Bellarocca Island Resort and Spa

Here is the latest news on Bellarocca Resort and Spa-formerly Elephant Island. It is a shame that the resort is not open to the local public for a daily visit or use of their restaurant. I have the current promo rates if you are interested.

Below is the information I received from Mr Paolo Gamalinda, Resort Manager, Marinduque in response to my e-mail inquiry.


Warm greetings from Bellarocca Island Resort and Spa!

Thank you for your interest in Bellarocca Island Resort which
opened last February 14 2009.

We opened our ten private villas, thirty hotel rooms (including
junior suites and 1-bedroom suites), hotel facilities, food and
beverage outlets and select water sports activities and tours.
The other accommodation types such as the four terrazas are
scheduled to open by April 9, 2009 and the nineteen Casas
(1, 2, 3-bedrooms)by July 2009. The spa rooms will be available
by April l5, 2009 and the golf course by July 2009.

We are currently extending up to 40% discount on our room rates
until October 31, 2009 as our special introductory rates.
The discounts are not applicable during peak seasons such as Easter.

Please find the attached information and rate sheets of the resort
for your immediate reference.(I will send you a copy of the promo
rates if you like).

The cheapest hotel room is $252 per night and the most expensive
is $752 at the current discount rate of 40%, plus 12%VAT and
10% service charge excluding meals and other services.

Current airline flying to Marinduque is Zest Air. The flights are
four times a week (Mon-Wed-Fri-Sun) to Marinduque Airport.
Advance purchases of promo airfares online are being offered
as low as PHP3,000.00 net round trip per adult. From the airport,
our guests are picked up by private speed boats and yachts,
depending on the expected number of arrivals.Travel time on the
boat is around 35 to 45 minutes. Transfers can also be made by
land on our private vans, depending on the weather and sea conditions.

The restaurant offers dishes ranging from 500 to 2000 pesos
per dish.Special meals such as vegetarian or kosher dishes
may be requested ahead and can be served in your suite.

Rumor from the locals indicated that the resort is a member of
International Interval(II) and may be available for vacation
exchanges. However, after I talked to II, this rumor is indeed
just a rumor.The resort is not a member of Interval International.
The resort website, www.bellaroccaresorts.com is under construction.

Any comments?

Building a Retirement House in Marinduque

Recently, I received several e-mail and telephone inquiries on the cost of building a retirement or vacation house in Marinduque. Before, I could give you a decent estimate, there are several items that I have to know:

1. What kind of a house do you want, that is either it will be constructed with native materials (nipa/bamboo/coco lumber) or with cement, hollow blocks and metal roofing
2. How big will the house be in terms of area, that is square footage or square meters
3. What kind of fixtures you want installed, such as plumbing, doors, windows, garage, balconies, fans, air conditioning, attics etc...

My estimate will consist only of materials and labor plus architect fees. It will not include furniture's, kitchen appliances, landscaping and caretaker expense and fencing of the property(highly recommended). It will not also include the price of the lot.

However, I can give you a decent estimate based on our retirement house built in 1996. If you want to build a similar house, 2700 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, two balconies and a one car garage with cement, metal roofing, air conditioning and marble floors, my estimate will be around 4 million pesos. So based on today's exchange rate of 1 to 48, it will cost you around $84,000. This is cheap if you compared it to the standard 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house in US. Here in Fair Oaks, CA the standard house sells for an average of $250,000 to 500,000 depending on location.

Speaking of location, lots with beach front are very expensive if you can find one in Boac. There are a several beach front lots in Buenavista and Torrijos. They are cheaper compared to beach lots in Boac or Gasan. Lots in the interior ( no beach front) are much much cheaper and are in abundance.

If you already owned a beach front lot in Marinduque, here are a few tips you need to know before building.

Because of the salty ocean breeze especially on Habagat season (rainy- southwest winds), it is recommended that you build your house with stainless materials if possible. Double paint the outside and derusts annually. High maintenance expense is what you get for an ocean view and fresh ocean air during the amihan season (gentle Northeast winds) during summer.

So if you have a lot and have decided to build your dream vacation or retirement home, here are the steps to follow:

1. Hire a professional architect ( Research the type of architecture for your dream house). Visit local homes for ideas.
2. The estimate of the architect is normally low, so that your property tax will also be low.
3. Multiply by 2 the architect estimate. That will be your decent estimated cost until the house is finished.
4. Allot about 15 to 25% for furniture's, appliances, landscaping and caretaker expenses and fencing( highly recommenced).
5. If you can not personally supervise the construction, ask a relative or someone you can trust with finances to supervise during construction.

