Revisiting Montemar

April 25, 2009

It was was a delightful drive along SCTEX from Dau to Bataan. We left Manila late and were in a hurry to get to Montemar in Bataan. But, most of our tension was gone when we got to the Subic-Clark-Tarlac-Expressway which not only made our drive more pleasurable, it had made our road trip shorter.



Reaching Montemar Beach Club at 10:30 am, the sun was already up and a bit hot for swimming that I decided not to join them in the Blue Pool. But, it was actually an excuse not to get dark as I'm expecting to be given voluntary nursing work soon. The Blue Pool (so named because perhaps of the dark blue tiles of the pool that didn't make the sun's reflection too hot like other pools do) is the favorite of the old folks of my husband's family. It has an odd shape - more like a letter y- and it wasn't too deep. Being blue with trees and foliage about that separated it from the structures in the area made it look like a hidden lagoon - cozy, relaxing and charming. Just beside this pool is a rather smaller pool for kids. Well, it was meant for them but obviously noone prevented the adults from using it either as our aunts spent some time there too. There were some reclining chairs made of wood at a corner towards the direction of the restaurant. Not too many of those chairs were there. Just enough for a few people to sit and lie on. I took some pictures of our group. After all, it was not often that we got to go somewhere with my husband's family.



There are several rooms in Montemar. But, as in the past, we were there on day tour only and it was not economical to rent a room (although I had given it a thought, really. *shush*). We had paid 1,000 pesos each but 500 pesos of that amount was consumable. Thus, paying for the fee wasn't really so bad. The place was nice, the food was good. Boyet wanted to sleep and rest though because he was tired. So, we rented the hut very close to the beach which had 2 reclining seat/bed and some curtains. I had chosen a spot farthest from where the music was coming from. There was a nice breeze and the wave was a little strong that made the sound of water crushing onto the rocks loud enough to create an ambiance conducive to sleep. I dozed off myself. The hut only costs 100 pesos per hour but our mistake was that we didn't tell them right away when we didn't want to use it anymore. We ended up paying 500 pesos for it.



In the middle of the hut was a small table where we had lunch. Ikee and I ordered food from the resto. Unlike the rest, we didn't have breakfast because we were late thus we had an early lunch. The 500 pesos food allowance was more than enough to feed one person that we had money to spend for the snack before we left the resort.

JP, my husband's 4 year-old nephew, was with with us and was already getting bored because he stopped swimming just before lunch. It was good that we ran into Giovie, the manager of the resort, who happens to be a cousin's former officemate. He told us that we could take a stroll at the tortoise conservation just a short distance away. Of course, JP went with Mang Ruben, the owner and driver of the vehicle they hired. And surely, after that, JP came back to blabber about what he had seen - tiny tortoises in a cage. This, according to Giovie, was to prevent them from being eaten by their usual predators. The resort had taken this responsibility since it had started to operate. Or maybe just a few years after its opening.



We took a short stroll at the rocky area near our hut. It is a ravine and we were at the bottom of it. It was already low tide when we walked and took some pics again. I didn't want to go into the beach because the waves were strong already. It's good that Montemar posts a warning for their guests about how strong the waves are and who may swim.



At 4 pm, after we took a snack at the resto, we were homeward bound. However, Giovie said we should go back when Richard comes home in June.

We just might.