Hotel Kimberly Tagaytay Stay

It has been a while since our last visit in Tagaytay. My husband and I decided to have a short Tagaytay trip and decided to stay in Hotel Kimberly Tagaytay. I have known this hotel for a long time already for I have few friends who raved about the hotel because the place is so relaxing and child friendly. Indeed, it was!

I booked a one-night stay via their website  to avail of the free 500 pesos that can be consumed at the hotel. The rates were higher in other booking sites than booking directly at the hotel.

The rooms

Weekday rate for that time was 4800++ per night in an either twin or queen room. In our first night, we stayed at their twin room. It was located at the 2nd floor.IMG_20180103_175216

There was also an access to the pool area in the same floor without passing to the lobby.  Guests who were wet from swimming were advised to use that way to avoid exposure to other guests in the cafeteria and in the lobby.

Elevators were also available.

It was nice of them to give our kids a complimentary ginger breads and a glass of milk.IMG_20180103_201218

In the morning, the kids were requesting to stay for another night. So, we decided to stay 2 more nights instead. On our second night were transfered to another room because they were fully-booked that day. We stayed at their Queen room for same rate. We returend to the same twin room on our third night.

 

The view from our room’s terrace (Queen Room).

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The view from our room’s terrace (Twin Room).

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The Hotel Ground and Activities

The hotel has a family game room where you can play billiards, indoor basketball, table football etc.

You can also lounge at their lobby.  The WIFI was fine at the lobby than inside the room.

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They have heated pool for adult but the two children’s pool was not. It was clean though. My kids enjoyed playing and swimming at the pool even though  it was too cold that time. The good thing here was, you can relax sitting beside the pool while watching the kids. You can also order food from their cafeteria.

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During weekdays, horse-back riding starts at 4PM that cost 200 pesos for a 20-minute ride. It will take 4 rounds around the field at the back of the hotel. They don’t allow kids to ride the horse alone. On weekends, they have 2 schedules for horse-back riding. One in the morning and one in the afternoon.

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The kids can pet and feed the rabbits in the afternoon. The manong caretaker also brought the Iguana out of its cage for the kids to touch and took some photos with it.

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Children playground and outdoor gym is right across the children’s pool area.

 

My kids were also lucky that one manong caretaker of the mini zoo allowed them to feed other animals like ducks, pigs and chicken. Ang kulit kasi nila 😀 Nang-uusisa.

Tour around the zoo and the farm were conducted by the zoo caretaker.

 

 

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We were able to experience their bonfire and movie night at the pool area.

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The Breakfast Buffet

For every night of stay, you would be given two breakfast stubs. Children 7 and up was free but we were able to request a free breakfast for them since they didn’t eat much in the morning.

The prices in their menu was reasonable with big servings. We had our dinner there once.

It was really a relaxing and amazing vacation. We didn’t visit other places in Tagaytay that time but we did enjoy the hotel and their amenities.

How to go there

For commuters, you can take a bus going to Nasugbu or Lian Batangas or Alfonso/Mendez Cavite. It will have passed Mahogany Market. You can inform the bus driver or conductor to drop you off at the crossing going to Amadeo. Then took a tricycle that cost 30 pesos for the whole ride or 10 pesos per person.

For those with own transportation, you may follow the route going to Tagaytay via Sta. Rosa Road if you came from SLEX or via Silang Rd if you came from Aguinaldo Highway. Turn to right at Petron after you passed-by Magallanes Square or The Inn at the Cliff. Turn right again when you reached the crossing going to Amadeo Road. Hotel Kimberly is at the left side of Amadeo Road.

 

Official Hotel Kimberly Tagaytay website is http://www.hotelkimberlytagaytay.com/

 

 

Celebrating 7th Birthday at Dino Island and Zoobic Safari

A year before my son’s 7th birthday, I was contemplating if we will give him a big party with a themed-cake,  nice balloon decoration, exciting magic show with games, sweet bar with beautiful setup and a lot more like what he had when he was one year old.  Our dilemma started when he particularly requested that all of his classmates must attend the party which I know will not be possible since there are those who really don’t attend in most parties.  He also wanted to have a magic show. How can we assure that they will all come including other family friends and relatives? We also noticed that he is no longer interested to join kiddie games when attending birthday parties.  He just stays on his seat watching. That is the time I decided not to have a big party anymore but instead have a short out-of-town travel and a simple birthday party in his school with magic show of course.

Since he love dinosaurs and visiting the zoo, we decided to go to Dinosaur Island in Pampanga and Zoobic Safari (Subic).

