Grace Island Resort, Occ. Mindoro

This’ll be my first blog ever and it’ll be about my recent travel to Occ. Mindoro last April 25-28, 2012.  This trip is actually all about business, since we facilitated a team building activity for a government office in San Jose.  We took a flight via Air Philippines 2P 0041 bound for San Jose at 5:20am on Wednesday/ April 25, 2012. Inside the plane, I couldn’t find myself to sleep even if we woke up at around 2am just to be at the NAIA Terminal 3 at least 2 hours before our scheduled flight. I peeked at the window’s plane, trying to figure out where we were. .  Are we on top of the Taal Lake? LOL.. That I don’t know.. But it seems that we were during this shot. ;)

We arrived at San Jose & were fetched by the office staff assigned.  

We stayed at Villa Paulina Garden Resort at Brgy. Bubog, San Jose.  The place is okay, since it is located along the shorelines.

 

We had a nice room, good air-conditioning, cabled channels – okay, but the water that runs through their faucets has this certain smell when you open it. Maybe because the water is somehow mixed with sea water? But after a few minutes of letting the water flow, the smell would definitely go away (or maybe you’re already immune to it? Lol)

They offer the regular breakfast, Tap-Si-Log [Tapa (beef) + Sinangag (Fried Rice) + Itlog (Fried Egg)], Bang-Si-Log [Bangus (Fried Boneless Milk Fish + Sinangag (Fried Rice) + Itlog (Fried Egg)], and the like, all served with your choice of coffee or tea.  The service is okay, the staffs are friendly & very accommodating.

For the whole solid two-days, we had full of activities that make us all tired by the end of the day. But I can say that we have learned lots of things while on it!  By Friday, we were all treated for an Island Adventure at the Grace Island Resort.  It is an hour boat ride from Aroma Beach.  

You will pass this small rock formation that has been used by the Grace Island Resort as their symbol.

When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted with a band playing diff. kinds of songs plus a cold drink (strawberry juice).  It was a very hot day.  

You can see cottages floating atop the sea water and beneath were different kinds of fishes.

Hubby & I got to roam around the whole island and what we surprised us is that there’s a sandbar.

They have mini zoo were you can see birds, alligators & monkeys.  Zip Line is also available.

The view from the top is more awesome.  The sea color had all shades of blue to bluish-green.  It is so nice that the sweat we’re having is almost forgotten.

We got to try the pedal boat and the kayak, which actually was my first! It was a nice experience.

It was all FUN! :D

If you'll plan to go here, I will be giving you some tips for you to have a more enjoyable stay here.

• Air Philippines, Philippine Airlines and Zest Air have regular flights from Manila (MNL) to San Jose (SJI).
• Check the website of the said resort for further info and if you're lucky, you might find discounts as well.
• Bring your own bottled/ mineral water.  FYI:  Grace Island Resort doesn't have there own source of fresh water in the island, all the water you'll be using were all brought to the island through containers.  So please, try to save water while in there.
• I couldn't think of anything more except for this last item I want you to NOT forget.  Bring your sunblock! :)
• And of course, ENJOY! :)