Rainy morning greeted us as we geared up for a 2-day trip. A trip for family bonding!
My sisters (I have three sisters) and their respective families planned for a two-day bonding time with all of us at Terraza De Punta Fuego Resort, Batangas… not too far away from Manila — around 4-hour drive due to heavy traffic (2-hour drive without traffic). They rented a house.
I love road trips and the food stops along the way. It was foggy and rainy.
The first food stop — for lunch on our way to Punta Fuego — was a gastronomic delight! I was not able to take pictures of the food… I forgot… I was so famished.
My first impression of Terraza De Punta Fuego Resort was that of a property that has gone past its hey days — seen better days… but it is still worth the trip.
If I were the owner of Punta Fuego resort, I would do a relentless improvement to it.
The contrast to Punta Fuego vis-a-vis maintenance is Tagaytay highlands. Tagaytay highlands is a well-maintained place that gets better year over year — the owner got the relentless improvement mindset, I surmise.
Another contrast is Anvaya Cove… another well-maintained beach resort.
Both Tagaytay Highlands and Anvaya Cove — both we’ve been to before several times; Punta Fuego was new to us (hence the willingness to experiment on our part)Â — are not too far away from Manila as well… so, it is a fair comparison at least vis-Ã -vis their respective distance from Manila.
At the rented house, my sisters cooked a lot of food served with various fruits!
We had fun – went swimming, grilled pork belly and stuffed milk fish, played cards with prizes, and sang “karaoke” style.
And we visited the beach on both days.
The second food stop — for lunch on our way home from Punta Fuego — was a gastronomic delight , again — in fact, much better than the first! At Balay Dako.
The third food stop — we bought Lanzones.
And Buko Pie (Coconut Pie).
What a memorable and remarkable trip!
Key Ideas:
- Nourish relationships and roots. Do the same with your teammates. Have lots of remarkable and memorable activities together — create that bond. Create that Esprit de corps. Having a sense of unity, common interests and responsibilities is paramount.
- Embrace constant and never-ending improvement. Be relentless! Be a constant gardener taking care of and improving the garden, otherwise, the “weeds” will take over. Punta Fuego could have used — still could use — this constant and never-ending improvement mindset. Apply this relentless improvement mindset — which is one of the four core values of SAFe —Â at work and at home.
My succeeding posts are about my family’s travel to the Philippines and Australia… and we are taking SAFe and the Lean Agile Way of Working/Living with us… and see how others outside of the USA are doing with the Lean Agile Way of Working/Living. Each post will have a Key Idea for you to ponder upon if you wish.
There are many other ideas like this — short but sweet ideas — in my new book, ‘SAFe (6.0) Is like …’ . It is available on Amazon… and it has reached ‘# 1 New Release’ several times! Check it out.
