MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND @ CASA SAN PABLO / May 9-10,2009 =D

As it is every summer @ Eduardo’s (the ancestral home on my father’s side), talk turns to the annual summer trip that we all swore we would take every year as a clan after our first bonding trip in Boracay back in 1994. We have not taken an actual trip since—but we have always reminisced about Boracay every summer. Haha.

This year, Sister Pusjing and Cousin Trix (I've decided to change her code name in this blog, hehe) were adamant about taking a real trip. Cousin-in-law V suggested that maybe we should be less ambitious. Don’t plan a trip that will require people to file their leaves from work and board a plane to some place exotic, he suggested. Maybe we can just go to Batangas. Basta somewhere near. Maybe then, we’d actually get somewhere. He has come to know our family well. Haha! =D

So it goes that the mad hunt for an overnight place no more than 3 hours away (by land) was on. After several email exchanges about this-and-that place and online discussions about the pros and cons of each, Cousin Day sent a link to Casa San Pablo. She has never been there, she said, but it sounded interesting. Eureka!

I’ve always heard nice things about Casa San Pablo—usually in reference to the famed Viaje de Sol (that Hubby Sweet and I always swore we would take either before or after visiting his home province of Marinduque). We never got around to actually doing it; we were always pressed for time. I voted yes on the cousins_plus online poll. “Finally!” I thought.

We sold the adults on the idea of Casa San Pablo as the hub from which we can go to the pottery garden of Ugu Bigyan (which the titas would probably love) or the workshop of sculptor Carlito Ortega (which, I figured, Father would be interested in) or the numerous organic gardens cum café along the way (which are right up Mother’s and Tito Fred’s alley). Or we can just simply stay at the Casa and do…..uh….nothing. After high-stress work weeks, that’s actually the equivalent of pure bliss. =)

Sold! =) Sister Pusjing booked everyone online (with slight difficulty, but everything was eventually worked out), and it is quite serendipitous, I suppose, that we all decided to go off on this get-away during Mother’s Day weekend. Instant “ganda points” from the moms and titas because they all realized that they would not have to cook all weekend! The best Mother’s Day gift ever. Hahaha! =D

Casa San Pablo is actually the Gomez family’s private estate, a former coconut plantation which they have decided to convert into a weekend hideaway. Thus, advance bookings are required. No walk-ins are allowed; it would be the equivalent of visiting relatives for a weekend stay without calling ahead. Although Boots (a great grandchild) and Ann (his wife) Alcantara are the official “punong-abala” when it comes to reservations (and making sure that those they “let in” into their own home are real lambs and not wolves-in-sheep’s-clothing), they are not always there. Their mother, whom we met and fondly call as Tita Vinia, lives in one of the houses on the property. Treating us like she would real family friends, she would amble over intermittently to chat with our titas and to check if meals are OK. She was never intrusive (despite 3-year old niece GB’s blatant question, “Why is that lola here again?!”, not realizing that Tita Vinia actually owned the place, haha)—she was just being a gracious, hospitable host who would made sure her guests are being taken cared off before taking a French leave so they can be comfortable “being themselves”. Mi casa, su casa. At least for the weekend. =)

The coconut trees have since given way to lush open spaces dotted with pine trees. It reminded me a lot of Baguio (except that the weather is Laguna-warm), and a lot of Cawayanon (the executive housing facility within the Tomato & Pineapple Company plantation).

Still, Casa San Pablo is not about five-star accommodations. The guest houses are quirky and quaint; the amenities are basic. Uratex foam mattresses, aircon, hot shower. Don’t look for sunflower showerheads, mood lighting, snuggly comforters and goose down pillows; you won’t find them here. That said, unless you’re super-picky, the amenities will more than do. They actually add to the entire weekend get-away experience.

In addition to the guest houses, four other private houses stand on the estate. But the entire estate is expansive enough so despite the fact that we were a group of almost 20 folks, including children, we’re pretty sure their privacy remained intact.

The thing you have to remember when you do decide to hole-up in Casa San Pablo for the entire weekend is that you have to make sure that you genuinely like the people you’re with. Haha! There are no other distractions available. No TV, for sure. There’s the pool. There’s a hall with a videoke set-up. Unless you brought a ton of weekend reading materials (hopefully non-work related), board games, or a lucky set of playing cards (we didn’t; cousin Marvs had to buy a deck at the nearby Puregold), there is not much else to do.

Still, because we did genuinely like the people we were with, our weekend in San Pablo breezed by.

The grounds were open for everyone to roam around, but we respectfully stayed away from areas where subtle “Private Area” signs stood. The private areas weren’t fenced in, but still. =D Spending most of our time in the concrete jungle, we—especially Patita and GB—enjoyed walking around the grounds.

The two girls even adopted this sculpture as their “pet” for the weekend, and even gave him a name. Creatively, they called him…uh….”Sheepy”. Haha.

