Last April, I spent the month in the Philippines and one of the tourist attractions that I had the privilege of visiting is Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.
Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is this heritage park in Bagac, Bataan that showcases a number of Spanish colonial-era buildings. Some are actual houses that have been moved from some other provinces and some are imitations of the real thing. If that's not a goldmine of Instagram-worthy photos then I don't what is.
From Starmall Alabang, we rode a jeep to Pasay. We then proceeded to the bus terminal right under the MRT station for a Genesis bus to Balanga. We found one heading to Mariveles/ Balanga. If I'm not mistaken, the bus leaves every thirty minutes. After roughly three hours , our bus dropped us by a tricycle terminal in Balanga (the bus conductor kindly informed us that it was our stop while we were still chatting away on our seats). We rode a tricycle to the terminal followed by a jeep to Bagac. Now, we were expecting to hop off at the Friendship Tower and hire a tricycle as instructed by most travel blogs but our jeep driver inquired about any passengers who were headed to Las Casas and offered to take us there directly for a cheaper fare (compared to taking a tricycle). My friend and I (along with two other passengers) said yeah, why not and sat comfortably (no, not really) for the rest of the hour-long trip. We left Alabang around seven in the morning and found ourselves in the heritage park around one in the afternoon.
Since the check-in time was two in the afternoon, we opted to have our lunch in Cafe Marivent situated in the same building. We got our keys as soon as we were done, got a map and was shortly oriented by staff about activities that we were are entitled to and it's schedule. We got on on their hop-on/ hop-off jeep afterward and requested the driver to drop us off at Casa San Luis.
Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is this heritage park in Bagac, Bataan that showcases a number of Spanish colonial-era buildings. Some are actual houses that have been moved from some other provinces and some are imitations of the real thing. If that's not a goldmine of Instagram-worthy photos then I don't what is.
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| So put on your best OOTD and charge those cameras |
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| And make sure there is at least one of you who knows how to use it |
The Long Commute From the South
I expected the commute to be a lengthy one after what my friend had divulged about her own experience. The only difference between our trips was that her four-hour trip was spent in the comforts of her own car. Our trip, on the other hand, which spanned about more or less seven hours by the way, was spent in a jeep, a tricycle, a bus, and another jeep. |
| Ang haggard besh |
| Fare in PHP per pax | Duration | |
| Jeep from Starmall Alabang to Pasay | 30 | 45 mins |
| Genesis bus from Pasay to Balanga | 210 | 3-4 hours |
| Tricycle to terminal | 15 | 15 mins |
| Jeep from terminal to Las Casas | 80 | 1 hour |
A friend of ours had to follow later that day because of work. She arrived at Balanga way too late in the night and was not able to catch the last jeep to Bagac. There were a bunch of Grab tricycles at the terminal who tried to rip her off with insane fare prices. Fortunately for her, she was travelling with a woman who was heading to Bagac herself and called a tricycle driver friend of hers to drive my friend from the tower to Las Casas at the normal rate. God bless her kind soul.
Checking-in
Because of how time-consuming the commute is, we deemed it necessary to stay the night to get the most out of this beautiful park. We availed a deluxe room via their official website.
The staff was friendly and greeted us as soon as we stepped in Casa New Manila, the reception. I was worried about the cash deposit stated in the notification I received when I made the reservation online but it turns out that there is none. There is an additional php1500 for an extra person though.
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| but I guess the three of us could've fit on that bed? |
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| We were seated beside this gigantic window that provides you a wonderful view of the vicinity. Huwag lang malikot or you will plummet to your death. lol jk |
The Tour
After a quick shower (because I be damned if we went out there covered with sweat and grime from our commute), we began our own tour of Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.
