For my dad’s birthday last month, the family decided to go to Clark. See, my dad really likes fireworks and every year, his birthday will coincide the Pyrolympics Fireworks Competition; so every year, we would go and watch. Unfortunately this year, they canceled the competition in MOA and moved it to Clark. So what to do when all your father wants is to see the fireworks? Travel to Clark, that is.

It was a pretty last minute trip because my other sister was also in town; so they were the ones who made the arrangements and we stayed at Park Inn by Radisson Clark. The hotel was pretty near SM Clark which was where the fireworks competition was going to happen. So it was the best option for us.

We just got the deluxe room, which was the smallest room. I was actually quite surprised when I stepped inside the room because it was very compact. It was really small that it was a little difficult to move around the room.

But even though the room was small, it had everything that you need. We were also able to fit an extra bed that I got for Robyn.

They had to remove this red chair though to give way to the bed.

Even their working table was pretty small.

There was a mini fridge and a bar. Didn’t really use it because we stayed there just for a night. We just used the fridge to store some of the food and treats we bought from Duty Free.

The closet, though quaint, had all the basic essentials. It even has a safe.

As I said, they really tried to maximize the entire space so the door leading to the bathroom is actually a sliding door.

The bathroom was okay. It reminded me of bathrooms abroad that were built big enough to save space.

To zero waste warriors, you’d be happy to know that they actually have a refillable Hair and Body wash container.

The bed was comfortable though. I slept really well. I rarely sleep that well when I’m not on my own bed, unless I’m super tired. But to my surprise, even though this trip was not tiring at all, I still slept really good.

I guess I was just taken aback by how compact it is. But looking at the photos, it brought me back there and I immediately thought to myself that it’s a modern looking hotel. The room, the interiors, even lobby oozed off this modern and chic aura.

All in all, it’s an okay hotel room. The location is also very good as it’s very near SM Clark. It’s very clean and the staff were very polite.
Also, it was a well thought out layout. Compact yet functional, so I give props to the architect and designer of the rooms! Our short little vacation was a blast and the entire family enjoyed our stay in the hotel. Most importantly, we were able to get away from the hustle and bustle of Manila, even just for 2 days.

It’s summer and most schools are out so I thought this would be the perfect time to post about our Pico de Loro holiday. I previously posted about the Air BnB that we used for our trip and now I share more photos.

Pico de Loro is pretty easy to look for. I actually used Waze to help us out since we don’t always go to the South. Upon entering, I had to pay for the Guest Pass which was about P1,300 for adults and P500 for kids. It was a one time payment for the entire trip. I was also asked to purchase a cash card with P1,000 consumable credit. The card itself was P50 and was valid for 1 year. I didn’t really understand why they require it since we can still use our credit cards for our expenses in the resort. But as I said, it’s a required purchase.

Our BnB was situated at one of the condo buildings right beside Pico Sands Hotel.

Day 1

We got there around 2pm and haven’t eaten yet so first agenda was late lunch. We just went to the clubhouse which was walking distance from our building. We ordered 3 dishes and paid around P1,300 for the meals.

I wasn’t able to take a photo of the 3rd dish though.

Here’s Robyn all dressed up for her first beach holiday!

The main reason why I chose Pico de Loro is because there’s a beach, swimming pool and country club. Robyn has never been to the beach before and we’ve always wanted her to be able to play with sand and actually feel the salty water. So right after eating, we prepared and headed out to the beach.

There’s a shuttle service going around the resort. It’s free and all you have to do is hop on and off. We rode it going to the beach since we didn’t know where the beach was yet.

Pico Beach was clean. I liked that they were able to maintain it clean. The sand was not white but they were fine and there weerer no big rocks that may hurt your feet.

Robyn started building sand castles and playing with the sand; and then it was time to go swimming.

I borrowed my aunt’s GoPro to be able to capture footages for my vlogs and also take photos even in the beach.

I honestly haven’t been to the beach so long so it was refreshing for me too. The entire family loved it and we watched the sunset while swimming. I also brought a couple of drinks and chips for us to enjoy. Everybody gets so hungry after swimming right?

Since we were staying in an Air BnB and loads of people suggested to bring your own food and cook in the unit, because the meals are quite pricey; I brought some precooked meals also. That evening, our dinner was Pork Adobo. I also decided to bring our own spoon and fork, plates and cups. Although the unit owner provided those, I just wanted to bring our own for OC reasons.

The BnB also didn’t include wifi, which I later on discovered. So I packed our new Jenga so we could bond as a family network and internet free.

Day 2

The next morning, we decided to stroll around first. It was a lovely place, picturesque and the weather was perfect for some walking.

Robyn and my husband also fed the fish and ducks! Fish food was P20 per pack.

There was a hanging bridge, I dare not cross. Haha! My husband and Robyn were brave enough to go but when they reached the middle, I ordered them to go back. Hahaha!

This was what the condo buildings look like.

We also had lunch in the condo. I prepared some Korean Pork Strips, because during the first day, we saw that there was a BBQ buffet happening the next day. So we’ve already prepared ourselves that we will have buffet.

We played a little bit of bowling. It was in the clubhouse and since it was still too sunny to go for a dip in the pool, we decided to have a little game. Hubby won, obviously.

Then it was swimming time. This time, we went to swim at the swimming pool. They said that there were several swimming pools, but really I feel like it’s just one giant one and divided it to different shaped pools.

I loved the view from the pool!

The gorgeous sunset we were able to catch while swimming.

Night time comes along and it was time to feast! I’m not sure if it was a once a week thing but really glad that there was one available during our stay. The buffet was called “Sinugba“.

It was complete from appetizers, bread and butter, main course to dessert.

Day 3

Last day was only half day. We couldn’t decide what to do but Robyn really wanted to go to the Club Pico which was an indoor playground for kids. It was pretty inexpensive, less than P300 for 4 hours so we spent our remaining hours playing there.

My little cutie!

Her art activity was to make a bracelet. 🙂

We had tons of fun in this trip. It was short and sweet and given that it’s not that far from Manila, it was the perfect holiday for us. I’m looking forward to more beach trips with my little girl and I wouldn’t mind going back to the beautiful Pico de Loro.

If you haven’t watched my vlog yet, here it is. 🙂