Balesin Island, Philippines
I don’t usually wake up at 4:30AM, but I do if I’m headed to an amazing beach resort! Dad was in Manila for work, so we both took off work Friday and headed to tropical paradise! That’s a good excuse right? We boarded a tiny plane for a quick 25 minute flight. We were on the island by 7:30AM with a full day of adventure ahead!
Our wonderful host Uncle Dennis greeted us on the airstrip and had a delicious breakfast at the Balesin village where we would be staying. Personally the Balesin village is the best place to stay because it’s located in the middle between the other resorts. It offers a good home base if you want to “village and pool hop”at any point during the day. All the villages are accessible via golf-cart or Jeepney.
After plopping my suitcase in the villa, I didn’t waste anytime before diving into the clear blue ocean. I spent the morning laying on the pristine white beach in the company of: absolutely no one. The kicker about the island is that there’s literally only a handful of members and guests on the island. From walking on the the beach to lounging by the fabulous pool, the only sign of life was the maintenance worker with hedge-clippers. No other people here?! So that means there’s no photo-bombers? And I can take even more shameless selfies?! God I love this place!
For Lunch, Dad and I were thinking pizza! No one does pizza better than the Italians, (I learned that last summer) so we headed over to Toscana village. We were not disappointed. The super delicious thin-crust pizza, strawberry-chocolate-vanilla gelato and Tuscan-inspired-restaurant-atmosphere, exceeded all expectations! Dad and I had a fun Italian lunch and it reminded us of how we were in the real Tuscany last summer.
Back on the golf-cart, Dad and I felt a trip to Indonesia would be nice… Next stop: Bali Village. This was one of my favorites. The scenery is unbelievable. Once you walk through the main sala, you see a wooden walkway that leads to a hut about 30 yards out into the ocean. The walkway splits off on both sides where two villas are situated. It’s all so picturesque. I had myself a fabulous afternoon, soaking up the sun and cooling off in the gorgeous pool! And when I say myself, I mean by myself.
It wouldn’t be quality time with dad, if not for a healthy competitive game of tennis, right? Dad and I fought off the slew of people and were able to score the indoor court (Sarcasm in case you’ve forgotten there’s no one here). Thankfully we had dinner plans with Uncle Dennis, so had the cut the beating short. Yes, Dad was beating me…badly.
Dinner was at the Mykonos village. Did I say Bali was one of my favorites because this is my NEW favorite! The Greece inspired village was literally straight out of a Google search! The restaurant interior and atmosphere was perfect: all white walls, wide arches, blue decorations and blue chinaware. There was no detail that went un-noticed.
We were joined by Uncle Dennis, his daughter Athena, his brother in-law Andrew, wife Myda, and children Matteo and Ana. We ordered a whole slew of Greek food: including vegetable and meat skewers, fish, stuffed bell peppers and “flaming Saganaki!”
Today has been a dream! I am so happy to be spending quality time with my dad in such a beautiful place. I’m looking forward to more exploring, adventuring and bonding this weekend.
XOXO Paalam na!
-Megan