THE DUCKS OF SUMMER

The mass exodus to the beach began during the Holy Week.  We decided to wait until after Easter, when there wouldn’t be such a big crowd.  We went to our favorite resort, Anvaya Cove, in Morong, Bataan.  We’ve been going there since 2011, as guests of a family friend who’s a member.  I wrote about our first trip here (with some nice photos).

We stayed two nights, three days.  Whereas before we spent most of our time at the beach or at the swimming pools, this time we decided to explore the rest of the resort.  On our second day we took an afternoon walk, and met a flock of ducks that lived near the resort’s man-made lake.

The ducks were quite friendly and were probably used to being fed by visitors.  My 7-year-old niece tried to get as close as she could for this photo:

We crossed a bridge and walked towards a lawn with small mango trees, and the ducks swam across the lake and followed us!  When they realized we weren’t going to feed them (we didn’t think to ask the Anvaya Cove staff what the rules were about feeding the ducks), they walked off to the clubhouse to importune some sympathetic visitors.

It was quite funny to see the ducks all in a row 🙂  We walked back to our room in one of the casitas as the sun went down.

I guess you can tell how well-managed a place is by its happy ducks! My sister, brother-in-law, niece and I had a grand time.

ANVAYA COVE

Occasional thunderstorms reminded us that the summer wouldn’t last forever.  Going to the beach was my five-year-old niece Lilo’s nightly prayer.  Thanks to the kind sponsorship of a family friend who was a member, we were able to visit Anvaya Cove in Bataan, some 30 minutes’ drive past Subic.

We arrived just before lunch.  We were ferried to our rooms via the scenic route in an electric golf cart.  Because of the electric transportation, there was little pollution near the living areas.  Ayala Land did an outstanding job with the landscaping – shady mango trees, beautiful bamboo stands and variegated bushes lined the paths.  There were even several ponds along the route, supporting flocks of geese.  My brother-in-law Tristan was also pleased to note that all the public buildings offered free wi-fi.  Each bedroom was even equipped with a LAN cable, cable tv, and a dvd player.  We went off to lunch in their airconditioned restaurant.  Food prices were competitive and food quality was quite good, although we weren’t impressed by the buffet selections.  Every comfort room was spotless, offering lotion, hand sanitizer, and powder apart from the soap.  The level of comfort and customer service was consistently high all throughout.

There was a bath house with lockers near the multi-level swimming pools and the beach, where you could rent your towel and change into your swimsuit.  As we walked to the beach we noticed there were little “bird houses” around which were actually disguised cold-water dispensers!  In the heat, this was a major plus.

The sand was light grey, and we were very happy to see that the water was very clean and clear.  There were lots of small fish and shells, and a few harmless jellyfish.  High tide was in the mornings.  We all had a grand time beachcombing.

When we arrived there were lots of people at the swimming pools (many were day trippers), but few at the beach itself.  It was like we had the whole cove to ourselves.  The following morning a number of young families joined us.  There was a section of cove reserved for a team-building group, where the noise of the activities couldn’t disturb the other guests.  We swam all day.  We had to check out of our rooms at 12 noon in deference to other guests, but we didn’t have to settle our bill until 330pm!

On our way home we were greeted by another thunderstorm on NLEX.  We wished we could have stayed at Anvaya Cove longer, but then we were actively making plans to plan for another sponsored visit again one day.