Last Sunday, February 23, 2025 when my fraternity brothers and their guests departed for Metro-Manila and to other destinations, Club Morocco immediately turned into a “graveyard”. It was eerily silent with nary a soul walking the corridors. We found out later that other than us only one room was still occupied. We went to dinner that night and we had the entire restaurant for ourselves.

At 10:00 am the following day, Monday February 24th, our “borrowed vehicle” arrived to pick us up to take to our “new home” – Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. Immediately, upon entering the resort’s compound we felt like being transported to the Spanish Colonial Era in the Philippines. Hotel staff garbed in the costumes used during that period. After our check-in, a Jeepney (a colorful public utility vehicle that serves as the most popular means of transportation, especially, in Metro-Manila) took us to our designated building. It wasn’t the most comfortable ride however short. I surmised the vehicle did not have shock absorbers or they must need replacement and the noxious exhaust dangerously inhaled along the way. But we got to our destination with our lungs and rear ends intact!

You can also ride a horse-drawn carriage for a fee or ride in style in a Rolls-Royce replica!

About our room, Murphy’s law proved it is everywhere! The first night the toilet tank woke us up all night since the flow failed to stop when it reached the full mark. I had to turn off the valve to stop it. That morning, I tried to shower but the water would not shift to the shower head! We had to use the bath tub which fortunately had a retractable shower head but these seniors had to squat to wash our hair! That afternoon, the television stopped working (it was fine the previous day) and I suspected the batteries were dead. By the way, the rooms do not have phones and our room is located quite a distance from the reception/front desk I had to use my local cell phone to call them. But everything’s working now.

We joined the free walking tour where we learned a lot about history of the Philippines and the background of the “transplanted” houses. I learned the “truth” about Lola Basyang Grandmother Basyang) a short story writer. Lola Basyang was a pen name of a male writer who pretended to be a female which according to myth that children listened better to stories coming from a grandmother! The famous characters of Lola Basyang (and I remember them vividly) were the manananggal (a mythical vampire-like creature that is able to separate its upper torso from its lower part); tikbalang ((half-human and half-horse); kapre (a muscular giant who usually sits in trees) and many others.

It so happened that during our 3-day stay in the resort students from the University of Pangasinan were also there on an Experiential Tourism Program. I noticed that they were predominantly female students who were all energetic and excited to be in the beautiful resort.

I need to mention that our booking included free breakfast or lunch. The spacious dining room has two options for breakfast buffet- Filipino, consisting of fried or plain rice, longganisa (sausage), fried dried fish, adobo, puto (no, this is not a bad word!), pan de sal, etc, the usual foods Pinoys eat for almusal; and Western, French toast, fried eggs, bacon, etc. But the thing I liked best was the barako (local coffee beans) coffee – strong, full-bodied and aromatic! As always, there are people who doesn’t seem to understand that just because you can eat as much as you can in a buffet it doesn’t mean you can bring your plastic bag and containers to fill with food to take with you! Shame, shame, shame! And I noticed several of them were foreigners.

Trini and I did the night boat tour and the small price difference with the day boat tour was well worth it! Not only was the weather more pleasant but the ambiance of the place was totally different at night – shimmering water reflecting the well-placed lightings, buildings and other structures stood out and their beauty enhanced. They called this place “Little Venice” because of the waterways going under the bridges and alongside decorated river walls sans gondola and the singing gondolier.

Today was our last full day. After eating both the Filipino and Western breakfast, I had to make sure I lost some of those calories. So, we walked to the farthest end of the resort which coincidentally is also undergoing construction. The long pier was decorated on both sides with antique-looking lamp posts adorned with intricate sculptures. I rapped my knuckles against these sculptures and noticed they were made of plasters which can easily break!

While the food wasn’t that great and accommodations lacked the comfort and amenities that we’ve experienced in other resorts, the place has a remarkable history and impressive colonial structures. The hospitality that the staff demonstrated is commendable; they were always courteous and cheerful! Overall, we enjoyed our stay and would recommend it to our friends and families!

Tomorrow we leave for Project 4 and the day after that we will head to Tagaytay to attend a wedding.