Place: Rockpoint Hotsprings Resort - Hotel and Spa at Calamba, Laguna

We were at Rockpoint Hotsprings Resort - Hotel and Spa Calamba last August to celebrate my husband's birthday. Weeks before that, I was torn between 3 resorts: Rockpoint Calamba, Valentino Resort and Spa in Batangas and Sanctuario de San Pablo in San Pablo City, Laguna.

Our main goal was to have a nice and much needed R&R, so I wanted a place with an in-house spa, an indoor pool or jacuzzi, and somewhere that's easily accessible by public transportation because we don't have a car. It would be a plus if the place has a scenic view to boot.

In the end, I decided against Valentino Resort because we didn't want to travel very far. It came down to Sanctuario de San Pablo and Rockpoint Hotel. I chose the latter because it's nearer, relatively cheaper and they had an on-going Rainy Days Promo that month.

I called up their office, and the person who answered was very polite and helpful. That was a good sign, I thought. She accepted my reservation even without a downpayment because it was Friday afternoon and the bank where I need to deposit the money to was already closed. The booking was for the following Monday.

I was excited because in their website, the place looked promising, even though I had read a few negative feedback about the resort. The Rainy Days Promo seemed like a sweet deal, too. For P3,915.00 we would get:

1. Overnight stay at the Executive Room (w/ indoor jacuzzi)
2. Breakfast and Dinner for 2
3. Aromatherapy massage for 2

So Monday came and we arrived in Calamba two hours earlier. Going there by public transport was easy. We board a jeep en route to Crossing-Calamba. Our original plan was to alight at the Crossing Terminal. But because it was still early, we decided to go to Walter Mart first and have our lunch there. When it was only 45 minutes before 2 PM, our check-in time, and because we're already bored in Walter Mart (there's not much to see or do there), we hailed a tricycle. The tricycle driver already knew where Rockpoint Hotel is and asked for an P80 fare.

The trike ride took some 10 minutes. When I first saw the resort, my first thought was it looks small. Inside the lobby/reception area, we were greeted warmly by the guard and the front desk staff. We're still early but it was ok, said the receptionist. She called for someone to check if our room is ready. While we were waiting, she processed the bills and gave us our meal and spa stubs.

After a few more minutes, our room boy came. I forgot his name, but I didn't forget that he was very courteous. He ushered us to our room, taught us how to operate the jacuzzi, and told us that if we need any help, we could just call the front desk.

On the way to our room, we passed by the pool area and he said that there's another pool just behind the wall. The swimming pool didn't look inviting. It wasn't dirty or anything, it just looked plain and common. If you've been to Pansol too many times, you'll know what I mean. I saw an outdoor jacuzzi tucked in the far corner of the pool but I forgot to ask if it's functioning. I didn't go close so I couldn't tell how big it is. All I could see was it was made of ordinary bathroom tiles, but I couldn't tell if the tiles were clean or not.
Maybe because I knew that we have our very own jacuzzi inside our room, that's why I didn't bother to check out the other jacuzzi.

Now, our room:

The room was spacious, that's the first impression. But it didn't look as beautiful as the one posted on their website. It looked the same, but it didn't have that classy feel to it. The picture in their site was cleverly taken to make it appear like a 3 or 4-star hotel room.

It was clean, but not spotless clean. If you're particular about black tile grouts, you'll find some on the floor tiles. But it's not filthy dirty or 'kadiri' dirty. To be honest, I wasn't bothered by it. The room was still clean by my standards.

As I've said, the room looked like the one on their website, except for the bed linen of course. Inside, there's the 21-inch colored TV with clear cable channels, there's a mini-table and 2 nice-looking chairs (not monoblock chairs), another nice-looking dresser with mirror, two bedside tables with pretty lampshades on both, a personal refrigerator, an aircon and electric fan. All the lights were ok, none was busted. The aircon was working very well and kept the room cold so we didn't find any use for the electric fan. But the interior of refrigerator was rusty and looked dirty. We didn't bring any refreshments anyway so it stayed shut the whole time we were there.

There was also a small jug of water that they provided for us. At first, I was hesitant to drink the water but I got thirsty and tried it anyway. It didn't taste like tap water, or anything funny, weird or unclean so it was okay to drink.

I almost forgot the queen size bed. The mattress was ok, not springy.The pillows were ok, too, plump and soft. I love the design of the comforter but when I slipped underneath it, it was a bit itchy. My husband felt the same way so we just lay on top of the comforter the whole time and used half of it as blanket when we slept.

