amor

i always wanted to sample what viaje del sol could offer... and this early april i got the chance. we had our family day in sitio de amor (km. 88 maharlika highway, san pablo city, laguna. tel. no.: 02-5527340, 0918-9274346), just one of the stops in viaje del sol's roadmap to leisure. the call time was at 6 to 6:30 am, but our rented van happened to have a "fail" driver and alice was late, so we only left makati 30 minutes to 8 am. the infamous slex traffic as well as the weekend jam in maharlika highway caused major delay and we arrived in sitio de amor past 10 am.

morning snacks (yes, too late for breakfast!) were served - palitaw, suman with slice of mango and sugar syrup, plus coffee. we played buntot pagi, piko, dr. kwak kwak, some frisbee and that good old shake shake shampoo! then lunchtime. they served chicken in oyster sauce, grilled blue marlin, halaan soup, grilled liempo and that oh so nice pako (fern) salad and sago't gulaman. after some noontime swimming, we played putbol. afternoon merienda was pancit, oven baked bread and buko juice.

the food was great, especially the halaan soup and pako salad. but it was supposed to be buffet... and as we all know, buffet should have more than enough that if people wanted to have third or fourth and even fifth or sixth serving, they can have their fill. sitio de amor should have plated the food because the serving was actually very limited. there were 17 of us and they actually served just exactly for 17 people only. we thought that they would refill the viands but they didn't. there were only four slices of blue marlin and only half chicken. there was sufficient serving of halaan soup 'though, but with all those kiddie games and running that we did, most if not all, were looking for hefty servings of these nice ulam. aside from the pool, nice pavilion and wide open spaces, there were not much amenities in sitio de amor. their restrooms badly need repair but the hosts were friendly enough. the 1,000 per head day trip package was very expensive for what we got. skipping this side of viaje del sol the next time around... next destination please.