Cousin Trix and Cousin-in-Law V came prepared with games. After settling down, we played Pictionary--boys vs. girls. =)

When that ran its course, we played Charades--where "Psycho" has been added to the family's all-time favorite from a previous get-together, "Knock-out". Haha. =)

Somewhere, someone with a broadband stick (uh, me) set-up her laptop (shame! *sheepish grin =D*) so everyone can take turns accessing Yahoo, Friendster, Facebook, etc., etc. Yup. Come to think of it, it also turned out to be a good time for Mother, Lola A and Panids and Panet to catch up on all the photos of Miggy (who's in Canada), Noah (who’s in New York) and Tata Men (who's in Singapore) that cousins Ate Babs, Tam and Mama Mi would regularly post online. Somewhere in the background, Mother, of course, spelled out her complaint for the nth time, “How come nobody prints these pictures anymore?!” Haha. =)

When the games were over, one group stayed huddled in a table, telling stories (a.k.a. making chismis) while going through bags of chips, watermelon seeds and leftover buko pie. One group decided they were going to play cards—and it would never cease to amaze me how playing cards can turn rowdy. Haha!

Sometime mid-afternoon, a light shower turned into a heavy downpour, and the story-telling group decided it would be fun to once again take a bath in the rain, as we once did when we were kids. Sadly, the heavy downpour was short-lived. All wet, we decided it was time to head off to the pool—where, upon seeing Lolo Arts in his “skimpy…uh…swimming trunks” (swimming trunks in triple quotation marks, haha), 3-year old niece GB couldn’t help but blurt out the one line that will be remembered for all time: “Why is that Lolo Art wearing panty lang?!” HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! =D (Thankfully, no uploaded photos of Lolo Arts, haha! We love you, Lolo Arts! =D)

That night, we holed ourselves up in the hall (conveniently a foot bridge away from the guest houses and private enclaves within the estate). We could make noise and not bother anyone. Perfect. Hubby Sweet sang. Everyone else just listened. Kidding! =) Everyone got their turn at the mike, but really, it was mostly Hubby Sweet who sang. Haha. As the others videoked themselves until sleep breathed down their necks, the others resumed their card play.

The rest of the time we spent eating. Ah, yes. Eating. The fee at Casa San Pablo may be configured to include full board meals. In their site, they bragged that the meals are usually in the form that is “native” to San Pablo—which we eventually found out to just mean as good, old traditional home cooking. Forget Jollibee or the fancy-schmanzy restaurants in Greenbelt for the weekend. Casa San Pablo is about slow, home-cooked food—what our lolas of old would probably refer to as “real food”.

This lunch menu welcomed us on our first day. Bulalo. Pinaputok na Isda. Lumpiang Hubad. The photo shows what I had on my plate, but it's really a buffet set-up so you can come and go as often and as much as you want. =)

I forgot what we had for dinner; I think I may have skipped it because I don’t think we stopped eating, lunch onwards. What I do remember is the special Halaya that I had for dessert which is unlike the commercial ones readily available these days. While the Good Shepherd version is tops for most, that made in Casa San Pablo was different and more reminiscent of the Halaya that I used to enjoy back when I was a kid—lovingly toiled over, cooked and food-styled by lolos / lolas / titos / titas as Noche Buena and Media Noche approached. Unlike the Good Shepherd variety, Casa San Pablo’s version is coarser (a testament to the possibility that it was hand-made from scratch). The flavor is not as sweet, it was more smoky, more buttery. I gobbled it up, savoring every spoonful and, unfortunately, forgot to take a pic. =)

This greeted us for breakfast the following day. Tocino. Dried fish (a bit on the salty side though). Fried Egg or you can ask the kitchen to prepare any other egg version that you desire.

Hubby Sweet, in fact, asked for scrambled egg made of all-egg-whites, mixed in with slivers of tomato and onion, and the kitchen gladly obliged. (The yolks, I supposed, they created into an all-yolk version of the same thing, haha.)

Breakfast was served with either coffee or what made this particular breakfast truly special for me. Freshly-made tsokolate-ah (as opposed to the too thick –eh), which you can opt to have with a spoonful or two of freshly-toasted pinipig. Sweet comfort in a hot, steaming cup…^_^

Soon after breakfast, the entire family decided to head off to church for Sunday mass. It was a day for thanksgiving—primarily for our moms—but also for the chance to go on the “annual summer outing”. Finally! =D


The church was conveniently right beside (albeit, outside) the compound—more accessible through the gate at the far end of the estate. Having been confined to the “public areas” the day before, the walk to the church allowed us to get a glimpse of just how expansive Casa San Pablo was.

I know envy is a sin, but we could not help it. Our green hue gave rise to the other thing that we did while we were in Casa San Pablo.

We dreamt.

We dreamt that someday, all of us can be rich enough to be able to afford our family’s very own Casa Eduardo y Aniceta. Haha!

Malay niyo….=D

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CREDITS!!! Thanks to Cousin Trix and Cousin-in-Law V for the pictionary, charades, pool and group pics. Beautiful, beautiful! 'Thought I'd include it to further enhance my memory of the weekend. =) The rest (especially the blurry ones, haha) were taken from my cell camera. Pwede na. =)

We never got around to visiting all the other places we said we’d visit and stayed in Casa San Pablo the entire time. Viaje del Sol, therefore, would have to remain (for now) as an unfinished project between Hubby Sweet and me. Click here to see if it is something that would interest you as well.

Also, if this post has intrigued you enough to try staying at Casa San Pablo, click here for more details. =)