Fruit Trees in the Gardens of Chateau Du Mer

The Mango Tree-I have three varieties in my Garden-The Indian, Guimaras and Carabao Mangoes
My caretaker/gardener informed me last month that due to the El Nino drought in Marinduque, two of my Durian trees died in spite of his vigilant watering. One of the tree was attacked by insects that looks like a big fly but yellowish in color that sucks the sap of the seedling. The roots of the other tree was attacked by ants residing in the soil. However, my other fruit trees, the rambutans( 2), the lanzones(2) and the jack fruits ( 2) trees are doing well. The above eight fruit trees were given to me by Retired General Recaredo Sarmiento of Boac and Lucena., about three years ago. General Sarmiento is the “atid” of my wife. “Atid” is the colloquial term for brother. Evidently, Macrine's father, the late Bernardo Jambalos was the Godfather of General Sarmiento during his baptism and comfirmation.
Gen Sarmiento's hobby is orchard planting, reforestation and farming.

The other fruit trees in my garden are guayabanos, cashew, avocados, starapples, duhats, ates, guavas, mangoes( 3 varieties) and papayas as well as several varieties of bananas . Of the above fruit trees, my favorite is the guayabanos, also known as soursop tree known for its anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties . The following are photos of the fruit trees. The Durian photo is from the web. Note that it almost look like a jack fruit tree, except that the leaves are bigger and shiny. My desire is to have a passion fruit tree in the near future. You are welcome to visit my orchard and flower gardens any time, if perchance you are in the vicinity of The Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center.
The Rambutan Tree and Fruits
The Lanzone Tree and Fruits
The Jack Fruit Tree
The Durian Fruit Tree

Recent Addition to CDM-3rd Bedroom on Bottom Floor

Outside Terrace and Marble Tables-my best purchase for the year

The Beach House and Bridge at Night

The Beach House decorated for the Garden Wedding of the Year

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 April, 2010 is about 1 to 44
There will be a 10% discount for 7 or longer stays. A 20% discount for 1 month stay or longer.

You may use Paypal ( on top right of this page) to pay and reserve the dates of your stay, the equivalent in US dollars. Please call the telephone below to confirm the current pesos to dollar exchange rate. Thank You!

Contact Information:

From US: 916-961-3365 or 916-390-6424
From Manila: 042-332-1754 or 042-332-1338
E-mail: tagajaro@comcast.net or 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 Additional Information on Marinduque: http://marinduquegov.blogspot.com or
http://marinduqueawaitsyou.blogspot.com

Recent Addition to the Beach House

The above two pictures were taken during our last year sojourn at Chateau Du Mer, showing the conference center and the outside landscape. The third image is my CDM logo design by yours truly with the help of David III. Notice the butterfly design, recognizing Marinduque as the Butterfly Capital of the Philippines. This logo has been transferred to t-shirts, caps and mugs available for sale as souvenirs from the beach resort and conference center. A recent construction is the third bedroom or meeting room for 30 at the bottom floor of the beach house. The room is air conditioned and can served as a room dormitory style for six. The daily rental is 4000 pesos. There is an adjacent terrace (18 sq. meters) facing the ocean. Two marble tables from Romblom is the focal and center point of the decoration in the terrace.

Two Grand Wedding Receptions at CDM this Month

Jambalos-Anonical Wedding Invitation

Two grand wedding receptions are scheduled for this month at CDM. The first one is the Calbario-Mariposque nuptial on March 18 ( Thursday). The wedding ceremony will be officiated by Most Rev. Reynaldo Evangelista, Bishop of Boac. It will be an afternoon wedding at the Boac Cathedral followed by reception at 5:30PM until midnight. There will be a live band for dancing. The bride is the daughter of Pedro Mariposque( deceased) and Aida Jao. There will be 10 principal sponsors. Three of the sponsors are active members of Marinduque International, Dr Rodolfo Jao, Mrs. Conchita Jao-Manalo and Mrs Vivian Jao-Herrera. The wedding is formal requesting men guests to wear a barong and the women a formal dress. The newly weds will spend their honeymoon night in the beach house adjacent to the Conference Hall-the reception venue.
I do like their invitation as it specifies the number of seats reserved for the invited guests. This will hopefully solve the problem of the Filipinos bad habit of bring extra guests to parties such as wedding reception and birthday parties.

