Time of the Season

I am the Omega Man.

The setting is the peninsula of Malaroyroy, Coron, at the heart of a Sunday afternoon. No one else around (at least as far as the eye can see) in the sweet plushness of the Two Seasons resort. I walk — from the island-tip bungalow that I will call home for two nights, past the white sandbar that pushes toward an islet (island lite), up the hilly stretch of land marked with the generosity of trees (hill street greens), and down to the Sulu Restaurant where the staff would allow me to play elementary piano until sundown. The other guests have set off on an adventure in the morning: to see hidden lakes, scour for sunken ships. I see one or two staff-members of Two Seasons — driving the hotel golf cart, cleaning the cutely shaped pools — but that doesn’t shatter my Tom-Hanks-in-Castaway trip. I am still Charlton Heston, the last man standing, albeit scrawny, hungover and in ridiculous yellow shorts. This is what I miss in a world of forced handshakes, small talk and working lunches. Solitude, baby! To swim in peace near the mangroves; get a cold SMB from the bar; listen to the rhythms of water dashing percussively on stone; and live, dammit, live.

A couple of weeks before that, I was on the phone with publicist Raquel Hizon.

“You ready for Coron, Igan?” she asked.

“Are there going to be Amazing Race-style activities?” answering her question with a question like Manfred Mann. I hate those media events where they make you do all sorts of stupid challenges and then cajole you into doing extremely sporty poses for the camera. Existing on this planet (dealing with its pit traps and evil tenants) is an amazing race in itself, I tell you. That you and I are still alive means we’re winning. Or haven’t lost yet.  

“No, Igan, we’re just going to chill,” she assured.

That was all I wanted to hear.   

And “chill” has become the operative word during this trip to one of the most breathtaking places in Palawan. Well, we nearly missed our flight out of Manila (so we had to run the lengths of NAIA 3 with lensman Rudy L. as our beacon), and each of us found the 40-minute speedboat ride from Coron proper to Malaroyroy quite exhilarating. The boat bobbed from time to time, yet Pau of Two Seasons Coron just stood by the also-business-as-usual captain: unruffled, smiling the entire trip, just another day in her blessed island life. A calming presence. It’s fiercely sunny, alright, but that doesn’t translate into dead-calm waters, as resort manager Dennis Riego would poetically tell us afterwards that “the weather and the waves, they have minds of their own.” Dig?

But you know what? Landing on the shore of white-sanded Two Seasons, being greeted by a troupe of smiling, hula-shaking dancers, being handed tall, cool zucchini-with- honey-and-calamansi drinks (so delicious we’ll end up ordering them again over lunch), and being ushered into one of those classy, breezy bungalows designed under the guidelines of modern Asian aesthetics (mine has a veranda and a Jacuzzi!)… wow, these things make the amazing commute truly worthwhile.

This is the ideal luxury resort life: Two Seasons is self-sustaining as much as possible, has its own desalination plant, makes use of solar energy for water-heaters, utilizes a double-piping system (recycled water in, sewage out), and boasts “zero-waste discharge” (no pollutants go to the sea). Such beauty, such possibilities.

My companions will spend the best part of a Sunday morning to go lake-spotting — probably see Kayangan Lake (do the hundred-fifty-plus steps), the twin lagoon by Calis Mountain, or the island-cluster called Siete Pecados, and have a picturesque picnic by the Sangat Wreck. They are young, their souls full of wonder. (And, oh, the stories they will bring back, along with a cache of careered pictures.)

The other Two Seasons guests, doctors I will soon learn, will head for the Pawikan Aqua Sports Center (for access to the “world-famous Coron diving experience, marine sanctuary and shipwreck exploits”). Here, they can try the Hydrobob Submersible Scooter that allows a 180-degree view of the ocean floor or the Molokini transparent kayak for crystal glimpses of coral reefs and marine life. Also offered at Pawikan are PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) beginner as well as advanced courses.

Some will get their fill of wake boarding, water skiing, banana boat ride, snorkeling and windsurfing; others will ascend the steps to Narra Spa and avail of various Asian, Polynesian and contemporary cosmopolitan therapeutic massage. Our group will hit the bar called Bahura with its 360-degree view of eastside and westside beaches, some of us installing ourselves by the end of the night in the upstairs karaoke room for a cocktail of beer, Demi Lovato and Carole King tunes, as well as Growers peanuts.

And the seasons rolled on by

Two Seasons Island Resort and Spa owner and outdoorsman John Peñaloza says it all began in Boracay in 2006. One day, he decided to put up a resort in the place he visits twice a year. And what’s the origin of the name? He answers it concisely: “Well, the Philippines has two seasons, basically.”

The place in Bora was a hit. John was supposed to go back to his day job (the man runs an industrial and automotive bearings company), but he enjoyed himself immensely in running his first Two Seasons. (Who could blame John, anyway?) So he scouted around for a second location. He found Coron, or — more exactly — Coron found him.

“In 2009, I was supposed to buy a property somewhere else, but my contractor friend called me and told me to check out Coron,” he recalls. “I flew two days later. I got to the island, went around, and fell in love with it right away. The next day, I backed out of the deal in the other place and told the broker I’m going with Coron instead.”

In developing the resort, Peñaloza made sure to follow Palawan’s very strict environmental restrictions as well as the laws protecting ancestral lands. Just to prepare the documents, it took John and company a year. Construction finally went underway in late 2010; John was present since day one. He says they could’ve put up hotel-style buildings (too solid, too urban for John), but chose instead fewer structures (mainly 42 bungalows scattered about the area). Less revenue, yes, but that move would give guests more solitude and privacy, and it won’t alter, as much as possible, the existing landscape and tree formations. There was an existing church used by the islanders in the area, and a few people told John to make use of the space because of the magnificent view.

“Hindi kaya ng conscience ko ’yun, I told them. We should build a new chapel on the same spot instead. ’Yung Mama Mary sa side — that was originally from the old church.” (A wedding will take place this year in this very chapel, with the resort taking care of paperwork, planning, etc.)

Peñaloza was and is still extremely hands-on. The entire resort is the fruit of his vision — from the design of the bungalows (inspired by his trips to Bali and Phuket, and by his love of Filipino architecture as well as modern, minimalist interiors; no riot of colors here, only clean lines), mushroom-shaped huts and obliquely shaped pools (squares are boring, thinks John), to the bathroom fixtures, lighting and curtains (the man even shopped in Greenhills for such items).

He built it, we have come and others will keep coming.

“It’s about time that the Philippines has an island-resort with high-quality amenities.”

The man remembers an entry on Trip Advisor: “mk98” from San Francisco, California shares how his wife sweetly whispered to him during their stay at Two Seasons, “This is paradise.”

Almost! As for me, I choose to chill out in this spacious floating world. Others will have other memories of Two Seasons Coron. Here I am rethinking earth, water and how divinely things are put together. About the natural nuts, bolts and bearings that run these existential gears. Who am I? Why am I not with anyone, everybody else? Are these yellow shorts making me look daft? This is a place of wonder, a place to wonder in during this season of philosophizing. I recall what they practically say in that long-lost sci-fi TV show: “The island becomes what you want it to be.”

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For inquiries, call 410-2075 to 80, fax 732-1747 or 411-8209, email bliss@twoseasonsresorts.com, or visit www.twoseasonsresorts.com. For updates, visit the resort’s Facebook page Two Seasons Coron Island Resort.  The Two Seasons Resorts office is at Nena Building, 132-A Bayani Street, corner Araneta Avenue, Quezon City 1113.