The small Cessna lifted off the runway with the lightness of a motorized dragonfly. Nothing separates you from the sky in a craft like that, and you feel every tremor of air under its wings. It felt less like boarding a private island’s flight and more like riding a passenger bus that happened to grow propellers. My seatmate, tense and furrowing his brows at takeoff, gripped his armrest until the plane steadied over the water. We laughed about it when the wheels finally touched the private airstrip of Balesin Island, where the sun seemed to widen over the runway.

Paradise met us at the tarmac. Alain Borgers, Alphaland’s executive vice president for hospitality, greeted arriving guests with the calm of someone who knows the island’s charm speaks for itself. A gentleman stood nearby with two white birds perched on his shoulders. Their feathers glowed like polished shells in the morning light. One bird nuzzled into my hand before giving my fingers a gentle, mischievous bite. No worries, it didn’t break the skin.

Alain brought me to my villa in Balesin Village, one of seven themed villages on the island. Each setting mirrors a destination: Balesin for Philippine architecture, Bali for tropical warmth, Phuket for coastal Thai charm, Mykonos for whitewashed cliffs, St. Tropez for Riviera leisure, Costa del Sol for Spanish brightness, and Toscana for rustic Italian stone. He drove my luggage on a golf cart, stopped at the front steps of my villa, handed the keycard, then passed me the key to my own cart. The idea was simple: explore at my pace, without interruption. It felt like a promise of slow days ahead.

That evening, the promise arrived on a plate.

Balesin hosted the first date of Balesin Tastemakers, a new culinary series conceived “to bring the country’s most dynamic chefs into settings that elevate their craft and reward our members’ time,” as Alain said in the program.

The inaugural chef last Nov. 15 was Josh Boutwood, newly distinguished as the only chef in the Philippines with two Michelin stars for his restaurant Helm. He carried the theater and precision that define his tasting menus, and he presented dinner inside Toscana Village, whose terracotta and warm stone folded into the night like a quiet Tuscan town by the sea.

Josh moved from table to table, easy in manner, phone in hand. When he reached us, he held up a photo of a fisherman carrying that day’s catch. “I don’t know his name, I don’t know his age, but he seems very happy that, by zooming in his face, that he caught the tuna,” he said, sending the table into laughter before the first dish arrived.

The Tuna-Coconut-Citrus course opened the evening. The tuna, caught only hours before in the island, tasted of clean salt and the sweetness of the sea. Daikon added crispness, while radicchio delivered a slight bitterness under the leche de tigre citrus coconut sauce.

Then came the Fjord Trout-Carrot-Coffee. The trout was poached, soft to the touch and cloaked in clarified butter. A roasted carrot purée grounded the fish with earthiness, while a sauce of taba na talangka and Arabica coffee added depth.

The Chicken-Vodka-Mole followed—stuffed chicken wing, lightly battered in vodka and rye, filled with ground chicken breast.

The Chilean Sea Bass-Dill-Chili delivered heat sharpened by kaffir lime leaf, matched with pickled kohlrabi and foraged island greens. Then the Wagyu-Smoked Beetroot-Fermented Root Vegetables arrived, the kind of dish that stops conversation for a moment: A5 Wagyu cooked on and off heat for three hours, resting in its own stillness until it reached the softness of butter. The smoked beetroot purée and fermented root paste lifted the meat’s richness.

Dessert was Passion Fruit-Mango, a mousse paired with chamomile and the acidity of mango, a bright close to a meal heavy with invention. The wines moved from Champagne Delamotte to Lingua Franca Chardonnay to Château Luchey-Halde, each pairing gradually grounding the evening.

Beyond Josh’s debut, the Tastemakers series continues with two more chefs set to bring their own disciplines to Balesin. Chef Jorge Mendez of MōDAN is scheduled for Dec. 6 at Toscana Village. The series will conclude on Feb. 21 at Balesin Pines with Chef Chele González, whose work across Asador Alfonso and Gallery by Chele earned both restaurants one Michelin Star. Together, the three dinners form a curated arc meant to showcase how each destination—from the island to the mountain lodge—shapes the storytelling behind every plate.

The next morning, with the island waking slowly, I explored in my golf cart. Driving through Balesin is like passing through several countries in a single stretch of road, each village opening into a new palette of sound and shade. One moment you ride past huts, the next you pass whitewashed arcs that echo the Aegean. The air smells of salt, grass, and something faintly floral carried inland by the breeze.

I stopped at the sports center gym, then drove toward the beaches where the water spread out clear as glass. We swam until the sun traced our shoulders, then lay on the sand listening to waves fall in patient succession.

It was a gentle routine, but it made the days feel long in the best way.

Leaving the island meant boarding an even smaller Cessna, a 12-seater. It was my first time riding a plane so small that the pilot shared the same cabin with us. But the flight home felt different. The sky was the same, the seats just as tight, but I carried the weight of a few good days.

I looked out the window as Balesin shrank into the water, and it felt like I was being unhooked from a small dream. A tasting menu led by one of the country’s most celebrated chefs, afternoons softened by sun and salt, the freedom of driving alone through quiet roads.

A short flight home, but a long story to return to.