Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar (Bagac, Bataan): A Photo Blog - Day 1

Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar (Bagac, Bataan): A PhotoBlog

"A living museum of Philippine customs and traditions are re-born in a community typical of the 18th to early 20th century Philippines. These architectural treasures have been carefully and painstakingly reconstructed from different parts of the country and rebuilt, 'brick by brick' and  'plank by plank.'" 

Have you ever wondered what it's like to live in the past and be reconnected with your Filipino lineage? A big thanks to Mr. Jerry Acuzar for building LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR. This historical site is a resort made from his collection of ancestral houses with a 1920 "bahay na bato" as the 'youngest' heritage house in the collection. Now, we can enjoy living in history with the perks of the modern world.

Be mesmerized and appreciate the simple living of the past as I walk you through the extraordinary village of Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar that houses 27 heritage architectural houses, each with a juicy history to tell (I will leave the story-telling to the tour guide though).

We left Manila around 10am and reached Las Casas Filipinas at 12:30pm (we took the San Fernando Pampanga exit).  We were starving but upon seeing the beauty of the place, I just had to get my camera and start taking pictures first.

Marivent Cafe is the only restaurant at Las Casas Filipinas for now, serving popular Filipino and Spanish dishes. It is conveniently located at Casa Unisan (you should listen carefully to the tour guide about the history of this house because this is one of those houses that has the most exciting story to tell)

I did mention that we were starving, right? The picture above are the only food left for picture-taking because everything was gone in an instant. Yummy food to order: Beef Sinigang and Lechon Kawali and the GABI ICE CREAM with CHEESE!!! The rest of the food was also okay but the price was a bit steep - check out their menu here: Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar - Marivent Cafe Menu

After the lunch feast, we headed off to our room at Casa San Miguel, which is very near Casa Unisan (restaurant) and Casa Mexico (resort reception). 

Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar has a gameroom near the pool area where you can play traditional games like dama, sungka, Chinese garter, trumpo (top), etc and modern games like billiards, table tennis, darts, etc. But, here in Casa San Miguel, we have our own billiards table - perfect for bonding moments while enjoying the simple life.

Don't you just love the view across "our" billiards table?

Casa San Miguel has 6 rooms - 4 rooms located at the first floor and 2 big rooms on the second floor, where the billiards table, huge sala, 2 mahjong tables and 1 long dining table are.

That's our spacious room in Casa San Miguel - two huge queen beds with a big modern bathroom.

It was a lazy afternoon so we decided to have the tour the following day instead. After exploring the resort by ourselves, we found Las Casas Filipinas's workshop just a few steps away from our room. Their in-house artists are genuinely inspiring. Everything was made from scratch - each artwork was meticulously made with the artist's full attention.

Las Casas Filipinas also has a hotel, which appears to be newer.

Across the hotel is Casa Jaen II where wonderful kundiman melodies are being played that can be heard all over the plaza.

The plaza is most romantic at night. With music at the background, this is one of my favorite spots in Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar.

combination of old and new

Sculptures of traditional Filipino games - "luksong baka", "sipa" and "palo-sebo"

Bataan beach and sculptures made out of huge rocks 

"Batis" inspired swimming pool

A romantic dinner by the river.

We were serenaded by the cool voices of the talented Hazel Corpus and Roel Rama of "Kundiman Si Lolo, Si Lola," who plays Kundiman Filipino songs at Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar from Tuesday - Sunday. Somebody please discover them and make their album already! My favorite piece is Roel's own composition - "Para Na." You should request for this song when you go to Las Casas :)

I wish the night would go on and on but it had to end and we had to rest for tomorrow's walking heritage tour...

READ Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar (Bagac, Bataan): 
A Photo Blog - Day 2

Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar (Bagac, Bataan): A PhotoBlog