And then there's the bathroom. It was very roomy and clean. I even thought the tiles in the bathroom were cleaner than the floor tiles of the room. The toilet bowl was clean, too. There was sufficient supply of water and the water didn't smell of chlorine. There was also an exhaust fan and ample lighting. They also gave us two sets of towels (2 bath towels and 2 smaller towels), which smelled clean but was a little harsh and stiff (maybe they didn't use fabric softeners.)

Now the jacuzzi. It was big enough for two people, was clean except for some white stains, which the room boy explained was caused by the sulfur content of the hotsprings water. It didn't look dirty and it wasn't really bothersome. At first, we thought the jacuzzi wasn't working, but we found out how to operate it eventually (the room boy already told us how but we still fumbled with fixtures, went silly and had lots of fun).

We really had a very relaxing time in the jacuzzi. The warm water squirting out from the jets massaged every aching part of our body. I forgot to bring some bubble soak so I just improvised. I threw in my Cyleina Tomato soap. There wasn't much bubbles, but it's better than just plain water. We're told not to operate the jacuzzi for more than an hour because the motor might overheat. So we just had an hour of jacuzzi in the afternoon and another hour the following morning.

Right after our first jacuzzi session, I was already sleepy. But we decided to use our massage stubs because the spa will be closed the next day (they are close every Tuesday according to the "manual/menu" that we found in the room). The Kalipayan Nature Spa, their in-house spa, is located in the lower ground of the resort. The interior was very homey and Filipiniana-inspired. The furniture and decors are made from wood, rattan, sawali and bamboo. It felt like a traditional bahay-kubo (nipa hut) inside. And the staff were very friendly, too. It seemed the staff and personnel in Rockpoint Hotel Calamba are all friendly and courteous.

I gave our stub for 2 aromatherapy massage. We were told to wait for a few minutes as they need to prepare the couple's room. Inside the couple's room, we did the usual -- undress and lie down on the massage beds. When we're ready, they lighted scented candles (or was it scented oils) and started the massage. The massage was great. I felt even more relaxed and heady and sleepy. My husband said it was ok, but too light for his preference. (He prefers hard and bone-breaking type of messages.)

After the massage, we headed to the cafeteria to claim our free dinner. The cafeteria is just beside the lobby and looks like a school canteen, in a nostalgic, trip-down-memory-lane way. We presented our meal stub for 2 set meals, but ordered an additional viand just in case their serving is small. I thought the prices were reasonable except for the drinks, which were like double or triple the original price. But that's usual among in-house restos and cafes.

I would've just asked for our food to be delivered in our room had I known that there's a group of six or eight who ordered ahead of us and that it would take an hour before our meals will be served because of this. Good thing, there's a TV in the cafeteria where we watch the fateful bus-hostage drama unfolds. When the food of the earlier group were served, the cafeteria was filled with a very delicious aroma that made me hungry. And we just pretended to watch the TV as the group heartily ate their dinner.

An hour later, our food was finally served piping hot in big, round clay plates. And I could tell you, it was worth the wait. First, their serving size is big. I ordered the fish fillet set meal and my husband picked the beef-something set meal. We also ordered chopsuey. The fish fillet was the best I've tasted. It was crunchy and coated with breadcrumbs on the outside, and flaky-soft and tasty on the inside. The mayo-pickled-something dip that came with it was perfect, too. It complemented the fillet fish very well. My husband's beef dish came with tender and equally tasty beef strips. But we both agreed that my fish fillet was better. The chopsuey was also flavorful and was more than enough for both of us. It just didn't look and taste like chopsuey, more like sauteed vegetables in soy sauce, but it tasted good. We went back to our room smelling like we spent time in the kitchen and cooked the food ourselves (the aroma was that strong and lingered on our clothes) but feeling so full and bloated.

The next morning, I was excited for our breakfast and ordered them early. We had tapsilog and daing na bangus. They weren't as filling as the dinner we had the night before, but still tasted good. And before we checked out at noon, we ordered our lunch (this time, we paid for it because the promo did not include lunch.) We ordered fish fillet again and pork sisig, and both were tasty and delicious as expected.

We checked-out 1 PM and walked our way to the national road. It wasn't very far anyway. Then we just took a jeepney (way cheaper than a tricycle ride) to get to the Crossing Terminal. At the terminal, we took another jeep on the way to San Pedro.

The Verdict

Two thumbs up for the food and the jacuzzi. These are the highlights of our stay at the resort. Plus point also on the massage but it would've been better if they have a sauna in there, too. The room was ok, but as I've said, if you were expecting for a 4-star hotel-class type of room, you'll be disappointed. I couldn't comment on the pool, except that it wasn't enticing, because we didn't took a dip. My husband didn't want to swim because we'll just feel tired afterward. We would rather relax in the jacuzzi. Thumbs up also for the staff and personnel and the service that they rendered us.

