BALAI ISABEL - A perfect hideaway

Less than two-hour drive from Manila, awaits the splendor of this beautiful hideaway which offers an upclose and personal view of the lake and the taal volcano. CLUB BALAI ISABEL is approximately an hour and a half away from Manila. Driving on the new addition of the South Luzon Expressway ( SLEX ) and just a few kilometers away from the first exit of star toll.. travel to the sleepy town of Talisay and you are there. 

CLUB BALAI ISABEL or BALAI ISABEL for short,  is located on the shores of the world-famous Taal Lake and across from its volcano. It is a place where you can relax, commune with nature. 

BALAI ISABEL'S amenities and facilities make it definitely an excellent choice for holidays, special occasions or  bonding time with your family..... Enjoy typical Batangas cuisine served at the TERRAZA CAFE. You can take a refreshing dip in their infinity pools ( there are 2 infinity pools )... hang out in the cabanas,  enjoy water sports such as kayaking and sailing, or take a boat ride and get a closer look at Taal Volcano’s crater on horseback. 

An extra ordinary experience with the Cinematics Team ( Day 2 )

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!!! It is a great day ---- perfect weather for our photo shoot at the Twin Islands.

As we agreed the night before, the team met at the Wawa Boat Station to take a banca to the Twin Islands at 6 o'clock in the morning... the reason for this early morning ride was ---- when the tide comes in -- it will be very hard for us to do the prenup shoot on the island. Pen negotiated for our boat trip, since he was from Nasugbu, he haggled and got a good price for our trip.

The boat ride to the Twin Islands was approximately 45 minutes ( one way ). It was very relaxing to take an early morning boat ride, my camera did not stop clicking all the way to the island. In case you are interested to visit the island --- a banca from the Wawa Boat Station it will cost you 3000PHP ( roundtrip ). 

( Courtesy of Cinematiconcepts )

When we got to one of the islands... the team decided to climb to the top for the photo shoot...  The team brought up the bikes and our equipment. It was very steep and hard to climb. I decided to wait for them at the shore. According to the team-- climbing to the top of the island was really worth it. It was picture pretty --- . This island is reachable when it is low tide. There is usually a sandbar in between the two islands where you can walk. When the tide rises the sandbar disappears. Be careful and watch where you step--- the stone formations at the sandbar and on the islands itself are very slippery.

An extra ordinary experience with the Cinematics Team ( Day 1 )

I had another extraordinary experience with Iggy and the Cinematiconcepts team.... I joined them on another prenup photo shoot in Batangas.. They were going to shoot Dondi and Jasper's prenup. The team knew how adventurous I am--- so they had no problem in trying to convince me to join their team for the shoot. I have joined Iggy and his team on two occasions already... the first one was -- a scuba dive shoot in Anilao, Batangas, where their clients were avid divers --and the last one was in Pampanga -- where we all rode an ultralight plane... Believe me!! These photo shoots are so much fun and exciting!!!

It was so different during my time -- wherein we ONLY had the usual " pamanhikan ( the future groom's family goes over to the house of the bride-to-be to ask for her hand ) "... then ... the " despedida de soltera " ( a formal dinner for the future bride given by her parents )... we never heard of PRE NUP shoots!! During those times we would have a slide or video presentation of the bride and groom growing up etc ( which was sometimes too corny!!) .... but with our new generation --- the whole thing becomes one big production!! Iggy and the Cinematiconcepts team goes on wedding prenups outside the country, their prenup shoots are so unusual that they become very unique in their work... and I, being a very adventurous person always go with them....

I have met Dondi and Jasper last year at Iggy's birthday dinner --- that was when he proposed to Jasper... Dondi is a good friend of the Cinematics team.... so it wasn't that hard to gather all of us to do this prenup with them..... Iggy and Dondi used to play in a band some years back.

Dondi and Jasper share one passion..... riding their bikes.. Recently they joined the  13th Tour of the Fireflies together with 12,000 other bikers which travelled all the way from Tiendesitas to the Cultural Center of the Philippines and back... It was a 42 km ride. So the theme of their photo shoot will be that of their love of biking...

Join me now as I document my latest adventure.....

A Photo Shoot in ANILAO

Anilao is a diver's paradise in the Philippines. It is popular because of its very beautiful and enchanted diving sites. Anilao is good for an amateur or novice diver as well as experienced diver. The waters are teeming with marine life, plenty of corals and fishes. Anilao is not far from Manila... actually it is only 2 1/2 hours away which make it the closest weekend paradise for divers. It is located in the southeast tip of Batangas in a town called Mabini. Anilao is not for beach lovers because there are lots of rocks and corals.... no powdery sand beaches... but the ocean facing it promises a tantalizing life of sea creatures.

Due to Anilao's steep location, all most all of the resorts here are built along the hillsides of the mountains overlooking the sea. Steep roads, and vertical steps inside the resorts can bring health benefits for weight watchers but very dangerous for children.