Recent Addition to Chateau Du Mer Beach House

New Addition and Terrace

The Beach House and Bridge at Night

Master Bedroom of Beach House-Photo by Oggie Ramos, 2008

The Conference Hall all ready for the Wedding Reception Party


The Beach House before Typhoon Reming


Soroundings and Landscaping of the Conference Hall

It is a two story with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room and a 180 degree balcony with a panoramic view of the Amoingon Coast ( Western Marinduque). The Amoingon Coast is abundant with marine flora and fauna that can be seen 10 to 15 meters from the beach front.
Colorful butterfly fish, bobbing clown fish, lion fish, melon-sized urchins and schools of angel fish are among the varieties of fish that thrive in the coral reefs only a few meters from your front porch.

The master bedroom has a queen size bed. The other room has two twin beds. The living room has a hide-away futon bed. The beach house maximum occupancy is only for 4 adults and 2 children. The rooms are all equipped with noiseless electric fans. There are 2 bathrooms. The first floor bathroom is recommended for clean-up after an ocean swim. The upstairs bathroom has a hot water shower. The kitchen has a microwave oven, small refrigerator, flat wares and dishes for six. No heavy cooking is allowed.
The third bedroom is on the bottom floor. It is air conditioned ( 27 sq.meters) with an adjacent terrace ( 18 sq. meters) only a few meters from the ocean. It will accommodate six adults dormitory style. It can be easily converted into a meeting room for 30 to 50 attendees( with 3 round tables). The daily rental will be 4000 pesos.

There will be maid service during day light hours only. Home service massage therapy, haircuts, manicure/pedicure, laundry and transportation services can be arranged one day in advance.

The beach house is only about 9 Km from the capital town of Boac and 12 Km from the town of Gasan. Public transportation ( jeepneys and tricycles) are only a few minutes from your door steps

Snorkel gears are available for rent. Diving sites are within 30 minutes driving distance from the resort and can be arranged in advance.

Rental Information:

For 1 to 2 Persons: P3,000 pesos per day
For 3 to 4 Persons: P4,000 pesos per day
For 4 adults and 2 children: P5000 per day

Bottom Floor: 6 Persons dormitory style: ( or meeting room) P 4,000 pesos

The rate is subject to change depending on the pesos to dollar exchange.
The dollar-peso exchange as of March, 2010 is about 1 to 45
There will be a 10% discount for 7 or longer stays. A 20% discount for 1 month stay or longer.

Contact Information:

From US: 916-961-3365 or 916-390-6424
From Manila: 042-332-1754 or 042-332-1338
E-mail: tagaboac@comcast.net
Website: www.chateaudumer.com

CONFERENCE CENTER

This multi-function hall can easily accommodate 250 persons. It has spacious and modern bathrooms(3) with handicapped access. There is a kitchen for caterer use and a storage room. Wheel chair ramps are provided in the entrance and exit areas. The hall is wired for stereophonic sound. Secured parking for 50 to 80 cars is free. A generator is provided in case of power outage( blackout). There is plenty of room to set-up additional tents for another 100 attendees if necessary.

Rental Information:

8 Hr Day use: P7000 ( payable the day prior to the event)
P8000 ( by government voucher-up to 90 days wait only)

Night Use: P8000 ( payable the day prior to the event)
P9000 (by government voucher-up to 90 days wait only)

Included in the rental are 100 chairs and 10 round tables. Additional charge of 500 pesos for the use of our sound system and operator. A refundable cleaning and breakage deposit(P1000) is required for events with children attending. Set-up, flowers, tablecloth, table wares are not included in the rental. The use of kitchen area is included in the rental.

For Information on Marinduque: www.marinduque.gov.ph ( government

Fireworks. Live Band and the Haugthy Decorator

Edgar and Yvette with their Primary Sponsors After Wedding Ceremony at the Boac Cathedral
Hall Decoration Preparation
Our first and second wedding receptions were just completed the other day. The first reception on March 18 ( Calbario-Mariposque) is historic in the sense that there were fireworks as soon as the newly weds arrive. Unfortunately, there was still daylight and the effect of the Fireworks was minimal. The Hall was decorated beautifully with rays of white flimsy materials, that flutters and hide the roof of the Hall. It feels like you are in Heaven. The Food was delicious with a salad, fruit and dessert bar. My compliments to the decorator and the caterer.

The wedding was at the Boac Cathedral officiated by Bishop R Evangelista and assisted by two other priests. The ceremony was 30 minutes late since the bride was late. The priest celebrant even commented that the celebrants are even more excited than the bride since at exactly 3:00PM, they were all dressed and ready for the ceremony. Any way, after the ceremony and photo shots, we all proceeded to CDM where the newly weds spent another 30 minutes for photo shots in the beach resort and in the ocean. The setting sun was an excellent background for the photo shot. As a whole the wedding reception was a success, both in the Hall decoration and in the food service. There was a live band from Gasan. They looked pathetic without their uniforms, since the party was supposed to be formal. The men guests were requested to wear barong and the women a formal attire. About 60% of the guests wore formal attire. This is the same band that played during Mayor's Lim 65th birthday last month.

Speaking of food, and catering here in MDQ: We have four good food caterers that served the clients of CDM. I will discuss the Pros and Cons of each caterer and just called them Caterer A, B, C and D. A and B are in the business for quite some time and are located in downtown Boac. C is located in Laylay and D in Mogpog. "A" catered the Thursday reception and "B" catered the Saturday reception. C and D had been catering at CDM since last year and my four employees love them, since after the event, C and D always reserved extra food for them to take home as well as to partake during the event after all the guests had eaten. A and B never offers my employees food, so that when they are the caterers, I always instruct my manager to feed them first in the house, so they would not be hungry. A has an excellent record of service with us, except in one occasion, when of the dishes was spoiled ( Panis) yet it was served. On that occasion frequent brown outs occurred in MDQ,so there was probably a problem of proper refrigeration.