But the resort itself was a bit boring for me. I didn't took pictures because there wasn't a lot to take pictures of. If you're a family or a group who's looking for fun and activities or who wants a resort that's close to nature with a scenic view to unwind, I won't recommend this. But if you're a couple, like us who wants some "cuddling" moments and R&R in a room with a jacuzzi, then you might want to check out this resort.

Overall, we had a pleasant experience during our stay in Rockpoint Hotsprings Resort - Hotel and Spa in Calamba. We were looking to have a much needed time-out from our work and relaxed our aching muscles, and we found it there.

Product: Cyleina Organic Soaps

First, let me say that here in the Philippines, organic is synonymous to natural and Cyleina Organic Soaps are not certified organic. Unlike in the US and other countries, we do not have a certifying body for organic products. Nor do we have any law that sets the rules on which products can call themselves organic and which should just be labeled natural or pure.

Moving on to the review. After more than 4 years of using EC27 Guava Soap, I decided to try other soaps. And because a lot of my fellow GT (GirlTalk) sises are raving about Cyleina's soap products (spanning 12 threads as of this writing), I thought this brand could be the apt replacement.

Cyleina's soap are sold at selected Hortaleza branches only and through resellers. Because there's no Hortaleza branch near my area, I went about and searched online for a reseller who can meet up with me at a convenient place.

My (facial) skin is a bit problematic. It's really oily, acne-prone with large open pores, has an uneven skintone and a little on the dull side. Based on the recommendations for my skin type, my first Cyleina order were Tomato, Black Pearl, Rice Bran, Strawberry, Papaya Goat's Milk and Agave Scrub.


I first tried Black Pearl and Tomato. Tomato is said to reduce oiliness and shrink pore size while Black Pearl is reputed for being an effective whitening soap. I used Tomato in the morning, a combo of Tomato and Black Pearl at noon when I take my bath, and Tomato in the evening. I use PGM for my body.

Tomato stings and can be very drying, especially for if you're a first time user and you leave it on your skin for a bit longer. I made that mistake -- leaving Tomato suds on my face for more than a minute before I rinse it -- and put up with a red, stinging face for two days. Black Pearl, on the other hand, has moisturizing and cooling effects (because of the Peppermint oil) on my skin. And I love its smell.

After one week of using this soap combo, I did note a few subtle effects. My (facial) skin seemed to have a reddish glow, felt softer and smoother, and my oiliness was slightly lessened. What surprised me was that majority of my blackheads were gone, especially on the nose area. However, there was no visible changes in my pores and skintone.

The skin on my body felt softer and smoother, too, although I find the PGM to be very drying. I don't apply lotion regularly because I don't want to feel all sticky afterward. So everytime I take a bath, my skin would look scaly and flaky and really dry. They said this was the micropeeling effect and it's good because it's peeling off my dead skin cells and making way for new cells to surface. New skin cells are instrumental to having a youthful and fairer skin. Unfortunately, micropeeling made my skin look dry, so dry I could write my name on it.

But because the 1-week result was more positive than negative, I decided to purchase more variants. I added Kojic, Triple Citrus, Carrots & Pineapple, Grapeseed and Shea Butter (the most moisturizing of all, hoping that it would counteract the drying effect of the other soaps) to my collection.


Cyleina's soaps melt easily because they don't have soap hardeners. To prolong their "life", I cut each bar into 4 parts and only use 1/4 of the bar at a time. I didn't cut the Black Pearl into smaller parts because it looked hard enough to me. In fact, more than 3 months later, my first Black Pearl is still half it's original size and will probably last me 3 more months. Maybe because I only use it on my face.

1 month after I started using Tomato and Black Pearl, the effects were still the same but nothing dramatic had happened. The effects were actually quite gradual. I also noticed that the glow usually last 1 to 2 hours after I wash my face. I'm not really "red-cheeks" the whole day, or even half of the day. As for whitening, Black Pearl was doing a very slow job.

Then came the week before my period, pimples started coming out. A few small ones and 1 to 2 big, red zits. Tomato was not able to do anything about them. It dried some small pimples but that's it. Didn't do a good pimple-control job for me.

So I decide to try Rice Bran, which is the "for acne-prone" soap because it has antibacterial properties according to testimonials. I tried it out for a week and one thing I can say is, it is very drying. I immediately noticed how dry my palms were everytime I use this soap on my face. Ironically, my face didn't feel dry, probably because it's really oily. But my palms were all wrinkly and it's as if I've used a detergent.

