Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar

It's another trip to North!  Before  we finally  headed to Las Casas  Filipinas de Acuzar, we first  stopped by at Bataan Tourism Center to get some information and know more of  the tourists spot.  It was my first time to see Bataan and the only thing  I knew about  the place concerns with  the death march and the monument  that  the late President Marcos built to honor  the heroes of  the battle.   We want to maximize the travel and made a quick visit to   Mt. Samat,  Dunsulan Falls and Pawikan Conservation Center.  The Mendiola Family  is really so awesome  and that I consider every  travel  with them  an amazing and  memorable trip. Thanks to Joy who prepared  the itinerary for the day and  to her  husband John  who pushed  the travel  all the way to Pawikan.

Behold Bataan!  That welcomes us at the Tourism Center.  Unfortunately,  the office was still closed when we dropped by  at around 7:45am.  The Communication Rescue and Security  Division  inside the Tourism compound  however  operates  24/7  and  gave us  a brochure of   "It's more fun in Bataan." 



After  a quick glimpse to some tourist spots,  we  went straight to our final destination,   Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.  I  already  had enough information from the internet about the heritage place  but I was still very much surprised when  I stepped my foot inside  Las Casas.   I  felt  like I  traveled back in Spanish Era.   Staff and the workers  wear  traditional clothes including  the guards who  also act  like Guardia Civil.  We were  welcomed  with  Filipino drink,  a very  Pinoy  sago gulaman.



This heritage view welcomed us.  It's like walking back to 19th century.    It was not  quite long ago when I watched on TV about  the old house in Binan.  Now I knew where that house went.  Anyways, I  will leave and  end  the story and controversy  here.   These heritage houses  were  transported  into this village  and   restored.  The owner's  intention and passion to  preserve  and rebuild  old  houses  now  produce  a  heritage resort  but  the history  and  design remain. 

Don't be deceived with this  old door  for  behind  this  is  a  wonderful  sight.  It has all the amenities of a five star hotel.  I could compare the furniture and design to  a world class hotel  in Manila with  modern  facilities.



One of the rooms of the Casas 


There is also a  kalesa  that will tour you around for a  minimum of  P50  per person.

 

The Calesa Ride


Souvenir items and hats are also available at the store. 


 Quick  pose at  La Panaderia. You can buy your refreshment, pasalubong and  light snack in this area.


If  you love old  houses  and  history,  then visit the place and walk back to old times.  


Accommodation:


We stayed in one of the rooms of  Paseo de Escolta with a loft.   It's  a  big room with a  comfortable  couch.  It's a combination of old and new.  The house  has  old  furniture  but   with modern amenities such  as   LCD,   telephone,  ref and   spacious  bath room  with  shower and  bath tub.


It was quite big enough for us. There's no wifi  inside the room but you can  proceed to reception area should  you  need to connect to the online world.


The view from the window  to our rented  room looks like this. The place is very picturesque.  There is no angle that you need to find to have a good shot.   Amazing!


My children weren't really prepared to go on swimming that day.  They told me they're not gonna swim but when they saw the pool, they quickly changed their mind.


The beach was not ideal to swim that day because of the windy weather that creates  big waves.  The lifeguard on duty  told us to just stay in a  shallow area.  It wasn't safe anymore to swim so we  headed back to the  pool.


The spring inspired pool  will  give you a soothing and refreshing feeling.

Here's more of the photo at the pool.  I find it very peaceful with the sky that's  about to turn gray at 6pm. 


If you  walk towards this view,  you'll reach an open sea with equally beautiful sight.  If you are a romantic person and just want to have quiet time,  then this place is for you  to relax with only the sound of the waves  to  hear.



Sunset view at  Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar 



It  was a beautiful sky  although  the sun hardly  appears.  The gold and gray color seemed to blend perfectly that   gave us a very beautiful sunset. 


