HOTEL REVIEW : Awari Bay Resort

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Date of Stay: November 2022 

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We spent a weekend at Awari Bay Resort in Mabini, Batangas. Awari Bay is one of many resorts in Anilao, Mabini which is famous for its beaches and one of the top diving destinations in Luzon or probably in the Philippines. Because of its proximity to Manila, Mabini is a perfect weekend getaway for someone who wants to enjoy the sea and the rich marine resources.

We arrived just in time for the check-in and received the card keys to our rooms, including password internet access to 3 devices. The check-in was smooth. We presented our vaccination card as a requirement. The view from the reception area is breathtaking. You can get a nice view of Balayan Bay and the mountain ranges of Calatagan, Balayan, or Calaca across the bay.

We reserved a family room close to the pool area which has a nice view of the pool and overlooking Balayan Bay.  Our room consists of 2 beds and an extra mattress. The room is spacious with a flat TV with a cable connection, hot and cold water supply, and complimentary drinks. The bathroom needs a little bit of upkeep. The curtain rod is rusty and the floor metal strainer there are visible water stains on the wall tiles. 

We got ourselves settled while waiting for the sun to come down so we take a dip in the infinity pool. 

view of the pool area from our room

view of the pool at night illuminated by capiz lights

The pool area is clean and a lifeguard is always on duty. A free towel is also available. The pool is divided into two. The smaller one is deep and is used for practice diving. After swimming, we went to explore the place. They have an Ifugao-like room on the hills and they also have a huge aviary with exotic birds and a small chapel in the resort. The bar is also open until 8 pm if you want to have alcohol.

Chapel in Awari Bay

For our dinner, we booked a private place under a huge tree and my brother arranged a mixed grill dinner for all of us. But the thing is we have to grill ourselves. Which I think was fun. We had tilapia, chicken wings, hotdogs, prawns, pork belly, and talong. We enjoyed the dinner while enjoying the cool breeze from the sea. 

The next day, we tried the kayak which can accommodate 2 people. It was free for the hotel guests. We also played beach volleyball in their activity area which can accommodate bigger groups like company activities. I am sure there are other activities available that the resort can offer like diving and island hopping. 

We ate our breakfast in the elevated gazebo that can sit around 8 people. They offer different choices but we chose American breakfast. The bacon and hash brown was a little bit oily but I am satisfied, but I could have chosen a simple Pinoy breakfast of Tapa+Fried rice :) 

We are all satisfied with our stay. The hotel staff were all polite and always greets with a smile. It's a well-maintained resort wide range of activities to choose from. I am sure you will never run out of things to do during your stay in the hotel. For me the resort is expensive but it's worth the price. I highly recommend the place for someone who wants a respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. 

How to get there: 

The resort is about an hour away from the Star Tollway exit in Batangas City if you are coming from Manila by car, passing by the towns of San Pascual and Bauan. The fastest route is taking the Star Tollway extension right after the Toll exit in Batangas city which will lead you straight to Bauan. From the end of the tollway extension turn left then first right going to Mabini.

If you are taking public transportation, there are jeepneys plying the route of Batangas City- Mabini from Grand Terminal in Batangas City. 

Welcome Back - Again!

I have an on and off affair with this blog. 

Its been 3 years since my last post. There was pandemic lockdowns and other personal matters that I needed to focus on and I completely lost time to write and got too lazy to manage this blog. 

I went home to Philippines before the lockdown and I don't know where this blog will lead to after this post. You see, I did not return to to Dubai after the pandemic.

Will I retain the same name as Mang Juan - a blogpost of an OFW living in Dubai? 

For that I don't have an answer at the moment to be honest. But one thing is for sure. I will try my best to get going this year. Pick up the broken pieces and will try to find motivation to write again. Probably a rebirth of sort for that matter... 

I hope to explore and write more stuff about travel and food around Batangas, since I live here. And probably any places close to Batangas if I have time to travel and explore places.

I hope you bear with me this time and I apologize for a very long hiatus.

Well its me again... Mang Juan

or Juan. It doesn't matter :) 

I Travelled to Manila Amidst the Covid-19 Scare

Royal Brunei Flight From Dubai to Brunei

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Note: Traveled to Manila from Dubai last March 16, 2020

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I was scheduled to travel to Manila via Brunei from Dubai on March 29, 2020. But I was convinced by my wife to rebook for an earlier flight because of Covid-19 that caused several countries to impose travel restrictions on arrivals, departures and even on transiting passengers. She kept on updating me on the travel situations in Manila prior to my travel. Finally, I was able to rebook my ticket for March 16.

From Dubai

A family friend volunteered to drop me at the airport at 11 pm (March15) even my flight was 6am the next day. I just thought that being at the airport earlier would save me from extra stress and I would be able to reroute just in case the flight was canceled to the last minute.

Dubai Airport was busy as usual, but I noticed that there were fewer passengers moving around the check-in area. I switched on the alarm on my cellphone just in case I dozed off to sleep and I might miss the check-in. Around 4 am the check-in counters opened, I went straight to immigration and boarded the train to the boarding gates.

I anticipated that there booking cancellations, but I was really surprised that there were only about 26 passengers from Dubai to Brunei. We were seated separately in just one section of the airplane, so I had the 3 seats available for me as my bed for the whole flight.

I brought with my face masks, wet wipes and hand sanitizer in my body bag. I wiped my table with wet wipes and sprayed a little bit of alcohol on my seats before sitting. The flight attendants made sure that we are all comfortably seated and kept on checking on each passenger just in case we might need anything.

Before landing in Brunei, we were given a Health Declaration Form to be handed over to the transit area personnel before boarding the onward flight to Manila.

Health Declaration Form for Brunei 

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All Star Travel handled my travel requirements from Dubai to Manila.

FB: www.facebook.com/allstartravelandevents/

Website: http://all-startravel.com

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From Brunei

( Brunei Airlines suspended Dubai – Brunei flights starting March 24, 2020 )

Royal Brunei Flight from Brunei to Manila

I arrived in Brunei at 6pm and proceeded to the boarding area for the 630 pm onward flight to Manila. There were only 9 passengers traveling from Brunei to Manila.

Brunei airport is compact and small. There are view shops at the airport. I wanted to buy a Starbucks mug souvenir for my wife but there was no Starbucks café in the airport.

At NAIA T 1

I reached Manila 9 pm on March 16, 2020. The airport was almost empty. I think we were the only passengers arriving at that time.

Skyway @5am 

I did not know that the government implemented Enhanced Quarantine all over Luzon. My wife informed me in advance that I may not be able to reach Batangas because of Luzon wide lockdown and there might be checkpoints along the way.

I quickly searched the FB and found out that all the provincial buses going to Batangas had temporarily stopped operation. I tried also checking Grab taxi but it was showing unavailable at my location. My remaining option was to take the airport taxi to Batangas. I decided to stay at the airport for a few hours and travel early in the morning the next day.

When I left the airport around 5am the next day, South Luzon expressway was almost empty. Few cars were traveling on both sides of the road including the STAR Tollway all the way to Batangas. The taxi driver informed me that airport taxis are exempted from the transport ban because they have a special permit to transport arriving passengers from the airport.

Manong driver kept me wide awake for a 1.5 hours travel to Batangas City with his taxi driver stories. I requested Manong to drop me in front of the church to pray and give thanks for my safe travel to the Philippines.

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Travel hack: White Airport taxi is cheaper than the Yellow Airport taxi. From NAIA T1 to Batangas City, White taxi rate is 2500 + toll fee while the Yellow taxi rate is 5200.

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