If you are really serious in constructing your dream house, let me know. I have 15 years of experience building three houses and one Conference Hall at the Chateau Du Mer Compound in Marinduque. I will be glad to give you ideas and free advice and tips( no consultation fees). Have Fun and Enjoy the planning, constructing, landscaping and eventually moving to your dream retirement house

Marinduque Vacations

Looking for a romantic get away? Tired of city Living? Looking for an affordable vacation? Marinduque Islands, Philippines awaits you. Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort a private resort is now open to the public. For details visit the website, www.chateaudumer.com or http://chateaudumer.blogspot.com

Happy Mother's Day

Mothers Day is tomorrow. Advertisement for flowers and other mothers day gifts is flooding the TV, radio and in the internet. But who could afford those flowers if you are jobless and only in a retirement pension. I have an idea though to send you a flower from my garden in Boac.( See photo above). This photograph was taken by Gabby Del Rosario, son of Renan and Gilda Del Rosario of Muntinglupa, PI. The Del Rosario family were our guests at Chateau Du Mer in Boac last December, 2008.

Remember motherhood is the hardest and most challenging job in the world. A good mother is not only patient, devoted and loving but also a friend. I hope you have a fun mothers' day. If you are reading this blog, you are one of the many mothers that have touched our lives the last 52 years of our married life. Comments will be appreciated. Dave and Macrine Katague

Philippines Tourism Needs Improvement

Map of Marinduque from Tourism Website

I just finished reading Dave Starr article (www.liveinthephilippines.com) discussing the need to improve tourism in the Philippines. I agree with him 100%. Compared to other Asian countries, the Philippines is at the bottom of the barrel in attracting visitors worldwide. In 2007, China was number(#1) with 54 million visitors. This was followed by Malaysia ( 17 million), Singapore ( 14 million), and Vietnam ( 5 million). The Philippines only attracted 3.4 million tourists. Dave Starr attributed the poor performance of the Philippines to targeting the advertising money to the wrong audience. Instead of advertising the Philippines in major TV channels all over the world, the tourist ads are shown in Filipino TV channel in US and other countries to attract OFW's and Filipino immigrants/balikbayans and expatriates.

In Forbestraveler.com, the top 15 tourist attractions in Asia, not one listed is in the Philippines. China has 5, Japan 4, Hongkong 4 and Korea and Taiwan has one each. So what is wrong with Palawan's subterranean river, of Bohol's chocolate hills, of Marinduque's white beaches and fringing reefs and Benguets rice terraces? Nothing wrong about these places, except they are not known to tourists all over the world.

Again, these illustrates the point that tourism advertising money is targeted to the wrong clients/market.

So, Mr Ace Durano, our tourism chief and guru, please wake up and do you job now!

Survival Tips in the Philippines

Zest Air to Marinduque- Reserved on Line for Promo Fares

I have learned a few survival tips during my annual winter sojourn this year in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines. First, I have learned not to fall in line anymore when doing my transactions in our local bank. I used to form in line for one to two hours, when I noticed that one of the customers went directly to the private office of the vice president. The next time, I went to the bank, I went directly also to the office of the vice president when I saw the line was extending outside the bank in the heat of the sun. The VP told me I have to open a premium account with a substantial amount of balance as well as a dollar account. So, I did and every month, my bank transaction is done in the private office of the VP saving me from one to two hours each time, I go to the bank.

I also learned that you could reserved a hotel room in one five star hotel in Manila via E-mail. The e-mail is addressed directly to the hotel and not to headquarters or the main reservation office. Since I hate using the telephone to reserve a room ( too long a wait and too many questions ask), I did reserved via e-mail. I waited for a week for confirmation of my e-mail. After a couple more days, I decided to call the hotel and I was told my reservation is confirmed. My reservation was confirmed in one minute.

I also learned that the best way to buy airplane tickets from Zest Air (www.zestair.com.ph) is to do it on line. The problem is the airline will not accept my credit card originating here in US. I have to use my sister-in-law credit card originating in the Philippines. Booking on line also give you a chance to get promo fares cheaper than taking the door to door service (air conditioned private vans,from Manila to Boac and back). In addition, always check your departure time, 24 hours before departure. The airline schedule is crazy. It keeps changing starting from 6:00AM, then 8:00AM and then to 10:30AM, with the airline sometimes forget to call you.

I also learned that I could purchase building materials, paints, hardware goods from a local hardware store on credit ( payable in 30 days). There is no limit to the amount I could charge and there are no interest charges. I could even pay it by personal check instead of cash. How did I manage to do this? First, the hardware owner is my neighbor. Second, the accountant of the hardware owner is my sister-in-law. And lastly, I have been a customer of the hardware store for the last 10 years, and had been paying my bills within the 30 days credit period. This arrangement is handy as it gives time for my checks to clear in my US and PI bank accounts.

I also learned a few phrases unique to the island. One phrase I will never forget,

" I do my gardening by mouth". As an avid gardener, I was curious what it meant.
It means that you have a helper or garden assistant that do the gardening for you. All you have to do, is tell him what to do. So, since I have two gardeners, most of the time I do my gardening by mouth. But If I want to sweat, I am still strong enough to do my own weeding, watering and pruning. Transplanting, fertilizing,and spraying for pests, I let my gardeners do it.

Lastly I learned to be patient. If someone is late to an event I am hosting, I try not to be upset. In this way, my blood pressure does not go hay wire and hopefully, I will live longer. If you know of other survival tricks in PI, please comment.