Just got back from beautiful Pico de Loro. Pico is a residential resort village in Nasugbu, Batangas’s Hamilo Coast, and it’s named as such because Mt. Pico is shaped like a parrot’s beak–hence “de Loro” (Loro=parrot in Filipino). The trip to Pico was only a bit more than 2 hours from Makati using the Cavitex route, so it’s no longer “Pico de Layo,” as my friend told me.

As a representative of Kristn/Hitlist, I went there with several media people and bloggers to experience luxury-style camping with Coleman Philippines’ new Glamping products. Don’t you just love that term? Glamping. It amazes me how even with the English dictionary being as thick as it is, we can still keep adding new words to it. Glamping refers to glamorous camping, and it’s meant for those who want to experience being one with nature without giving up the comforts they’ve grown used to.

I fully expected to sleep in a tent, but Coleman put us up at Pico Sands Hotel instead. While the hotel isn’t very impressive from outside, the interiors are nice and spacious with a tropical modern design. I loved my temporary digs! The premier room had enough bed space for four people, but I just shared it with another media rep, so we were more than comfortable.

Since it was a work trip, we spent a few hours exploring Coleman’s latest products, which were definitely interesting–particularly that outdoor bathroom setup. I won’t go into the details here, since I’ll cover it for Kristn/Hitlist, but I will put up the link to my article when it’s up, in case you want to check it out.

It wasn’t until sunset that we went out to the beach–too late to work on my tan. I did get up relatively early (after a night of cramming some articles, might I add!) to go catch some rays. The beach was sunny and not so crowded. Prime chance to get a tan, right? Too bad my skin didn’t cooperate. Even though I parked my butt in a shade-less lounge chair for over an hour, I only managed to get a very slight tan line and a reddish face.

Oh well. That just means I’ll need to go to the beach again–and this time actually bring some actual tanning lotion!

 

I wasn’t able to swim either because of, ahem, unforeseen events, but I did take a quick dip, both in the beach and in the pool. Some of my newfound friends got stung in the water, so I guess it really is jellyfish season. Nothing serious, though. The Country Club had a lovely series of pools with shallow terraces for younger swimmers and little streams of water bursting out of the spouts in the roof of the central lounge areas. It’s a great place to just chill out and read while listening to music.

There were other facilities like sports courts and game rooms, and you can even go island-hopping and wind-surfing. Unfortunately, since we were on a schedule–and I was trying to catch my deadlines–I wasn’t able to try those. Next time! *crosses fingers*

The trip back to Manila was a very eventful one. Because of several transportation issues, I didn’t get back home until the evening, and then it was time to work, work, work. Still, it was a nice trip overall, and a great way to jumpstart the summer.

Now, if I can just get my hands on those Coleman glamping equipment…