Ellen with husband Ton

Ellen Remmers celebrated her birthday at Coco Beach last May 07, 2010. At 49 years of age, Ellen still looks beautiful and fit, you wouldn’t imagine her to be older. With her loving and equally handsome husband, Ton, Ellen has been here at Coco Beach 3 times and will be staying here for at least 3 weeks.

Ellen and Ton usually come here during the month of May because they find this time quieter and more relaxing at Coco Beach. The lovely couple first discovered Coco Beach three years ago when they joined the Fox Vacanties group. And since then, they have been coming back to our resort for their holidays. They say it’s not only the place and its natural surroundings that bring them back, but more so, the people of Coco Beach who would always be there to assist them one hundred percent and always with a smile on their friendly faces.

Ronald and Jasmin (behind) trek to Mt. Baclayan

Ronald Grimsehl and his girlfriend Jasmin visited three Mangyan Villages during their trek to the Mt. Baclayan Mangyan Settlement. They decided to do the trekking to see for themselves just how fantastic it is up in Mt. Baclayan with its lush forests, exotic plants and wild birds and animals. One can also find in Mt. Baclayan at least three Mangyan settlements and the couple wanted to see how they lived, especially how they made baskets and other woven handicrafts.

The couple stops for the fantastic view and for a photo

During their trek, Ronald and Jasmin gave candies and cookies to the children in every village. The third and last village they visited is the Bangko Mangyan Village. Bangko Manyan village is home to Coco Beach’s full-blooded Mangyan guide, Edwin Tupaz and to the Coco Manyan Project Lady, Marlyn, who oversees the resort’s small livelihood project in that village. The couple had a chance to watch the Mangyan Basketball Tournament and also had the opportunity to observe the villagers as they prepared for their first ever village fiesta. Ronald and Jasmin gave a small donation for the basketball championship and fiesta celebration and also bought some souvenir items for which the villagers are very thankful.

Ronald and Jasmin really are fond of trekking. A day before they went up to Mt. Baclayan, the couple tried to conquer Coco Beach’s Wogging Trail and for 30 minutes went up and down the forested hills surrounding the resort.

According to Ronald and Jasmin, trekking to the Mangyan Villages was an amazing experience they will never forget.

The parade for their first ever fiesta

The Bangko Mangyan Village celebrated their 1st ever village fiesta last May 08, 2010. Marlyn Tupaz, together with husband Nick was the chairman of the first ever village fiesta. According to Marlyn, they decided to hold this fiesta to get all the Mangyans not just in their village but in the other settlements as well for a once a year celebration in their village.

The championship game between Tropicana and Sacrifice

In preparation for this, they invited other Mangyans in Puerto Galera to join the 1st Mangyan Basketball Tournament. Sixteen (16) teams with one village representing a team were formed for this first time event. Included in the teams were the Hanunuo and Iraya tribes. After 2 weeks of playing hoops, they selected the top 5 teams. Top 1 was Tropicana team from Bangko Village (Hanunuo/Iraya), top 2 was Sacrifice team from Sabang Mangyan Village (Hanunuo), top 3, Triple Star from Baclayan Mangyan Settlement (Iraya), top 4 - Simple Guys team from White Beach Mangyan Village (Iraya) and top 5 - Extra Line team from Palangan Mangyan Village (Iraya).

Before the championship game started, all the players had a parade around the village and held a holy mass.

Second Place Team Tropicana receives rice and trophy

Team Sacrifice is the champion for the 1st Fiesta

Top 1 Tropicana players include are our mountain guide Edwin Tupaz who was captain ball, Meo Tupaz, Cito Tupaz, Adelo Casidsid, Eric Tupaz, Ruben Camo, Erwin Banaag, Elmer Banaag, Marcelo Crusado and Nice Malacas.

Top 2 Sacrifice players Samban Luna, Jomer Mayot, James Sodoy, Valerio Sagangsang, Etchiquel Danay, Ian Radyon, Lupin Lutaw, Abundio Villegas, Osaw Gawid and Andoy Alihid battled with the Team Tropicana in the championship round. The game was so tightly played but the Sacrifice team won over Edwin’s team. The champion team got 3 sacks of rice plus a trophy while the first place winner got 2 sacks of rice and a trophy as well. Top 3, 4 & 5 teams got a sack of rice each.

After the game, the Mangyans held a simple “salo-salo” or thanksgiving celebration while the children did some dance numbers to everyone’s delight.

The month of May is synonymous to Flores de Mayo in the Philippines. And what better way to celebrate your birthday than with fresh bouquets? That’s just what our Big Boss Connie did on her 53rd birthday party at her home.

A floral bouquet? The birthday girl Connie celebrates her 53rd!

Among her invited guests are her family, friends and, of course, the Coco Beach Family. With the flowers at bloom, the party started with a little ice breaker called Human Bingo. Each guest gets a piece of paper, each with a different statement that describes the birthday girl. Their task is to get six signatures who has the same characteristics, like and dislikes as stated in their paper. And the fastest one to collect all signatures is the winner who is our IT Personnel William.

Apple and Doc Ariel are teamedon this resourceful quest.

The exciting part are the three games ideal for couples...and this is where the heat started. One of the games is the Resourceful Quest where pegs are placed all over the man’s body and the blindfolded girl would have to get them. The most resourceful couple are Mylene, Office Manager in Manila, who didn’t hesitate one bit to touch Luca all over his body.

Elian and Lyzzelle tries another trick. But the judges were not impressed.

Next up is the Lift a Ball to a Chin where the couple are blindfolded and without using their hands, they have to bring the ball from their knees to the woman’s chin. With a swift move by Marie, she and Renato won the game in seconds.

Mylene, Renato, Rodel and Maria tried but the Pear couple are Luca & Marie (insert)

Another game is called Pear of Discord where the couples had to balance a pear in between their cheeks while the birthday girl Connie makes the command from jump, turn around to dance. One by one the pears fell until it was only Maria and Rodel against Luca and Marie. And with a little pushing in between the dancing and balancing, Luca and Marie won the game.

Raffy and Elvie takes on the Banana challenge. This is the only photo we can show, the rest are censored.

And the most exciting game was the Banana Feeding where the guy holds a banana with his mouth and the girl has to eat it. Sounds easy, yes but both of them are blindfolded and they are to use only their mouths. And some of them really went for the banana with much gusto (we shall not name names or post photos to spare the underaged readers). The fastest banana eater are Lyzzelle and Jun.

Connie with the boys (l-r) Raffy, Bong, William, Jun, Santi, Bayaw, Adin & Carlo

After all the games, they still wanted more. Two groups battled it on a charade, again, each paper is something about Connie. After the extended game to the Sudden Death the victorious team are Mylene, Raffy, Rodel Che, Jay, Erwin and Luca.

Connie with the Manila Team...Happy birthday!

All the winners received special prizes from Connie...there was even a nice massage and a dinner at a fancy hotel in Manila. From the Coco Beach Family, Happy Birthday Big Boss Connie!