BFFs at solomon's paradise

While I was cleaning and arranging my stuff (sa tagalog kalat) I saw our pictures from one of our summer escapades with my BFFs.

It was in 2008 when the four of us decided to take a weekend vacay and since Cha is a native of Pangasinan we decided to explore Bolinao. We have no reservations or any plans for that matter. It was mid-May and I was a little scared that resorts might be full. I was hoping that since it has been a gloomy week people will decide not to take their vacations that weekend.

solomon's paradise

Out of the four of us I was the only person who does not know how to drive and since Donna offered to bring a van I was in charge of the “chika minute” (partida galing graveyard shift pa to ha) while they take turns in the wheel. It was supposed to be a 4 to 4.5-hour drive but I think it took us 5.5 hours to reach Bolinao (its either cr break or yosi break hehe). It was quite far and that’s the good thing also about traveling with your friends or family, you will not mind the butt-numbing and saliva-spoiling long drive.

Upon reaching Bolinao, we checked the resort that was referred by Cha’s mom. When we reached the place we did not even bother to ask or go to the reception, we all know that it’s not our type (actually choosy mga kasama ko hehe). Tanya then remembered that her cousin stayed in one of the secluded resorts in Bolinao, what worries us was that it might be expensive but it will not hurt to check it out.

The resort was Solomon’s Paradise, it was on the right side of the dirt road and make sure to open your eyes while passing through the road coz they have a small sign, and we missed it on the first pass and almost reached the town of Patar . You will not notice that there was a resort inside, it was a secluded cove and hopefully they have put up a good sign it's worth visiting.

It was a very simple resort. They do not have a swimming pool and their rooms are the kubo-type with no aircon and no television and surprisingly we all fell in love with the place! It was nature at its best.

There was a main house where the caretakers and owners of the resort stay – Rosie a Filipina and her British husband Brett, last time I've heard they now have a baby. They were very nice and sweet couple and very accommodating. Before going to the resort we passed through a market and decided to buy stuff that we need and you can request them to cook the food for a very minimal fee. We were secretly and strategically carrying the cooler inside the kubo loaded with booze and ice without our knowledge that their caretaker was watching us and we were so paranoid that every time they will pass our kubo we will be closing the door and window right away so that they will not see the rice cooker, all the food and the garapon-full of chicken and pork adobo. Later we found out that it was ok to bring in stuff (sinong praning!).

rosie, brett, tanya, donna, cha, momot kuyit

It was gloomy but with no rain when we arrived at Bolinao. The resort was situated in a cove with a short stretch of white with almost pinkish hue sand. I remembered seeing the big waves as it hit the shore, it was a wave of bad weather. We were not able to fully frolick in the waters coz it was quite scary and Tanya was the only one who knows how to swim (mga praning talaga db!)

ayayay! laki alon!

We were the only occupants of the resort but there was 1 group that arrived later that afternoon. It started raining after dinner and it was raining hard and you can hear the wind swooshing and slamming the windows and it was also brownout. The owners told us to stay at the main house it was much safer and they have a generator. I’m a strong person and do not break easily but at that moment I was downright scared for all of us. The tsunami that hit Thailand kept on replaying in my head and I was praying hard and was already thinking of climbing the mountain at the other side of the dirt road. I thanked God when the wind started to calm down and thanked him again when the sun was brightly shining in the morning and for keeping us safe.

We decided to explore the cove that morning. The water was not yet calm but was then tolerable. There was a hole at the left side of the cove and according to Brett you can go there during low tide but dangerous during high tide. We also climbed the right side of the cove. We enjoyed the sun until the clouds started threatening us with rain again. 

me and my BFFs

As we travel home we were surprised how the weather the night before have ravaged the province of Pangasinan, trees were uprooted, roofs were detached agriculture totally ruined, it turned out that it was one of the strongest storms that hit Pangasinan. We offered a prayer for the people of Pangasinan and thanked the Lord for keeping us safe throughout our stay.

many thanks to tanya, charisse and donnabel – you will always and forever be my girls!

HOW TO GET THERE: You may check out their website at http://www.solomonsparadise.multiply.com/. They have instructions how to get there thru private and public transportation.

EXPENSES: As far as I can recall, we spent around P2000 each that time. P1000 each for gas and the rest for food.