We attended the christening of a friend's new baby daughter in San Pablo City, Laguna, this afternoon, after which we headed to Dolores in Quezon province for the reception which was held at the Bangkong Kuhay Valley nature resort.

It was my first time there and I was impressed with the beautiful forest views from the resort.

The road up to the resort was very narrow in places and a couple of times I had close calls with motorcyclists (locals I presume) racing down the hill at speeds far in excess of what the road is safe for. Towards the top, the road becomes a dirt road and is very rocky in places. I doubt a small two-wheel drive car would make it up to the resort if it was raining.

The only part of the resort that I saw was around the function room where the reception was held, so this is not a review of the place. Maybe I will return to write a proper review one day when I have more time. But I was impressed to see an honesty bar in the garden - the first time I have seen that in the Philippines. Normally hotel and resort owners in the Philippines are the least trusting people in the world, and won't let you leave their premises until someone has checked out the minibar to make sure what you have written on your minibar tab agrees with the hotel's reckoning. I've assumed that's always been because guests have taken advantage of the honour system that hotels in other parts of the world generally adopt.  So it will be interesting to learn of this resort's experience with an honesty bar.  Not only does this resort trust its guests to record what they have consumed in a book on the bar, they leave the cash that guests have paid in a basket next to the book.