon’s blog is Scene Stealer while David’s blog is simply named DG Manila. They also mentioned the importance of branding your blog by having your own logo
• Keep it interesting
• Write about what you know

They also discussed the advantages of blogging (like having a job) as well as the disadvantages. They even provided personal anecdote about some of the hate comments that they received and how they took it positively. David Guison also mentioned some of his favorite bloggers: Ponyhunter, Edric Chen, and Tricia Gosingtian.

They even answered the question on which platform would best host their blog. It doesn’t matter, according to them, whether you’re using Blogger, Wordpress, or Tumblr but it’s advisable for a blogger to have their own .COM website. It makes the blog more professional. David Guison started with Tumblr while Lissa Kahayon finds Blogger easy to use. They now have their own .COM sites.

I learned a few more things about David Guison and his works from this seminar. I learned that he also wrote and took some pictures for Inquirer, Ford, Bench, Century Tuna, SM, Multiply, Yahoo, Ray-Ban, among others.

Aside from watching David Guison the whole time (he’s indeed gorgeous), I was able to get some tips on how to improve my current blogs. They also gave some tips on Styling like:

• Examine what you have (in your closet)
• Work with what you have and challenge yourself
• Your personal style is a mix of your tastes, inspirations, aspirations and lifestyle
• Get inspiration, re-invent then own the look
• Experiment, take risks, be creative
• Plan, strategize
• Exude confidence!
• There is nothing wrong with repeating clothes
• Look the part, play the part
• The way you project yourself and how you want others to perceive you

I had a wonderful time attending the workshop of David Guison and Lissa Kahayon and I can definitely say that I’m a follower. Thank you Canon Philippines for having them as one of your Ambassadors. It’s definitely worth it. Thank you also to Greenwich for the delicious pizza!

Technorati Tags: Blogging,David Guison,Lissa Kahayon,Canon

A New Blog!

I’m creating a 2nd el toro bumingo blog. The reason? I already consumed my free 15 GB storage from Google that contains all the images I used on the 1^st el toro bumingo blog over the years. I am using the full size of the pictures straight from the DSLR and it’s probably the reason why the 15 GB got full. I also had that blog since 2011 and contains a lot of pictures from my #LocalTravel.

I bike my way to Quezon Memorial Circle yesterday. It’s almost 40 kilometers (back and forth) from my place in Pasig City. It’s my latest #LocalTravel this quarantine season and I did it via bicycle.

I still have tons of backlog from my 2019 travel that I want to share with you guys. Even if I’m working from home since March 2020 due to Covid19, I still haven’t published my photos of:

• Mangaldan, Pozorrubio, Laoac, Binalonan, and Urdaneta in Pangasinan
• Alaminos City (where a lot of ancestral houses are located), Bolinao, Lingayen, Binmaley, San Carlos City and Malasiqui  also in Pangasinan
• Naujan and Calapan in Mindoro Oriental
• Puerto Galera, San Teodoro, Victoria, Pinamalayan City, Roxas and Bulalacao also in Mindoro Oriental
• Boracay, Malay Town, Kalibo, New Washington and Balete in Antique
• Piat Town in Cagayan
• Callao Cave (Penablanca) in Cagayan
• Tuguegarao in Cagayan
• Balloon Festival in Carmona, Cavite – March 2020 (before the Enhanced Community Quarantine)
• General Community Quarantine (QCQ) Travels – via bicycle – to Cainta, Rizal
• Trip to Baras
• Trip to Tondo
• Trip to Quezon Circle

I’m hoping before the year end, I am up to date with my travel photos. It’s not much but I still love #LocalTravel

I hope that you’ll support me on this new blog the same way as you supported the 1^st el toro bumingo blog.

Let’s take care of each other and travel safe this pandemic era.

Technorati Tags: New Blog,el toro bumingo 2,#LocalTravel,#eltorobumingo2

Dagupan City (in Pictures)

It’s been a year since I last posted pictures on this blog. There was an issue with the software I’m using to blog (Open Live Writer) and it was only recently fixed with the release of version 0.6.3.0

 

I hope I could catch up on posting pictures of my trips locally. I have ample time to do so since I’ve been in quarantine since March 2020. I only travel by public transportation – tricycle, bus, jeepney – and since it’s suspended, my local travel is also on hold.

Here are some pictures of Dagupan I took last year, 2019 B.C. (Before Corona)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Dagupan City,Pangasinan

Pangasinan Trip 2019

A few weeks ago, I decided to take a 2-day trip to the province of Pangasinan. It was my 2^nd time, the first being in the Bangus Festival a few years ago. This year, I started with Pangasinan. The bus I took was Solid North and we left the EDSA station around 2:00 AM.

Before 6:00 AM, I was already at Dagupan City. I was able to take a picture of its church at daybreak. Recently, I’ve been taking pictures of the town’s Poblacion (city center) including the main church, the municipal or city hall, the public market, the public park, Rizal’s monument, ancestral houses and Jollibee stores.

From Dagupan, I took a jeep to the nearby town of Mangaldan. Same routine – walk about the Poblacion, take a picture of the main church, plaza, municipal hall, Rizal’s monument, Jollibee store and some ancestral houses. Then I’m off to the next town of Manaoag, Pangasinan.

