Pipho Bataan: Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar

 
Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, a photo by jovijovijovi on Flickr.

Pipho Bataan: Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar
Bagac, Bataan
August 13-14, 2011

After the morning at Mt. Samat (click here for the blog entry), the Org Members of the Pinoy Photography Org www.pipho.org) our friends went down the mountain for some lunch at a nearby grill and then proceeded on to Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar (http://www.lascasasfilipinas.com/).

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is a collection of old houses from various places in the Philippines by the owner of San Jose Builders. The houses are purchased, disassembled and reassembled in the compound. The Genesis group approached them and eventually handled and made the place a resort as well.

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar definitely lived up to its name. The name sounds very high class and the area (after seeing it myself) was no doubt the same. The place was well built with a definite organization to the re-construction of the houses. The streets were of cobblestone and the houses were well spaced in between fountains, statues and greenery. The whole area, including the houses, the bridge (yes there is bridge) and even the greenery were all well maintained with lots of employees dressed in old fashioned costumes taking care of the maintenance.

Interestingly, the accommodations were built inside the old houses! Not to fear though as the rooms and bathrooms are new and modern with giant split type aircons cooling the various floors.

After some rough estimates of income and costs, I think the place could not maintain itself without personal funding from the owner. The area was just too beautiful and well maintained to be funded only by the reasonable affordable rates that Las Casas had for both daytime and overnight guests. This is good though because as a tourist, you are getting much value for your money!

interior of some of the houses on display (not the accommodations)

The weather that afternoon was not good (photographically speaking) with the overcast clouds and the lack of sunlight. We shot the whole afternoon while making do with the weather; but then the sunset came and the cloudy sky did give way for some good shots! Most of us had to rush over to the shore to shoot the sunset as most of us were not expecting the sunset to be any good that afternoon.

The sunset did show :) I'm no landscape photog but my friends got pretty good shots.

Some of us took the opportunity to shoot some night shots with the lit old houses and cleared up night sky. We had dinner at the restaurant inside the compound as food and drinks were not allowed to be brought into Las Casas. Despite the monopoly of the said restaurant, the servings were big and priced fairly. After dinner, we had some drinks and then most of us went to bed with plans for the sunrise the next morning.

my longest ever night shot! 8 minute exposure!

Me and 2 of my friends did not wake up for the sunrise; It was planned though as we decided that we would rather get a goodnight’s rest and drink a bit more than photograph the next morning (4am call time!). Most of the others went to nearby Sisiman Bay while a handful stayed at Las Casas for their sunrise shots.

After breakfast, we walked around again in the compound; this time with the blue sky and the strong sun above us! It’s amazing how sunlight and blue skies can make almost any shot look pretty. The sunlight just makes colors burst and make the photo just that much more beautiful.

Blue skies the next day!

This Bataan Pipho Photo Trip was a much more relaxed version of our regular trips. We would normally leave at horrendous hours of the morning (1am?) rushing off somewhere for the sunrise and eating and sleeping on the fly. This time, I enjoyed very much the relaxed 8am meeting time and the comfortable living and eating situation. Though we get more things done with our regular trips, this relaxed one was exactly what I needed: a short break from the daily hustle and bustle of life and a chance to shoot as well!

for more photos on my flickr of Las Casas click here