Farewell to Crystal Springs

My brother has sent me reminiscin'.

Mom was telling me the other day that my brother wanted to go to Crystal Springs Resort in Calamba, Laguna last weekend, only to find out that the resort has been closed down for 5 years already. It's quite a shame, really. In one of those moments that I think of home and travel, I go back to early childhood days when my parents would take us out almost every year to Crystal Springs and some other resorts in Southern Luzon.

All decked out in summer gear, the help would prepare lunch and we'd fill the 28-seater mocha brown colored Mitsubishi Rosa. We'd go and pick up my uncle's family and grandma, then we'd head out. Some years we'd have a guest or two.

It had 7 pools - 4 warm, 2 cold and 1 super hot if I remember correctly. That particular area of Laguna is known for its hot springs so hot spring resorts weren't uncommon. I just don't know why my family chose to stick to that one, but I guess familiarity gives you a certain comfort.

It had a big parking lot, and you need to walk up the stairs, pay your entrance fee and go to your assigned cottage. We'd change, and I'd have my handful of flaoties, ready to jump into the nice warm water. Little caterpillars falling from trees and leaves falling occasionally are part of the deal but it really never deters us from having a good time. All you had to was swim away from the creepy crawlies and everything is alright. Starting with the warm pools, it brings you to the cold ones. You can go up and try the slides. The set-up was quaint if I may call it that. We usually end with the hot water pool and go for a shower, ready to go home smelling like chlorine.

For some reason, I still remember what their brochure looks like and now that I think about it, there were quite a lot of memories made there.

Tried looking online for a pic and found this one (thank you google), since I don't have our old pictures from Manila here in HK.
Goodbye Crystal Springs. It was a good run.