From Manaoag, I travelled to Pozzorubio, Pangasinan. It was already afternoon when I decided to go to Pozzorubio and there were no longer jeeps plying to the town. Luckily there’s a tricycle terminal. In Pozzorubio, I did exactly the same thing – go to the town proper (Poblacion), visit the main church, some ancestral houses, municipal hall, Rizal’s monument and public park. I had difficulty finding the Pozzorubio Public Market.

Travelling from town to town is pretty simple especially if the town/province is from Spanish-era period. The design is simple – the church is usually the center of the town. In front of it is usually the Plaza and just a few meters would be the Munisipyo (Municipal Hall) and the Palengke (Public Market). Ancestral houses are usually located around the church. The closer your house is to the chuch, the more prominent your family is. A monument to Rizal is almost, always, present in the Plaza.

From Pozzorubio, I took another jeep to Urdaneta but I stopped by at the crossroads to Laoac and Binalonan. I took a jeep and went to Laoac, which is a a very quiet and small town. The church is simple and the municipal hall is being renovated. I also can’t find the public market of Laoac but there’s a plaza. From Laoac, I rode the Manaoag-Binalonan jeepney.

There’s a Jollibee and McDonalds by the way at the crossroads. The town of Binalonan is also quiet. I was surprised that they have GrabTrike colored green. It’s probably a collaboration of the town to the riding company and it’s applaudable. Binalonan has wide streets around the town hall (municipal hall). There are some ancestral houses near the church and it’s lovely to walk around the Poblacion.

Around 5:00 PM I’m back at the crossroads and rode another jeep towards the City of Urdaneta, Pangasinan. I’m surprised that the church of Urdaneta is not as grand (or big) as in other cities. It’s like Cabanatuan or any other big city in the province. I decided to sleep over in this city but I had difficulty finding accommodation via the Agoda app. Eventually I asked a tricycle driver to take me to the nearest, least expensive inn.
I have visited 7 towns today.

Day 2

I left Urdaneta City early in the morning. I took a bus to Dagupan City and from there, I took another bus to Alaminos City. I had breakfast in one of the town’s ancestral houses repurpose into a cafeteria (the 1^st fllor). I was surprised at the sheer number of ancestral houses in this city especially along the street going to the Hundred Islands Park. It was rainy when I reached this town so there were no boats going to the Hundred Islands.

Alaminos City both has Jollibee and McDonalds. I can’t find Rizal’s monument but instead, there’s a monument for Andres Bonifacio in front of the church. From Alaminos City, I took a grueling 2 hour jeepney ride to the northern-most town of Bolinao.

Bolinao is a bit chaotic since the public market extend to the area in front of the municipal hall. Rizal is depicted along with other National Heroes. The church of Bolinao is awesome with its painting on the ceiling. Almost all popular stories of the Bible and about the life of the Virgin Mary is depicted in the ceiling. It was one of the most beautiful churches I’ve seen visited.

Of all the towns I’ve visited in Pangasinan, only Bolinao has a group of vendors selling the town’s unique product – bamboo (rice) cake. It’s like our local suman but instead of being wrapped in banana leaves, it’s cooked in bamboos. It comes with a very sweet syrup similar to that found in Baguio. I commend the local government of Bolinao for marketing a unique product of the town. I hope all other towns will follow their example.

From Bolinao, I took the Bolinao Express bus and went to the capital of Pangasinan province – Lingayen. I was able to take some photos of the towns along the way – Bani, Sual and Labrador. Lingayen is a huge city. Rizal’s monument here is remarkable. There’s Jollibee as well. From the church of Lingayen, I took a tricyle to the Provincial Capitol grounds. The complex is huge and has a lot of trees. It gives the feel of being in Baguio.

From Lingayen, I took a jeep to the quiet town of Binmaley. It’s another small and quiet town. I love the feel of Binmaley. The church is unique because it is surrounded by statues of the Virgin Mary with some of her famous titles. Too bad both the church of Binmaley and the Museum of Binmaley were closed during my visit (Saturday morning). From the statue of a fisherman at the town plaza and from the wide ricefields in town, I can say Binmaley is a farming and fishing town.

My next stop was the city of San Carlos. There’s no direct jeepney route to San Carlos City. I rode the jeep to Dagupan but took off at a tricycle station for San Carlos. I had my lunch here. The city is huge as well. There’s a Rizal Park near the church. The City Hall is right across the street. The public market is not in the vicinity. There’s a Jollibee San Carlos and this city is where publick transportation are located. From San Carlos City you could visit other towns to the West side of Pangasinan. I decided to go to Malasiqui.

Malasiqui is another quiet town. The town hall, church, Rizal Park, and public market are all adjacent to each other. There are a lot of buses coming from Dagupan en route to Manila. I left Malasiqui around 4:00 PM. By 10:00 PM I was back in Manila.

I visited 6 towns today for a total of 13 towns in 2 days. I would post more pictures of the towns I've mentioned here. I would also love to visit the province of Quezon next.

Technorati Tags: Pangasinan,2019 Trip,Dagupan,Manaoag,Churches