Hello! Joyful and kind people of Hive! Your cup-bearer will fill your day with a good vibe as we traveled to the beautiful place of Negros Occidental.
It was a very stressful week due to the pile of work in school and at home. We were planning to have unwinding activities away from our town. We want to make sure that we will enjoy together with our kids.
My wife and her friends at Tabogon Central School decided to travel from our Town to one of the wonders of Negros Occidental, the Campuestohan Highland Resort. I told her that it would be hard for us to leave since we have hundreds of chickens to feed and the eggs must be collected or else they will have a crack. She insisted that we need some time to travel and we'll just have someone to look after our small farm.
The Travel Begins
We left Tabogon at 1:30 a.m. by a van for hire going to Tabuelan port. We arrived at the port at 3 a.m. and a line of trucks were already there. I thought we needed to line up but the van passed these trucks and proceeded to the vicinity of the port. My wife and her friends paid for the tickets including the vehicles. We left the port at 5 a.m. and we were very excited since it was our first time to travel together outside Cebu Island.
We let our kids sleep while we're on board. While we remain awake and observe the surroundings as we go on our journey. When the sun rose, I had a walk on the side to see the beauty of the ocean. I knew it was gonna be a fine day. When I went back to our seats, my wife's friends invited us to have breakfast. I told them that we'd just eat once we arrived at the port. But they wanted us to join them, especially the kids.
Welcome to Negros
Hours later, we stepped on the land of Negros Occidental. I was amazed by this opportunity to explore a new place. We rode in the car of Ma'am Marne's sister going to our destination. I never had an idea how far it was. I thought we would just travel about an hour. But when I searched for it via Google map, I told my wife that it was very far from the port. So we let our kids sleep again to save their energy.
We passed a lot of sugarcane fields. It is quite different from Cebu Island when we talk about cities. But I guess living there would be great too. I fell asleep while we were on our way to the resort. We had a stop at a gasoline station to fill some gas and used the comfort rooms. We also bought some snacks since the kids were hungry and a bit tired of our travel.
Hello Campuestohan
After almost 5 hours of land travel, we arrived at the resort before noon. I was astonished by the scenery of the mountain. When we had our entry at the gate I was even more stunned by the enchanting view inside the resort. The kids were very happy and got more excitement as they saw the big pool and giant characters. Though we were tired due to the long-distance travel, we were energized by the magical environment.
Since the check-in time was 2 p.m., we had our lunch at the cottages. There were plenty of cottages so we stayed there by chance with the number of people who were also there for the day use. After having our lunch, we also took the chance to take photos as we strolled the area. It was a sunny day, but we could feel the cold wind touch our skin.
When it was check-in time, we were asked if it was okay with us to stay in the King Kong room. The giant structure of King Kong has a room inside. I never thought of it, but when we went to its back portion, there was a door and we went inside of it. Many tourists who took pictures in front of King Kong were also curious why we went to the back. They also never had the idea that there was a room inside the giant structure.
We stayed there with the TCS Principal and the Division Dentist. After putting our things in our room, we went back taking pictures of the place. We were amazed by the Dino Park where some of the displays were moving as if they were real. Our kids got scared at first but when we told them that they were not real, they took a pose and enjoyed the attractions.
The resort is too big to walk for a day. We had some time eating ice cream and ate some afternoon snacks. We took a pose under the giant octopus. We also had fun looking at the other rooms which were occupied by other tourists. We stayed far from our companions. When they had to cook our dinner, we were not able to help them. We needed to contact them to locate their room. The place became peaceful when people left after the day use time was over. It was calm and quiet. The perfect place to reflect and meditate.
After our dinner, we had a walk going back to our room. We stopped by an area near King Kong and had a conversation about our day. After an hour we entered our room and prepared our kids for bed. We were used to sleeping by 7 or 8 in the evening. The place was so cold but our companions inside the room still turned on the airconditioning unit. We just covered ourselves well with the blanket.
Our Second Day
We woke up early on the next day. We had some hot coffee and milk for our kids. After that, we eventually had a morning walk to see the fog. We then went to the room of our other companions and they told us to proceed to the restaurant for our breakfast. The kids were so excited to swim in the pool. But after we had our breakfast, Ioseph was not feeling well. We went back to our room and gave him some paracetamol.
He chose to stay in our room while Jehoia wanted to have a dip in the pool early in the morning. Though it was so cold she insisted on trying the wave pool and the other one which was intended for kids. We were waiting for the foam cannon together with the other tourists. But worrying about the condition of our son, we needed to check on him. Jehoia changed her clothes as we prepared to go back to Cebu. The team planned to go somewhere else before going to the port like, The Ruins, and buy some souvenir foods at Bacolod.
Going Back Home
We failed to visit The Ruins due to the limited time. We were rushing to the port since they only had the last trip at 9 p.m. The port personnel already refused to include us on the last trip to Cebu. They were just waiting for the Ceres Bus and they were ready to go. We were sad at that time because we had work on Monday. However, after the Coast Guard checked on the passengers of the ship, they allowed us to board back to our Island.
We were not satisfied with our experience. We wanted to stay longer days in the resort. But we needed to go back to work. It was still a memorable experience for our family. I pray for more travel journeys with them.
I guess that would be all for this content. I acknowledge your time and effort in taking the time to read my blog. Till next time.
Have a great day!
Lead image was edited in Canva. Other images were taken using my phone.