Last week, I was at Puerto Azul in Ternate, Cavite, with the folks for a staycation and to celebrate my uncle’s birthday. Puerto Azul is notorious for its crumbling facade, which was once described as Asia’s Paradise Resort. It was an exclusive resort complex that catered to rich locals and foreigners, especially golfers. Its 3,3oo hectare land holds a a golf course designed by legendary golfer Gary Player, a beach, and a hotel with 340 rooms in 17 clusters. In fact, Leandro Locsin designed the main clubhouse, which still stands today.
Today, Puerto Azul is a shadow of its former self. The golf course is now dry and barren due to lack of irrigation. A shame, considering that it was designed by one of the greatest players golf history, and plays host to the important Philippine Open and Richard Gomez’s Goma Cup. Its Hole 17 has golfers playing with the dazzling Manila Bay in the background.
Its facilities are rundown and infrastructures aging. But my story takes place in a different location.
The residential area of Puerto Azul takes up only one street with lots of greenery
I had my staycation at the residential part of Puerto Azul. It’s right across the golf course, and is hidden by lots of greenery. It looks undeveloped, but the houses are huge. The house we stayed at had five floors.
The owner of the house has a funny connection with my family. She is friends with my mom, worked with my uncle (whose birthday we were celebrating), and her daughter was once my classmate in high school. I think it is their summer house because they occasionally rent it out.
The house is a pleasant shade of yellow
We had the space for two days, and I was impressed by the size of the place. The house is Asian-inspired and though I am not a fan of that architectural and design movement, I still loved the house for its size and devotion to large windows, seats, bathrooms, and greenery.
The pool is almost six feet-deep
The poolside has access to two bedrooms, each with three beds and a large bathroom with dressing room. That’s my brother (left) and cousin (right)
One of the dining areas available next to the poolside. The other one is longer and can seat more people. There’s a bar next to it
The den has a couch that can seat a group of people, and a table for games. The board games were ignored because my cousins and I watched DVDs
The highlight of the house and our trip was the large swimming pool on the second floor (the house is on the upward slope of a hill, the driveway meets the third floor). I especially liked the dark blue tiles, which made the pool look classier. It is surrounded by huts and lounge chairs, two bedrooms, and an indoor dining area, bar, and den. It has a view of an open field.
The lighting goes up to the third floor (technically the fifth)
One of the seating areas in the living room. There is a sofa set and a piano, but they were covered in large sheets
The stove and oven is on a lovely island in front of a bar, and overlooks the dining table and the living room (you can see the covered sofa and piano)
The kitchen has a large window that overlooks the garden. Large windows are beautiful if there’s a gorgeous view outside
The main house opens to a large space divided into the living room, dining, room, and kitchen. Its integration into one room makes it the ideal place for a large dinner party with friends.
The highest floor of the house is a mini-gallery with paintings propped against the wall. I like the idea of having paintings against the wall because it gives the impression that the house is a work in progress and that things are alive and dynamic
Most of the beds are futons. It keeps in touch with the Asian theme of the house, and at the same time makes the space look bigger. Although I don’t think the rooms needed to look bigger as they are expansive already
A sample bathroom. I love the shade of gray
The rest of the house is divided into four large rooms. I’m not so sure about the layout of the house because it can get confusing. Or maybe it’s because I’m not used to having such a big house? Even the bathrooms are big, and has enough space for a few chairs.
I always dreamed of having a bathroom that makes one want to stay, and what better to do that by adding chairs? One of my mom’s good friends has a downstairs restroom that doubles as a primping place complete with a couch and a tray with powder, lotion, and sanitizer.
I hope that the camouflage sheet is just a cover and not the actual sheet
The second floor of the room
The balcony has a pretty view of the woods and sea
Just outside the room is an outdoor jacuzzi and a table
The view from the roofdeck
My favorite bedroom of the house is one located on the fourth floor. It’s a simple square room with a futon that takes up most of it and a TV with wooden seats. But the appeal of this room is a second floor with a beautiful view of the sea. I like the idea of a two-floor room (which I first saw on The Princess Diaries) because it creates another separate space in the same room.
However, if I were to decorate, I would put the bedroom on the second floor and reserve the ground floor for an office and a “living room” or den. This way, I can receive guests in my room and still have the bedroom upstairs as a sacred space for alone time. It also gives me the opportunity to hang art on the stairway.
Right outside the bedroom is an outdoor stone jacuzzi, and another staircase that leads to its own roofdeck with an even better view of the sea. This bedroom has ‘me’ written all over it.