MaY 25, 2021
Dear Balesin Members and Friends
This will be a short update.
Tang Palace in Balesin
At long last, we will have our own Chinese restaurant in Balesin. As you know, we built for Apsaras Tribe, a beautiful Chinese palace, not far from Rico’s Hideaway. This was opened some two years ago, but the owners who were a group from the Shenzhen Yacht Group, operated it only sporadically, and it has been shut down for over a year now. Last week, the owners proposed that we operate the Chinese restaurant, and we agreed.
David Chua, who rejoined Balesin at the beginning of this year, is an old hand in running Chinese restaurants. He started out with Summer Palace in EDSA Shangri-la, became the first Manager of China Palace when I built it in Tagaytay Highlands, then went on to run several well-known Chinese restaurants like East Ocean, Tao Yuan and several others. He is now F&B Manager in Balesin.
David will run the Chinese restaurant, which we will call Tang Palace. We intend to hire two Chinese chefs – one Cantonese and one Fukienese. They will also be assisted by two Filipino chefs who have been working for David in his Chinese restaurants for many years.
We shall officially take over the restaurant on June 1, 2021 and we will be having our opening soon after.
I have been trying out for dinner almost every night the sample cooking of David’s chefs and I must say they are good.
Candock Swimming Platform at Balesin
We have ordered a 4×5 meter docking platform manufactured by Candock in Canada, for double duty at Balesin. First it will ferry our yacht passengers from Fish Fun to the M/Y Obsessions, so that it becomes a comfortable ferry ride. Second, it will be used most of the time, when not ferrying passengers, as a floating swim platform, which will be stationed about 100 meters off the beach near the Balesin Sala. Many of our members have been asking for this, and I am pleased that it will be here soon.
Anti-COVID Vaccination
Dr. Ben Valdecanas, our Medical Director at AEGLE, told me recently that quite a number of our members are asking if we will provide vaccination service. Some months ago, we ordered 10,000 doses of Moderna vaccines for the use of our Alphaland staff, family, and the barangay in Balesin. We can increase this order in order to accommodate our members and their families. Kindly indicate your interest in having this vaccination in AEGLE Wellness Center at Makati Place, by dropping a short email to Dr. Ben Valdecanas at bdvaldecanas@aeglewellnesscenter.com. Dr. Ben tells me it will cost about Php5,000 for two doses.
Finally, I would like our members to know that since we were allowed to reopen a week ago, we have been welcoming back quite a few members to Balesin. On Saturday this week, we will have more than 600 guests on the island. It is really so heartwarming to see so many happy faces enjoying COVID-free Balesin!
Tang Palace in Balesin
At long last, we will have our own Chinese restaurant in Balesin. As you know, we built for Apsaras Tribe, a beautiful Chinese palace, not far from Rico’s Hideaway. This was opened some two years ago, but the owners who were a group from the Shenzhen Yacht Group, operated it only sporadically, and it has been shut down for over a year now. Last week, the owners proposed that we operate the Chinese restaurant, and we agreed.
David Chua, who rejoined Balesin at the beginning of this year, is an old hand in running Chinese restaurants. He started out with Summer Palace in EDSA Shangri-la, became the first Manager of China Palace when I built it in Tagaytay Highlands, then went on to run several well-known Chinese restaurants like East Ocean, Tao Yuan and several others. He is now F&B Manager in Balesin.
David will run the Chinese restaurant, which we will call Tang Palace. We intend to hire two Chinese chefs – one Cantonese and one Fukienese. They will also be assisted by two Filipino chefs who have been working for David in his Chinese restaurants for many years.
We shall officially take over the restaurant on June 1, 2021 and we will be having our opening soon after.
I have been trying out for dinner almost every night the sample cooking of David’s chefs and I must say they are good.
Candock Swimming Platform at Balesin
We have ordered a 4×5 meter docking platform manufactured by Candock in Canada, for double duty at Balesin. First it will ferry our yacht passengers from Fish Fun to the M/Y Obsessions, so that it becomes a comfortable ferry ride. Second, it will be used most of the time, when not ferrying passengers, as a floating swim platform, which will be stationed about 100 meters off the beach near the Balesin Sala. Many of our members have been asking for this, and I am pleased that it will be here soon.
Anti-COVID Vaccination
Dr. Ben Valdecanas, our Medical Director at AEGLE, told me recently that quite a number of our members are asking if we will provide vaccination service. Some months ago, we ordered 10,000 doses of Moderna vaccines for the use of our Alphaland staff, family, and the barangay in Balesin. We can increase this order in order to accommodate our members and their families. Kindly indicate your interest in having this vaccination in AEGLE Wellness Center at Makati Place, by dropping a short email to Dr. Ben Valdecanas at bdvaldecanas@aeglewellnesscenter.com. Dr. Ben tells me it will cost about Php5,000 for two doses.
Finally, I would like our members to know that since we were allowed to reopen a week ago, we have been welcoming back quite a few members to Balesin. On Saturday this week, we will have more than 600 guests on the island. It is really so heartwarming to see so many happy faces enjoying COVID-free Balesin!
ROBERTO V. ONGPIN
Chairman
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