Last April 28, ACPACI members, their family and friends did just that. They spent a summer respite at Club Punta Fuego to enjoy the beach and the pool, to bask in the warmth of the lemony sun, and to embrace the concept of la dolce vita. Ah, summer.
At the Club, you’ll get a glimpse of the social scene: a lively throng of well-to-do Manilan weekenders, company expats and foreigners, mostly Koreans. The Club Punta Fuego wristband they use to tag the guests confirms the aura of exclusivity and poshness of the resort.
ACPACIans and friends gathered to swim at the beach, some went banana boating and the others went jet skiing; some took a dip in the swimming pool and the others enjoyed a whirlpool bath at the Club’s jacuzzi. At the center of the pool was a blue-dotted mushroom fountain that appealed to the kids and was reminiscent of those cute mushroom dwellings in The Smurfs. The edge of the jacuzzi was bordered with identical stone tortoises spouting water downwards into the tub. At the fringes of the pool area were cabanas strewn with pink, orange and violet throw pillows where the guests could relax and snap up pictures for their Facebook accounts. Those who didn’t swim strolled along the beach and the solace seekers simply savored the unbeatable view of the sea under the well-shaded tent that the staff had provided for the ACPACIAN vacationers.
Under the same tent, ACPACIANs and friends dined al fresco. Unpretentious Filipino fare was on the menu – the classics including pinakbet (kabocha squash, eggplant, string beans and okra stew flavored with fish paste), nilagang talong with bagoong (boiled eggplant with shrimp paste) and such mainstays as rellenong bangus (stuffed milkfish) and kare kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce). They saved room for the house made iced tea – a perfect salve for the summer heat, and for dessert, they had brazo de mercedes paired with freshly brewed coffee, whose delicious aroma was wafting from the percolator generously set up by the resort’s staff.
Mid-afternoon, the group ventured into island-hopping. The trip took about 20- 30 minutes via an outrigger boat. The locals called the place Twin Islands but when you finally get to see the islands, they were like two enormous craggy rocks that jut up from the sea and moonlighting as “islands”. They had no vegetation, just striated layers of brown, grey and black. They looked like the earth-bound meteorite which Bruce Willis and his team nuked in the film Armageddon. There were smooth, pebble-like rocks the size of a platter (the others even bigger) in every direction, and the closest thing to a flat piece of shoreline was a small mound of sand as wide as two rectangular tables underneath a miniature cove. But these islands provided a secluded beach trail; the calm water mirrored the color of the cloudless sky, its surface undisturbed by any waves. The place was ideal for swimming, snorkeling or simply wading in the chest-deep water. This was the highlight of the day.
Looking out, the ACPACIANs relished the panoramic vistas of the Mediterranean-themed villas and houses, fringed with trees, and spilling down the rim of the cliffs; the cerulean sea; and the tumbling hills. They hung like a perfectly framed paintings in an art museum, as though everything was an exhibit. The views were something you could feast on and gourmandize without restraint until you’re so replete that you had to say your silent prayer of thanks because you were lucky, lucky, lucky to be there.
When they finally arrived at the resort, it was almost sunset and the sky had pinkened. It was time to leave, and it would take another four to five hours going back home but it was easy to forget all that because the trip to Club Punta Fuego was a truly rewarding sojourn.