http://www.villateresitaresortcebu.com/
under much scrutiny I decided to "meet the family" in an outing that I picked and paid for. although its outside the traditional box it was they best way for me to meet them as we were on semi-neutral territory. I also knew that the kids would swim and give me time to relax. if I was at their house I would have a dozen kids asking questions.
here is the big question.................. 23 invited........... 23 arrived!!! all 23 are her immediate family that live in 4 different houses all next to each other. they do everything as a family unit. I assume its because momma has a very strong family hold that everyone stays close to her.
here are the charges for the resort
p90 adult & p45 child entrance fees (only had 2 children qualify because of height)
p50/p60 corkage fees for cases of soda/beer
p40 per kilo of food to be cooked
p600 for cabana rental for 25
p800 for videoke rental (i added at last minute as a cabana on the end had 1 and i thought it would be fun)
p2000 for private jeepney from Consolacian to Talisay City & return (my guess as i never asked)
here is what they brought to eat
70+ individual cups fruit salad (FUCKING AWESOME!!)
100+ lumpia (pork eggroll like also FUCKING AWESOME!!)
10 kilos of pork (grilled then cubed with a sauce and tiny limes-again FUCKING AWESOME!!)
10 kilos of chicken (just marinated then grilled and again FUCKING AWESOME!!)
1 HUGE container of noodles (about 2-3 gallons worth, not my favorite but was good)
60 containers of honey rice (neat stuff, a lot of work goes into these things and very good)
2 cases of red horse quarts (12 big ass bottles)
2 cases of Tanduay Ice (left behind in error........... or not??)
2 cases of sodas (coke & sprite)
1 cases bottled water
assorted bags of chips
large container of spicy peanuts
they also brought all of the paper plates, plastic ware, cups, utensils, charcoal, frying pan, hot plate & oil (for cooking lumpia & wings).
here was our day:
we left out of Mandarin Plaza hotel headed down to National Highway to meet them in the jeepney at 830am. along the way we stopped at San Jose Bakeshop and picked up about 40 cookies and 40 pastries (largest order they ever bagged up from the looks of the girl at the counter). when i hopped into the jeepney everyone was there and i had seen & talked to a few on Skype to it was easy transition. i hand out the treats and they started munching which kept them busy for the trip. we arrived at villa Teresita around 9am. unpacked jeepney and waited as my girl went in and took care of all of the fees. once inside to our cabana i noticed that another cabana on the end had a videoke machine and I said oh that's neat, my girl went a rented one for p800.
after we get settled in the women start food prep and the men start the grill. for the next 2-3 hours all they do is fry lumpia & wings and grill pork and chicken. as the pork is done the men bring it in and the women cube it up and add the sauce and little limes. around 12pm everything was done. we had been drinking beer along. according to my girl its tradition that the men all drink from 1 cup, each taking turns. they also use ice in the beer. I assume this keeps from getting drunk faster. when it comes time to eat everyone digs in, after the meal more than 1/2 of everything is left. I asked my girl if they were cooking for the royal army or what? she said it will all get eaten. as the day progressed so did the beer consumption. after a while I notice that brother and brother in law #2 were gone, and that dad just walked out and was sitting in the shade with them, leaving me & brother in law #1 in the cabana drinking alone. I asked her if they were ok, she just smiled and said they are drunk. I guess when they start feeling woozy they just stop drinking and go rest a bit. not long after brother in law #1 was outside as well and then her nephew came in from the pool and me and him finished up the last 2 bottles.
around 5pm we packed up all the leftovers and headed for the jeepney ride back. lots of food still left but I trusted her. on the jeepney ride back, my new best bud, brother in law #1 had hidden a cold bottle of red horse for the ride. we enjoyed very much. once back to their house they unpacked everything as I was instructed to relax. they have an outside kitchen in the front and they just set everything up there. momma fixed me a plate as she thought I was getting drunk but I was just tired. of course I ate and we broke into the strategically left behind Tanduay ice and the party started again. within minutes the barangay captain and family were over along with all of the neighbors within earshot. with the visitors and families 2nd rounds for dinner, the food quickly disappeared. they have their own videoke machine and it was all on again. at one point during the night her father was talking my ear off and my girl was tired of translating or just lost interest, but the mother comes up next to him and says "speak English", I guess he forgot I know idea what he was saying. I just laughed my ass off. my girl was by my side the entire day as I believe she was instructed to do so by the momma.
overall it was a very successful day and my girl and her momma were happy because I went back to their house for the traditional portion of the date. my next trip is Christmas and momma already made it clear that the party is at their home. apparently she make the best bbq around and unfortunately I will have to suffer and eat it all day long and be forced to drink cold beer and sing karaoke....... sometimes in life you just have to make sacrifices.
oh yeah, as far as money goes, by my best calculations she went over 10k, but tried to give me back over at least 2k, I didn't even count it I just told her to keep it as im sure her company didn't give her off with pay and I know she could use it better than me. for that kind of party with that many people and that much food with transportation, lodging and entertainment for 23 people for less than $225 was amazing. by the way I was prepared for the worst. I landed at 1am with p900 in my pocket. p250 for taxi ride to hotel with tip. p50 tip for bellhop. p20 tip for server at breakfast buffet. p310 for san jose bakeshop. I never had time to hit moneychanger so I only had about p250 on me the entire day and I knew I wouldn't budge on spending one single peso. luckily I had that p250 on me because the cab ride back from their home was just about p200 so I gave him a p50 tip for his quickness.