We went there on Monday  while the  rest of the  world and travelers are busy  for  the  work week.  We almost own the heritage village, ours for the meantime. 



Las Casas de Filipinas de Acuzar by night



 Paseo de Escolta

We stayed in one of the rooms here at  Paseo de  Escolta.  Another  amazing view at night.



Breath taking view in the morning

Cafe Marivent


We choose to stay near the window facing the sea  during  our breakfast at Cafe Marivent  and captured  this  beautiful morning sight. How lovely!


After  breakfast, we headed towards the pool  before our  guided tour started.  I could smell the sea and hear the waves  from this pool.





The Heritage Tour



We're supposed to have  an 8:30am  tour but we woke up very late to catch up  and ended up to 11:30am schedule.  It was really hot for that activity.  The hats given to us served as a shade  walking  from one house to another..  We could have enjoyed a lot more if  the tour's done earlier or  late afternoon.

Our friendly tour guide brought us back to the 19th century through her scripted stories.  I remember only  a  few of them  because  I  was half  focused,  hearing old stories of the past and taking photos.  We  were asked to leave our  slippers and shoes  to  some of  the  houses  to give respect to the original owner.   Some of  them  were used for location shooting  of  movies  like Zorro,  Asiong  Salonga,  Jose Rizal and more.

See  more photos below.

 
The  Bridge 


Amazing sight  everywhere!


Old House. Rich History. 




Undergoing  construction  of  a  new church.  I  don't  how  much  it  would  cost  to have a  wedding here once done.  If you want a set up like that of  Spanish era,  then start planning now for that  theme wedding.






Can you guess what this is? 


Among the stories that have  been told to us by our tour guide, this, I clearly remembered.  This is the room where  Jose Rizal's  grandmother  was detained and at the same house,  Rizal's grandma  asked  some help from the  guard  by throwing  secretly a letter right outside  the window.





The gazebo where the ladies spent their siesta time, catching  up with their  talks during those era,  There seemed  to be  no shortage of time,  no pressures to think about,  but  just wait  for the  sunset  to fall.

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar made us feel were actually living in the old times.  In 24 hours of  stay,   we  were able to discover more of the history  and the way of  life back in the 18th to 19th century.  There are currently  27 architectures  in the heritage village.  You may want to know the stories behind each of the houses,  day  tour  is  welcome  but I suggest to stay overnight to enjoy  more of the heritage resort.  All the staff  we've  met  were all  polite  with  ready  smiles  and  greetings like  "Magandang  Umaga, Gabi  po."



A quick pose before leaving  Las Casas Filipinas de  Acuzar with our tour guide  Joyce.   How come we're not wearing  themed shirts here?   We're Pinoys  inside our sleeves anyway. :)


Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar
Bo. Pagasa,  Bagac,  Bataan.


Manila Sales Office:
Mezzanine Floor Victoria Towers
Timog Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines

Website:
 http://www.lascasasfilipinas.com/

Fashion Designer and Stylist Jessica Gallegos launches Wear Charlie


The Designer:

Born and raised in the Philippines, Jessica Gallegos, comes from a family of 12. Having started commercial modeling at a young age, performing in theatre, singing and hosting the children’s junior Probe team “5 and up”, she has become exposed to the field of arts. After majoring in Early Childhood Education at University Asia and the Pacific, she migrated to New York and pursued her career as a teacher. With much love for the arts, she studied make up and ventured into styling.

Her love for fashion is an everyday love affair even at a young age. It became apparent that this love translated to another hobby, designing clothes. From there it became a brand that is now called Wear Charlie- a one stop shop where you can pick clothes of your own liking and taste while having the luxury of being styled by the owner herself.

 Jessica’s ease in knowing what looks good on a person is her forte. Combined with her eye for understated elegance and her unique sense of what works on your body, she can transform any garment you wear into a stand out outfit. See for yourself the pieces she has created and what else is in store for Wear Charlie.

 The Story:

Who’s Charlie?

