An invitation to nature worship & virtual luxury

MANILA, Philippines -  There is no way you can remain indifferent to this island resort 17 kilometers away from Legaspi City.

Less than an hour from Manila by plane and less than an hour from the Albay airport, Misibis Bay resort in Cagraray Island is an invitation to nature worship and virtual luxury — in my case at least for three glorious days!

After crossing the narrow Sula Channel overlooking Tabaco City, the Misibis service van takes you this resort with rows of villa just a few steps away from the pool and with a view of the huge expanse of the Pacific Ocean.  

You feel like singing Bali Hai but as you are about to finish a quiet intro of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song from South Pacific, you are cut short by piped-in rhythmic music with an all-male choir chanting: Ibalon! Ibalon! Ibalon!

You venture into the sea and remind yourself: Forget your hoi polloi background, imagine yourself doing a re-make of The Great Gatsby, imagine yourself swamped by an unexpected endorsement contract and voila, you metamorphose into a sunblock model and get good tips from Nivea which beauty experts admit is the world’s innovator in state-of-the-art skin care and the most trusted brand in body care.

Not that I have the body for it or what passes for it.

But I was assured there was no need to wait for 15 minutes for the Nivea sunblock to start working. Cooed the body experts during the body care presscon: You can hit the beach and dance with the waves upon application! Then I get a short powerpoint presentation about its moisturizing properties.

 The rains cooled the Cagraray air and as Nivea beauty experts brief you on your sun protection needs, you decide to get a whiff of the sea as soon as the sun made its appearance.

 In your Speedo swimsuit and Nivea sando, you realize you had nothing to fear from co-vacationers Richard Gutierrez and Jomari Yllana. But you can’t possibly compete with the other guests of the resort — they with such models’ gait and beautiful bodies namely Marc Nelson, Maxene and Saab Magalona, Bubbles Paraiso, Agot Isidro, Reema Chanco, Nicole Anderson, Nicolette Henson, Alvin Alfonso, JR Isaac, Carlos Concepcion, Jeremy Marquez, Georgina Wilson and Borgy Manotoc.

Vacationers can stay in one of the resort’s villas with high airy ceilings and a terrace

 The Nivea staff scheduled some games which this 62-year-old social climber ruled out. But to my surprise, I saw someone about my age — photographer and social chronicler Raul Teehankee — joining the Nivea race in the company of Nelson and Yllana.

 To be sure, Marc epitomizes the perfect health buff and can very well be the perfect endorser of wholesome summer get-away like this one. But to one’s surprise even as he speaks Filipino with an accent, he said he wasn’t born in the Philippines. He was born in Sydney but his mother has Anglo-Burmese blood. He was actually raised in Burma and Thailand and his father is of Burmese Chinese origin. They ended living in Australia.

He came to the Philippines in the late ’90s for a diving holiday but ended up staying for good. He was soon in the fashion ramp and hosted TV shows and became more popular modeling a Bench underwear.

Nivea probably invited him to this summer get-away because he represents the clean, healthy lifestyle. Watching him do well in the race, he certainly represents the true image of summer and perfect for body care products.

As for the Misibis Resort, well, you can say it has nothing to fear from Boracay. It has its share of fine sand and the villas are privately secured you don’t get to see the congestions of Boracay. My villa has high airy ceilings and a terrace with direct access to the pool and a separate path to your preferred part of the beach. I was told I can have a 24-hour personal butler who — according to the brochure — can anticipate your every need. But there is no need for this. You can just follow a footpath and go to nearby chic restaurant offering Asian and Western cuisine. The pool beside your terrace is at your beck and call, so to speak. There is a beach bar where you can drown your ennui and a world-class spa to relieve your city-weary soul. If your blood pressure is up to it, you can try horseback and ATV riding, jet ski, windsurfing and snorkeling.

If short-lived luxury is not your cup of tea, you can leave your seaside kingdom and explore several nearby nature-perfect destinations namely the Cagbulacao Cave, the Malubago Cave, the Misibis Cave, the Buhi Cave and Mataas Cave. Perfect replicas of Boracay can be found not just in Misibis but also in the adjacent barrios called Mosboron and Sula.

Moreover, Misibis Bay’s  function rooms can very well accommodate a classical concert but the management said I had to get the piano from the Albay mainland, make it cross the Sula Channel and you have to bring your own piano tuner.

 Well, three days in paradise were soon over but given a second chance (and more hospitality), I’d like to go back to Misibis Bay anytime and apply those Nivea products that happily did wonders to this unseasoned traveler.