Tribute to Summer 01: Fun, Wellness and Rejuvenation at RoheiM Farm and Resort in Brgy. Colisao, San Fabian!

"I want to test your faith," the Whale at RoheiM Farm and Resort seems to (hungrily) say. 

"Summer". Whenever we hear the word, we tend to get glassy-eyed and start to daydream about the sea, the sun, the sand, and ice-cold drinks while Olaf's summer anthem plays on repeat in our heads. For students like my twelve-year old brother, summer is a blissful time of catching up on some sleep, watching TV until dawn, and being free from homework. It's a bit different from how we salarymen imagine to spend it, but the infallible truth is: no matter how anyone else thinks about it, summer will always be synonymous to swimming.

But alas! This year's (2016) summer has already come and gone, and PAGASA has officially declared the Philippines' transition into the rainy season. Gone are the days here in my little barrio when the salty sea breeze flows into the fragrant rice fields, enticing children to swim while school's still out-- but that doesn't mean we can stop making ourselves feel all warm from reminiscing our (rather short) period of R&R.

That said, I came up with a short series entitled "Tribute to Summer" comprised of posts where I share about the places I've visited and things I've done during my summer. With these posts I wish to remind the readers that while this year's summer rocked, I'm sure next year's will rock even more!

"When life gets rough I like to hold on to my dream of relaxing in the summer sun, just letting off steam."

This series' first post will detail my visit to a beautiful wellness resort in Brgy. Colisao in my hometown: San Fabian, Pangasinan. 

RoheiM Farm and Resort opened in late 2014 to generally positive reviews. The place, featured in a popular regional news broadcast, takes pride in its mountain-top location with views that could compare to the famous Banaue Rice Terraces. The air is fresh and clean and the water coming from various mountain springs are refreshing and chemical-free. Aside from its pool and surrounding nature, RoheiM also offers farm-to-table food and has its own vegetable garden and livestock, replicas of famous Biblical places and scenes, and accommodations.

(Related: To read my Tripadvisor review of RoheiM Farm and Resort, click here.)

The roads that lead to the resort are currently still undeveloped, to the point where a jeep overturned in one of the (thankfully shallow) mountain-side ledges. We followed signages from the San Fabian town proper into Brgy. Colisao (the directions were pretty easy to follow, actually).

We arrived at the resort at 9:00 AM and there were no other customers besides us. Entrance fee per adult is Php 200.00 (Php 180.00 per child), plus a corkage fee of Php 50.00 per person which is consumable. For residents of San Fabian with valid proof, there's a discount of twenty pesos per person so that the adult fee is lowered to Php 180.00 and the children's fee becomes Php 160.00.

Information and cashier.

THE INFINITY POOL & WHIRL TUB

We parked in the upper level parking space, so our stuff had to be delivered by garong (motorcycle with an open sidecar) into the sheds in the lower level near the Whale pool while we had to walk to get there. Meanwhile, the first thing that greeted us from the parking space was the infinity pool with whirl tub looking down the mountain beside Jim's Hall.

View of the infinity pool from the whirl tub.

The gazebo, for rent for Php 3,000.00 for the first 8 hours (plus Php 500.00 for a karaoke machine).

A snack shack.

Beside the infinity pool is the RoheiM Playground. It has a picnic bench, a trampoline and a mini basketball court.

Now how does that nursery rhyme go again?

A zipline (Php 100.00 per zip).

A mini aviary.

THE DOWNWARD TREK

After ogling the infinity pool and the view, we started the downward trek to our shed and into RoheiM's most famous landmark-- the Whale pool.

Stairs.

Stairs.

More stairs.

A bonfire pit in RoheiM's camping grounds.

Near the camping grounds is an ostrich pen.

A full-sized basketball court.

THE WHALE POOL

After passing through the camping grounds and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon via flights and flights of stairs, we finally reached the view deck where we had our fist glimpse of the Whale from the story of Jonah.

Up close and personal with Mr. Whale.

Mr. Whale is actually a kiddie slide. To access the slide, you need to walk through a wooden boardwalk near the tail.

They also have hydrotherapy massage.

The restrooms.

Wanna know how much stairs we needed to trek up/down to get to the upper level and back? Just take a look at this photo.

Note that for customers who are not able to climb up or down stairs, the other option is for them to be driven to or to park their cars in the lower-level parking lot (pictured above), located beside the Pool of Siloam near the sheds and the Whale pool.

This tent is also located near the parking lot in the lower level.

Sukkot is the mini snack shack beside the Whale pool. Usually during the late afternoon, the delicious smell of hamburger patties frying from this shack wafts through the entire lower level.

Since we went to the resort before having breakfast, the long descent into our shed made us all hungry. We had more or less Php 400.00 worth of consumable corkage fee, we ordered two hamburgers and a clubhouse sandwich. I was not able to take a snap of their menu, but I remembered that they offered local dishes with pork and chicken (sinigang na baboy, adobo), vegetables (pinakbet), seafood, and snackables like sandwiches and pancit. They were a little pricier than usual, too, if I remembered correctly.

Cheeseburger with fries. They were great!

Clubhouse sandwich. It tasted OK.

A BIBLICAL WALKTHROUGH: REPLICAS OF FAMOUS SCENES AND PLACES FROM THE BIBLE

RoheiM is not just famous for its pools and its gorgeous location. In fact, the resort was a popular spot during this year's Holy Week for its replicas of famous scenes and places from the Bible.

A directory of the some of the replicas in the resort.

The Cave of En' Gedi (from 1 Samuel 24: 1-6), where David spared King Saul's life and instead cut off a piece of the king's robe.

The Rock of Horeb (from Exodus 17:5-6), a rock that spouted out water when struck by Moses' staff under the Lord's command.

The Pool of Siloam (from John 9:7) is where Jesus sent a blind man that He healed to wash off the mud from his eyes. The man was able to see from then on. In the resort, you can go fishing here for Php 100.00.

Walking along the Pool of Siloam, I encountered the garden of Gethsemane (from Matthew 26: 36-46) where Jesus prayed before His arrest.

Cross this bridge to get to the Garden Tomb and the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments (from Exodus 20:1-17).

The Garden Tomb (from Matthew 27: 57-61). Even the replica exuded a solemn aura.

I expected to find this. Indeed, He has risen! 

From the tomb, climb these steps to reach the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

ACCOMMODATIONS

More information about the resort's accommodations here.

I couldn't really say much about the resort's accommodations as I didn't spend the night there. From the website, though, it appears that they have different types of rooms for all types of budgets. 

Finally, I end this post with a view of the San Fabian Seminary at dusk from the upper level parking space.

RoheiM is a charming little place to spend the summer. The resort is highly-recommended to all those who are looking for something unique, quirky and fun in Sun Fun Sun Fab Sand Fab-- ahem, San Fabian.