The second wedding is scheduled for March 20 ( Saturday). The groom is Macrine's nephew( Edgar Jambalos-aka Nonoy). The bride is Yvette Anonical also a native of Marinduque. The wedding will be officiated by Fr. John Jovel Luna- a high school classmate of the groom, and also at the Boac Cathedral. The wedding will be at 10AM and followed by a reception at CDM Conference Hall. There will be only five principal sponsors, Macrine and I are two of the sponsors. Food will be catered by Mita Rejano Reyes of the Boac Hotel. I heard the wedding budget is closed to a quarter million pesos. Who says there is a recession in Marinduque? Two hundred fifty guests are expected with another 20 extra plates for those that tag along even without an invitation.
Jambalos-Anonical Wedding Entourage
The Jambalos-Anonical wedding invitation also provided for the number of seats reserved for the invited guests. However since most Filipinos had a tradition of bringing extra guests( bad manners in US), the caterer was instructed to provide 20 extra plates just in case.

I am looking forward for this two wedding receptions at CDM.Good day to you all!

Construction and Reforestation At Chateau Du Mer

Beach House-Photo taken 1/10/10
A Multi-Purpose 27 sq.meters air conditioned room is under construction in the first floor of the beach house with an adjacent 18 sq.meters patio facing the ocean. Photo taken during Garden Wedding, 1/30/10

With several tourist groups from Manila inquiring about accommodations at the CDM beach house, I decided to continue the finishing of the first floor of the beach house. First construction is underway for a 27 square meters air conditioned room with an accompanying 18 sq.meters adjoining pation on the side of the western MDQ sea. The room will also served as a meeting room for a party of 30 to 50 attendees. The second phase of the construction will be the kitchen area with spaces for sink and gas stove. The expected completion date will be the third week of March, just in time for our busy Easter tourist season. The beach house will now easily accommodate from 10 to 12 persons. The rent for the whole house will be 8000 pesos per day. This will turn out to be less than 700 pesos per day per person if there are 12 in the group. This an affordable rental considering there is air conditioning, hot water shower and cooking facilities if desired.

Regarding reforestation, Edwin and I just planted 13 narra tree seedlings last month. This will provide the needed shade at the Conference Hall during the summer months in the years to come. Currently MDQ is also suffering from the drought. Luckily I have 3 deep wells that provide the needed water for my gardens, I am still hoping for rain though. Have a good day and hope to see you in MDQ soon.

Selected Pictures from the Garden Wedding Album of the Sena-Dacumos

The following are selected pictures from the first garden wedding at Chateau Du Mer. The bride was Rheziel Sena and the groom was Ramon Chito Dacumos. The wedding took place on January 30. 2010. This was a historic event at Chateau Du Mer.

Nagahoy or Nabalis( Head and Stomach Aches)

Orchids in Front Yard of the House
Yesterday, our housekeeper, wife of our Chief Gardener and Caretaker, Edwin, here at CDM, suddenly started throwing up and felt dizzy. Macrine gave her an anti-nausea pill but still she did not feel well. I took her blood pressure and it was normal. She decided a stranger that saw her in front of our house about an hour ago gave her the bahoy/balis. Her husband decided to bring her to our local witch doctor and indeed confirm that someone was responsible for her headache and vomiting. Macrine and I thought she might be pregnant, but she told us no, as she is faithfully taking her birth control pills. The medicine lady gave her ginger and advice her to boil the clothes she was wearing at the time she saw the stranger in front of the main house. She was told to drink a tablespoon of the boiled water and the rest as a sponged bath. In the meantime, we gave her two tablets of aspirin and she went to sleep. The next day she was feeling better and her life was back to normal.

I personally do not believe in nagahoy or nabalis. However, this is not the first case that a similar incident occurred here in Marinduque. Sometimes, the cure is see the person that gave you the scourge and get a sample of his/her saliva and applied it to your head or stomach. Interesting day indeed!

Post Garden Wedding Depression at CDM

My Brand New Picnic Table

It has been very quiet here after a week of hectic and chaotic preparation for the first Garden Wedding of Chateau Du Mer. I missed the excitement and adrenalin rush of hosting last week historic event in this resort. This week, life here is relaxing and even depressing. I could only hear the sounds of mowing, vendors selling balut, fish and bread and occasional jeepneys and tricycles (except during rush hours). Do you have any suggestion what I can do to relieve this feeling of depression? Oh, yes, I could go swimming in the ocean or do snorkeling. I could do gardening by mouth and I could supervise maintenance projects in the resort. Oh well, just thinking about this already gave me an adrenalin rush and my depression is gone. Anyway, if you want to view the latest pictures of our activities here at CDM since December 2009 to the present, please visit my Face Book page and album, MDQ 2010. Good Day to All! From Your GrandPa Blogger!