We purchased Dinosaur Island’s and Zoobic Safari tickets from Metrodeal at 199.00 and 298.00 pesos per person respectively. We also booked Vista Marina in SBMA for 2 nights stay.  We packed our bags and we were off to Pampanga and Subic last June 2016.

We took a bus to Dau, Pampanga (Victory Liner) from Pasay. The tickets was bought days before the travel date so that there won’t be any problem securing them.  You may visit Victory Liner’s website for fare matrix information here.

Clarkland Dinosaur Island

From Dau terminal, we took a tricycle going to SM Clark. It cost us around Php 100.00 and I find it expensive since SM Clark is just nearby but we still took it since we were 3 adults and 2 kids and a big luggage with us. If you don’t have any heavy luggage with you, you may walk towards the highway and take a jeepney with SM Clark signage.

In SM Clark, we rented a private car going to and from Dinosaur Island at Php 500.00 pesos. The driver waited for us in the park. Parking area are also available. You can also have a side trip at Paradise zoo which we didn’t do because we will be visiting another zoo in Subic. I have no idea if there is a cheaper way to commute to the said park but I heard that if you pass by in Mabalacat you can get a jeepney from there. If you have any knowledge on how to commute to Dino Island please help comment in this blog.

We were lucky that we were the only guests during that time. We immediately registered and submitted the voucher I purchased from Metrodeal. There was a lady tour guide that helped us go around. The place is not that big that you can finish the tour in 30 minutes.

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Inside the park, you will see some life-size animatronics dinosaurs. They even produced roaring sounds when you passed-by each dinosaur.

 

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You will also be able to climb up in a tree house where you can take a quick photo acting like feeding a T-Rex.

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At the end of the tour, there was a Dino Dancing Show.  A train ride was also included in the tour where you will be attacked by moving dinosaurs as the train passed through the jungle.

 

Vista Marina stay

In the afternoon we went ahead to Subic and rode a van in Dau terminal.  We booked Vista Marina hotel’s corporate deluxe room at 3,000 pesos per night. It is located at Moonbay Marina Area Waterfront Road SBFZ (Subic Bay Freeport Zone). You may check their website here. The room comes with one king sized bed. We were glad that they let us borrow one extra mattress for my mom without a fee. Maybe because there were only few guests stayed during that time. The room is clean and big enough for us.

 

Zoobic Safari

On our second day,  we had a quick breakfast in the hotel and called a taxi to bring us to Zoobic Safari. We paid 600 pesos for one way. You must tell the driver to fetch you in the afternoon. Don’t forget to get the driver’s mobile number so you can call him if you are about to finish the safari tour so that both of you will not wait that long in the waiting area to go back to the hotel or whichever you would want to go after the tour.

The safari day tour is very well guided. It includes the Zoobic Park, Forbidden Cave, Savannah, Aetas Trail, Bone Muzooeum, Tiger Safari, Animal Muzooeum, Croco Loco, Serpentarium, Tiger Close Encounter. Tram-Train is also available to bring you from one place to another. The staff of the zoo were very accommodating when I printed a wrong voucher which was the voucher of Dinosaur Island. They allowed me to use their computer in the office to access my Metrodeal account to get the correct voucher.

While I was downloading the correct voucher, they already allowed my companions to go ahead and start the safari show that showcases different animals and tribal dances.

At the entrance there is a pet shop where pets like rabbit, birds and the like are being sold.

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After the show, we were directed to ride a tram-train to the tigers’ den where you get to experience a close encounter with the tigers and feed them with chicken meat.

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Then we visited other spots like Zoobic Park, Forbidden Cave, Savannah, Aetas Trail, Bone Muzooeum, Tiger Safari, Animal Muzooeum, Croco Loco and Serpentarium.

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The tour ended around past 1:00 in the afternoon and we returned to the hotel for late lunch. We enjoyed the day at the resort and checked-out the next day.

 

Must try restaurants in Subic/ Olongapo 

  1. Xtremely Xpresso for pizza, nachos and pasta.
  2. Meat Plus for steaks.
  3. Cocolime for all time Filipino dishes.
  4. Wimpy’s for burger.
  5. The Coffee Shop at Barreto Olongapo City. You need to take a blue jeep bound to Zambales. If by car, from SBFZ exit at Kalaklan gate long Dewy Ave. and pass through the coastal road going to Zambales.
  6. Pier 1 along Dewey ave is also a good place to eat.
  7. Scuba Shack bar and grill for seafoods.