B has only catered twice at CDM including the one last Saturday. It has excellent food but more expensive than A, C or D. The first time B catered was about 5 years ago, before the CDM Hall was constructed. On that occasion, the food was insufficient. When Macrine confronted the owner, she said her food crew told her that the reason why food run out was that our household help also eat the food. Macrine was furious, since this was not true. Later when the food crew was cleaning up, I saw that one big dish of food was not served and the food crew was planning to take it home. From that time on, I had doubts of recommending B to our clients.

Another incident worthy of blogging, is the attitude of the interior decorator during the Saturday event. When my workers informed him, that one of the placement of on table and food tent was not proper, he ( may be a she)proclaimed that no one should tell him what to do, since the decoration of the Hall was his design. So my workers left the table and tent on its original location. When I saw the table and tent placement, I was also mad. The table was blocking the handicap ramp and access and the tent was blocking the driveway. The decorator was not there, so I ordered the table and tent removed to a better location. Speaking of the Hall decor, It was not exemplary but very ordinary. The church decor however was excellent.

In general the wedding reception and ceremony of my nephew was a tremendous success. There were about 16 guests from out of town ( Manila and suburbs). Eleven of the guests stayed with us in the beach house. They had fun swimming in the ocean and partaking Macrine's homemade cooking of sardines, sweet and sour tangigue(blue marlin) and mango pancake. I had fun talking to them. Associating with young adults also made me feel young. We hope they returned to Marinduque and stay longer to see more of the island.

My Mind is still about 40, but my Body Tells me I am Indeed 75

My Dog, Miko and Me at the West Terrace of our Retirement Home in Boac, Marinduque
Yesterday, after 30 minutes of actual gardening that is fertilizing my more than 50 potted plants, my back started to ache, I had a hard time standing up. It ached so much that I have to take a pain killer. This tells me I should do only gardening by mouth. I have one permanent gardener and two temporary help, especially if there is an event in the resort. However, there are times I like to do "hands-on" gardening since I really enjoy gardening and it is also my exercise.

Regarding my mind, I still have a good memory. I could still remember the unit prices of all building materials, such as cement, tiles, hinges, hollow blocks etc.., that I purchased last year. I STILL play duplicate bridge and still remember almost all the 52 cards based on the bidding. For those of you who do not play duplicate bridge, you only see 26 cards. The other half is hidden, but based on the bidding, and of your memory of how the bidding went, you actually can guess the location of all the 52 cards. I am proud to say, my memory is still good.

But I noticed that my memory is not as good as when I was in high school. In high school, my teacher in world history wanted to give me 100, since all my tests were all 100, but the highest grade he could legally gave me was only 95. I had a photographic memory then. But today, that photographic memory is gone.

So my dear readers, can you tell me where to find the fountain of youth? Do you have a formula or a lifestyle that slow down the aging process? Please share and Good Day to you All!

One more Month in My Island Paradise

This morning as I sat down on my swivel chair in the East terrace of our French bungalow, I can not help but remimd myself that Macrine and I had only one month more here at CDM before we fly back to Sacramento, USA-our primary residence.

As my daily routine, I partake freshly brewed coffee from newly grinded Batangas Barraco beans, before breakfast. Breakfast will be served later at the West Terrace by Cecile, our homemaker and cook. The national road is now busy with jeepneys filled with commuters and students to downtown Boac. There are also the regular vendors for bread and fresh fish and others that sells something I do not even know or care to know. There are chirping birds flying from one mango tree to another. This morning though I saw a big blue bird with white breast and black head. I took my telescope and aimed at the blue bird, she or he is indeed a beauty. She stayed for about five minutes and flew away. The Indian mango trees are loaded with fruits. In another month it will be ready for harvest. There will be so much mangoes, we have to give away most of it. No one will buy the mangoes, since almost every house in the neighborhood has at least one mango tree. CDM has 12 mango trees all loaded with fruits.
This morning also reminded me of what I missed in US. Since December last year Macrine and I gorged ourselves dialy with papayas, mangoes and bananas. We have also enjoyed the fresh fish and vegetables grown locally and purchased cheaply at our en farnmer's market every Saturday. Once or twice a week, we will have chicken, pork or beef. But the beef here is not tender. Cecile had to use our pressure cooker before the meat is tender enough for our taste. So what we missed is the juicy and tender steaks from Raleighs or Safeway in Sacramento.

Life here is almost boring, since there are no movie houses,or night clubs or casinos. There is only one decent restaurant in Gasan that serves German, Continental and Filipino dishes. However life becomes exciting when we had events here at CDM. This month we will have two wedding receptions, I previously describe in my last posting. The second event is the completion of my construction project. It is almost complete with sliding doors and windows scheduled to be installed next week. The adjoining patio will be tiled with Mariwas Masquerade beige tiles to match the professionally made drapes that Macrine ordered recently. The 27 square meters room will be air conditoned. The adjoining pation 18 square meters will served as a smoking area. It is only a couple of meters from the ocean on high tides. The room will served as a small meeting room as well as a dormitory style room for 6 guests.
Macrine and I are anxiously waiting for our 14 guests from Manila who will be attending the wedding of Macrine's nephere this March 20. They have requested to swim in our resort and after their swim we will offer them meat pies ( empanada) as a snack. We ordered 100 meat pies and buko juice ( young coconut juice) to quench their thirts in this summer heat.

The above two events are the one making our vacation here in my island paradise very exciting indeed. Good day to All my blogger readers.