Rice Bran didn't made my skin glow, like Tomato did. And it didn't dry my pimples either. But I was reasoning out that maybe I need to use it longer to see the effect. Close to a week of using it, I noticed some dry patches on both corners of my mouth. And they hurt whenever I opened my mouth too wide like when I yawn, or laugh too hard. That's enough to make me stop using Rice Bran.

Next soap is Kojic, another whitening soap that's also supposedly good for pimples. The week that I was using it, I had two big pimples that didn't bulge nor flinch nor made any sign that they were about to go dry. And like Rice Bran, I was missing the glow that Tomato gave my face. No whitening effect, too even when I'm already using it with Black Pearl.

And like Rice Bran again, close to a week of using it, I noticed a weird bump on my upper left cheek. I inspected it. It's not a pimple but it's raised and there seemed to be something hard underneath the skin. I also noticed that the pores appeared to be clogged and they looked pretty much like facial warts.

I know you're not supposed to pop pimples, but this ain't a pimple so I squeeze it with my bare (but clean!) hands. What came out were hardened oils just like when you pop a blackhead. But lots of them. I do have blackheads and they are usually flat. It's the first time that I had one that's raised and looked bigger than an inflamed  pimple. It's like oils hardened and were trapped inside my pores and eventually formed a bump on the surface. It grossed me out.

So go back to Tomato I did. So far, this was the best soap that I tried in the bunch. If only it can control my pimples. Unfortunately, it can't. I used Tomato on my face until I found another soap to try.

As for the Cyleina's soaps that I used on my body (Papaya Goat's Milk, Strawberry, Kojic, Rice Bran, Triple Citrus, Shea Butter, Carrot & Pineapple and Grapeseed), they were ok. But I micropeeled in all of them (which means my skin dried out in all of them), even with Shea Butter. That's weird. But my favorites are Strawberry, Shea Butter and Triple Citrus, because of their smell.

I use Rice Bran when I don't feel like applying deodorant because it is said to have deodorizing properties. When you work at home, you can afford to skip some beauty regimens, like applying lotion, deodorant or using shampoo or conditioner.

But I can say that my skin has improved. It looked better and smoother, although not really visibly fairer. Sometimes, I look like I'm slightly whiter but I'm not sure if that's because of the soaps or because I seldom go out of the house.

The Verdict

What's left of the Cyleina Organic Soaps that I purchased.

The thing I like about Cyleina's soaps is that they are mild. You could feel that you're not putting harsh chemicals on your skin. I also like their scents, which smelled fresh and not overpowering. The price is reasonable, too. Remember that I cut each bar into 4 smaller bars. 1 small bar would last me more or less a week. So 1 whole bar is good for a month. At P60 per bar, it's really a good buy. And luckily for me, they did allow my new skin cells to surface by peeling off the outer dead skin cells. Although I don't like that it made my skin look dry. But it can easily be remedied by applying lotion, something that I still not do regularly.

As for the soaps that I used on my face, they didn't do very well. Tomato had some nice effects but I still feel that it's not something that can replace EC27 Guava Soap, which for years had effectively fought off my pimples. But being someone who has an undying affair with pimples for quite a long time, I know that not all products that worked on others will work the same on me. So maybe, Cyleina's soaps and my skin were not well suited. But it doesn't mean that the soaps are no good. A lot of people are still swearing by their effectiveness.

Regarding their whitening properties, I am inclined to believe that Cyleina's whitening soaps are not the best there is in the market. They can make you look fairer, but you may have to use the soaps for a few months before you see any significant changes.

Sheng Speaks About MJ

He died. Millions mourned. Each has their own tribute. Each has their own story to tell, as if offering a glimpse of who Michael Jackson really is. Because for many of his fans, he's just the King of Pop, with his trademark suit, his trademark dance, and of course, his trademark voice. Then to some, he was also Wacko Jacko, whose eccentricities were caught on camera and being laughed at all over the world.

I am a fan because I love his music. His dance songs make everyone dance. His ballads make everyone cry. He's like no other.

But countless times, especially after numerous child molestation controversies plagued his popularity, I wonder if the Michael Jackson being portrayed as someone who cares deeply for the children, the environment and the world is the same Michael Jackson who moonwalks and cries Aw! Isn't it just a ploy to make the global pop icon closer to being human like us?

Sheng Receives Bad News in a Green Envelope

I got a mail today. In a green envelope. I even exclaimed how lovely is the color of the envelope, as I was carelessly ripping it open. Only to find out that it contains a very frustrating news.

It was a notice of overdue balance from BDO.