 Wear Charlie is a character I created to represent my personal style. It features ready-to-wear clothes I designed and a styled collection I hand picked and put together myself. Also, part of the brand’s services is doing custom made designs for its clients. Some of the clients I have designed for are notable celebrities like Danica Sotto-Pingris and Kristine Hermosa for their special events and TV guestings.

 I design clothes for pregnant women, daywear and evening wear, and the whole collection is categorized according to themes. These themes represent my different style moods. (Read more about my themes in the shop section). This allows Wear Charlie guests to choose what they feel like wearing and shop freely exploring their own sense of style. Wear Charlie also does styling for its celebrity and non-celebrity clients for their events, guestings and their special occasions. (Contact Wear Charlie for more details)

 



What makes Wear Charlie unique?

It is a personalized shopping experience when you buy in Wear Charlie. Whether you shop online, at the Wear Charlie Closet (showroom), or at the Wear Charlie bazaar booth, you’d be able to get on hand tips from me on how to wear and mix and match your purchases with your existing wardrobe. For online shoppers, all you need to do is send me a message and I would gladly share with you ideas on how to style your outfits over the phone, through email, facebook or twitter.

It has featured outfit options I pick out that changes weekly/by weekly giving Wear Charlie guests the leisure of buying an already paired outfit or an idea on how to style their similar clothes from their wardrobe.

The thematic categories makes it easier for Wear Charlie guests to know what they want to buy and how they can match them, and it encourages them to try explore other styles of clothing ñ It has a blog section where I regularly write about Wear Charlie, my designs, styling and my personal anecdotes on my journey to a fashion-filled happy life.

The website also has a special section that features those who are in Wear Charlie and the messages and feedback its guests sends Wear Charlie and myself. ñ Wear Charlie has a comfortable and unique showroom called the “Wear Charlie’s Closet” where you can freely try on the clothes and have a private styling session and shopping experience.

Besides making custom made clothes for its clients, Wear Charlie can also alter and adjust your Wear Charlie clothes for you. ñ Wear Charlie also gives out special promos, discounts and freebies and you may even also give a Wear Charlie gift certificate to a friend or loved one as a gift. ñ Wear Charlie follows trends but also promotes clothes that are classic, basic and would fit the body well.

More importantly, Wear Charlie always has the customers in mind when it creates and sells its pieces. What’s more important is to have happy customers stepping out of the showroom or signing out of the website feeling awesome and confident in the clothes they’re wearing.







The Themes:

1. Summer Time Love.   The Summertime Love Collection is characterized by everything spring and summer- bright and fun colors, flowers, happy patterns, beach and vacation wear.

2. Casual Sundays.  The Casual Sunday Collection features Wear Charlie’s casual wear- shorts, dresses and comfy tops. Certainly, where else would you wear your comfiest cute clothes but the park? Thus each piece in this collection is named after famous parks around the globe.

3. Nomad.  The Nomad Collection features the rough and rugged style and travelers comfort clothing of Wear Charlie. The names of this collection is inspired by Nomadic Tribes.

4. Sail Away.   Sail Away features Wear Charlie’s nautical collection focusing mostly on red, blue, yellow and black hues as well as striped patterned and solid colored ensembles. This nautical collection is named after actual coasts around the world.

5. Somewhere  in Time.   Somewhere in Time features Wear Charlie’s vintage and classic collection focusing on neutral colors, laces, classic cuts and timeless patterns. And what better name to call these pieces but after classic stylish women themselves. The names in this collection are taken after style icons of the 20s-70s.

6. Date Night.   The Date Night collection features Wear Charlie’s outfit options for your first date, girls’ night out, anniversary, engagement party, wedding and other dressy events. The names in this collection are taken after the streets New York City.

7. Pea in a Pod.   This collection features Wear Charlie’s pregnancy and post pregnancy wear, and styles for full figured women. Most pieces in this collection are empire cut, gartered or loose.

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