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| The map-bearer leads the way |
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| Casa Ladrillo |
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| My friend refuses to try the kalesa because, uh, animal cruelty? |
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| There were golf carts... which we never really got to try |
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| Hop on their jeepneys and request to be dropped off at any point in the park |
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| Try out the tram ride |
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| We got to witness the Carabao Parade where you can vote for the prettiest carabao of them all |
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| Take a gander at these pretty water buffalos |
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| If you, like my dearest friend, have an obsession over bougainvilleas, then you\re in for a treat |
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| Nasa heaven this girl ha |
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| The other friend who suggested this tourist spot expressed her disappointment through a barrage of tsks tsks when she found out we didn't try out the Balsa tour. Don't disappoint my friend, people, and take a ride on that Balsa! |
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| Events are listed on this board by Casa Lubao |
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| The edge of the park |
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| There is an atm available in case you need cash |
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| The obligatory sunset shot |
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| Sashaying down that checkered pavement. I wonder why it was made in the middle of the grass. |
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| Hotel De Oriente in the afternoon |
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| Hotel De Oriente at night |
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| The park comes to life with beautiful lights at night |
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| Accesoria |
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| A view of Plaza Francisco from the bridge |
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| The three-way bridge near our quarters |
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| This here's Casa San Luis, where we spent the night. |
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| The beach isn't the Boracay level kind of beach but the water is clean and clear enough for some good splashing |
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| Unfortunately, it was a bit cold that morning so we didn't really do a lot of swimming |
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| We went straight to Hotel de Oriente for breakfast after the beach. The buffet was good! |
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| A tour group we found at Casa Lubao. It tums out there are some houses you can't enter if you're not part of a tour group |
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| Some chatting while we wait for our turn at Casa Lubao to purchase a ticket to the museum at Hotel de Oriente |
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| and some sungka too |
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| The view from the second floor of Casa Lubao. That lady over there was so proud of her panorama shot |
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| After figuring out how to push the big damn door, we were granted entrance to the majestic museum |
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| Did I mention majestic? |
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| But my favorite part of the museum is the AC because tropical weather is making my sweat glands work twice as hard |
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| We found this white corridor and, of course, we had to take advantage of it |
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| We spent most of the morning here, taking shots at doors, windows, hallways, and cleaning tools |
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| Yes, cleaning tools |
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| We visited the batis but were not able to take a dip. |
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| Their pineapple shake by the way is bliss! I don't think it's a specialty really but, man, was it really good. |
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| Another Casa. I don't know the name though. There are so many Casas! |
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| Thank goodness I did my makeup right or I would've looked like a melting wax figure throughout the trip. Also, it would've been nice if this photo was not blurred. Again, bring people who knows their cameras. Haha |
Activities
There is a number of activities in the park that tourists are encouraged to participate in. There is the Balsa River tour, workshop tour, Carabao parade, the Culture Parade, and some other more tours listed on their site. As I've mentioned earlier, the staff will make sure to jot down all the activities and its schedule on the map that they will give you upon check-in. The only real tour that we were able to get involved in is the Culture Parade and I enjoyed it immensely. We even got to try our hand (or feet?) in Tinikling when the program ended.
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| I got flashbacks from when I was in school. All those Linggo ng Wikas, etched deep into my memory. |
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| I learned that there are a lot of existing folk dances out there and I can't get over at how we only did that one dance back in grade and high school. |
Food
I feel the need to add a section especially for food because my budget took a hit from their menu to be honest. We were able to try out the meals at Casa Marivent (the cafe right above reception), Casa Sta. Rita, and Casa Binan. The food is satisfactory and I particularly enjoyed the pasta in Casa Binan. Note that the menu is quite limited so that might be an issue for the picky eaters.
The Way Back Home
Our stay came to an end the next day. We were issued a slip upon check-out, which is strictly before 12nn by the way lest you want to spend 50% worth of your room as penalty, to be given to one of their security staff so that they could hail a tricycle for us that would take us the Friendship Tower. Once there, there was this group of people (presumably tourists from Las Casas as well) who were waiting for a jeep back to Balanga. The wait took a while although I'm not sure if this is always the case. We eventually were able to get on one and found ourselves in the Genesis Bus Terminal roughly an hour later. We rode a bus to Cubao and arrived seven in the evening. We had dinner at some random fast food chain and rode a bus headed to Alabang straight after.
Conclusion
It took a big deal of time, money, and effort to make this happen but I can say it was worth it... you know, Instagram-wise. When I got home and my other friend and I got to talking about the history aspect of the park, the sound of crickets went off in my head. My girl friends and I were much more concerned with the pretty bricked walls and cobblestone roads and bushes of flowers adorning the Spanish houses. Perhaps if I decide to return some day, I will participate in the tours and enlighten myself with the rich history of the beautiful casas in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. For now, flooding our IG with endless photos and stories is good enough for us.
Photo credits: Abi Minto, Alis Alcain