What the...?! How did I incur an overdue balance? As far as I know, I've settled all my bills for the month of June in time and even made an advance payment for the July 7th due date.

So I promptly called BDO's Collection Department to clarify this mess-up. But to my further dismay, the collection officer told me that no payment was reflected for the June 7th due date. And there was a payment made last June 25 (which was supposedly for the July 7th due date), but they considered it as payment for June 7th and charged me additional fee for the delay.

What the...?! I am sure that I settled the June 7th balance. My BF also remembers it because he was with me that day. The officer told me if I have the receipt for the payment, she can revert the billing and I can just disregard the notice. Okay, sounds fair and simple. I only need to find the receipt.

Food: CCME Homemade Foodstuff

I learned of CCME Homemadefoodstuff when I was searching for an affordable wedding caterer. Their catering service is affordable indeed and they enjoy a good number of positive feedback from those who have tried their food. But I decided against getting them when they told me that they only use artificial flowers for the table setup. I figured, it'll cost me more to hire a separate event stylist to dress up the reception venue.

But then, because a lot of people are raving about their food and their price, I recommended CCME to my brother for his first son's christening party. He had a limited budget and opted to have the food delivered instead of availing their complete catering setup. Based on menu recommendations I've gathered from online forums and other blogs, we ordered the following dishes:

• Chicken Pastel (6 orders)
• Beef Morcon (4 orders)
• Barbeque (3 orders)
• Chopsuey (3 orders)
• Lumpiang Shanghai (2 orders)
• Dark Chocolate cake (3 orders)

Rating Guides:

= A big headache!
= Relieved that it's over.
= It wasn't that bad. But it wasn't that good either.
= Happy about the outcome.
= I wouldn't be grinning this big for nothing.


How did they fare?

Food:

Chicken Pastel. A lot said that this is highly recommended and they were right. It's delicious and had big chunks of chicken, sausages, juicy button mushrooms, potatoes and carrots in a light creamy sauce. But I failed to considered that a lot of people are not fond of milk-based or cheese-based dishes. Out of the 6 trays that we ordered, we had 3 leftovers. So we had chicken pastel for dinner and for breakfast the morning after. Surprisingly, it tasted even better than it did the day before. My mom said that it was cooked well that's why it lasted until the next day and was even better tasting.


Beef Morcon. I'm not a fan of their beef morcon. Probably because my mom cooks a better version and all the other beef morcons I've tasted pale in comparison to her cooking. But it doesn't mean that the beef morcon is not delicious. A lot of guests loved it. They just didn't like the sauce that came with it. One guest even said that it tastes better with the vinegar concoction that came with the Lumpiang Shanghai.

Pork Barbeque. It was ok, tasted a notch better than regular barbeques. But like the morcon, I've tasted more delicious barbeque recipes.



Chopsuey. I saw that the Chopsuey has generous amounts of ingredients like button mushrooms, carrots, cabbage slices, shreds of chicken, etc. The vegetables were not overly cooked and overall, it tasted good. But again, my dad cooks a really scrumptious and crunchy version of the dish so I can't really rave about CCME's Chopsuey.

Lumpiang Shanghai. I didn't get to taste the Lumpiang Shanghai except for a small bite. And I forgot how it tasted.

Dark Chocolate Cake. The cake was too sweet for me. But it was moist and the kids love it so I guess, it was ok.



Ordering:

Ordering was done through phone. I made several calls before giving my final order and whoever answered was very polite and patiently entertained all my inquiries. There was just a little misunderstanding when it came to what they'll write on the cake. And they misspelled my nephew's name.

Delivery:

Delivery Fee was remarkably low and delivery time was more than punctual. Our food was scheduled to be delivered at 10:30 am. The delivery van arrived at 9:45 am. Before the driver left CCME, he sent me a message asking for directions. I gave him the vaguest of directions and yet he was still able to arrive 45 minutes ahead of schedule.

Packaging

The dishes were piping hot when they came, as if they've just been cooked which is impossible because it came to Laguna all the way from Quezon City. They were in cardboard box containers lined with aluminum foil wraps and covered with plastic. Although not aesthetically appealing, these containers are very convenient and can easily be disposed of. The sauces and dipping were packed separately in plastic bags.

Serving:

They said 1 tray can make about 10-12 servings. That is, if you only have 1 dish to serve. But if paired with other viands, 1 dish can serve at least 20 persons. Our orders above can feed about 80 to 100 persons. And for only P10,340.00 (including delivery fee), that's really an affordable way to cater a party.

Overall: We'll definitely order from them again.

Food item list and prices, and contact information are available at CCME's website: www.homemadefoodstuff.com