 

How to commute to Dinosaur Island in Clark Pampanga

Take a bus bound to Dau, Pampanga. We took Victory Liner from Pasay.  From Dau, we hired a tricycle that cost 200 pesos to bring us at SM Clark Pampanga. We opted this ride since we have bags with us.  For cheaper option, you may walk to the highway where jeepneys passes by that will bring you to SM Clark at a minimum fare. Then rent a private car (just ask the guard they know who to contact) from SM Clark to Dinosaur Island. They charged us 500.00 pesos round trip.

 

How to commute to SBFZ and Safari.

Pasay to Olongapo or Cubao to Olongapo. Take a bus bound to Olongapo City. If you are staying inside the SBFZ take a bus bound to Olongapo via SCTEX. Let the driver drop you off at Ayala Mall.

If from Dau, you can either take a bus that comes from Baguio bound to Olongapo. There are also van in the terminal that also goes to Olongapo via SCTEX and drop off in Ayala Mall.

There are taxis available at the main entrance of the mall to bring you to your destination at a flat rate of 60.00 pesos in our case since we stayed at Vista Marina Hotel.

It will cost your 600.00 pesos to Zoobic Safari for one way.  You may get the mobile number of the taxi driver to fetch you again in the afternoon.

If you are staying at outside the SBFZ, drop off at the Victory Liner terminal. Tricycles and jeepneys are available to take you to your destination.

 

 

Zoo and a Farm in Tagaytay: Paradizoo

Paradizoo is a place where you can find farm animals and buy vegetables and honey.  It is located in Mendez just few kilometers away from Mendez Crossing.  You may also use WAZE to help you reach the place.

We went there last August 2016 and bought our ticket through their website that cost 199.00 pesos per adult and 149.00 pesos for children 3 ft. and above.

The farm has few parking slot near their entrance but you can park at the other side of the farm, few meters away back from the road where you passed by.  Near the main entrance, there are cottages where you can stay for a night.

With the help of their staff, they will guide you on where to go first within the farm. The following are the things you can see in the farm.

Petting zoo/zoo

Our first stop was the petting zoo. Animal food set is available for animal fed.

There are also other animals like native boar, horses, pony, tiger, ostrich and sheep.

 

Flower Garden and their vegetable/fruit farm

After such we passed by their flower garden before going up to their vegetable farm. At the top of the farm, there is a shop where you can buy their farm grown vegetables and fruits.

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Vegetables for sale

 

Butterfly Sanctuary and Honeybee shop

Going down back to the entrance, you will passed by their butterfly garden and honeybee shop. You can have a taste of the honeys for free. The honey cost around 150.00 to 250.00 pesos.

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Pet Cemetery

Yes you read it right.

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You can also have a snack/lunch at their cafe and shop at their souvenir shop.

 

 

 

 

A Visit to Avilon Zoo (Montalban Rizal)

My family visited Avilon Zoo in Montalban Rizal. I bought vouchers from metrodeal at 200 per person. Kids of 1 year old and above has to pay the same amount. On a regular rate, it will cost you 400 per adult and 300 for kids 1 year and above. Only babies 12 months and below are free of charge.

Avilon zoo is located at Montalban Rizal. I was able to find from other blog on how to go there by commuting. You can visit their website here.

From Cavite, we rode a van going to Save More in Edsa-Taft, then took MRT going to Araneta station. Beside Farmer’s there are vans/FX going to Montalban Rizal and just ask around which FX goes there and inform the driver to drop you off at Total Gas Station. Just keep reminding him after 30 minutes of travel without traffic. The fare cost is 50 pesos per person. From Total gas station, cross the street where orange tricycles park. Inform the driver to bring you to Avilon Zoo. Fare rate is 50 pesos per tricycle that can accommodate 3-4 persons.

Avilon Park is right beside Avilon zoo. So after a tiring morning in the zoo, you can enjoy swimming at their pool or stay for a night at Avilon park. I haven’t check their rates though.

Souvenir shop is also available inside the zoo that sell animal stuff toys. I also saw puppies being sold too.

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The kids can feed some animals, take picture with an orangutan for a certain cost and see some farm animals like horse and sheep.

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There are lots of animals around. From birds, to reptiles, small mammals, farm animals, bear ( that I find it sad, I don’t know maybe he is tired for he was hiding from the stones so we haven’t seem the bear closely), different species of cats and others.

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There are also picnic area where you can eat aside from the dinning area near the entrance.

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Food stands are available too stand inside the zoo that sells hotdog, drinks, pizza, and crackers.

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At the entrance, you can also find chairs and table for you to eat your baon or buy rice meal, hotdogs, junk foods and ice cream.

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Tip: Bring you own drinks will helps a lot or maybe a portable cooler with lots of ice for its to hot inside the zoo.