Don Arsenio Escudero started a coconut plantation in
1900, near San Pablo City, in the Phillipines. He
started a factory on the plantation that dried the
coconut meat and shipped it to market. He got rich
and his plantation, business, and wealth grew in size.
In 1929, he realized that he needed two things: water
for his coconut plantation and processing factory,
and electricity for his home and factory. So,
he built a dam across the river, built the first
hydroelectric plant in the Phillipines, and used the
water and electricity to enhance and enlarge his plantation
even more.
The water backing up behind the dam created Lake LaBasin,
which then became an attraction for boaters, fishermen,
and tourists.
The plantation and Escudero home became known as
Villa Escudero. It was opened to the public in
1981 as a tourist attraction, offering glimpses
of plantation life. The family's eclectic private
collection was presented as a Museum tour. But it
is the spillway of that dam that is the focal point
of this week's Target of the Week.
Water coming straight down over a dam will hollow
out the ground at the bottom, finally causing the
ground to give way and the dam will fall over.
So, when dams are built, they must also have a
curved bottom that extends far enough away from
the dam to allow the water to resume its natural
speed and path back into the river.
And, when the tourists came, they loved wading
in the shallow, cement bottomed portion, and
lying in the fast flowing water at the
curved bottom of the spillway.
So, where but there would be the ideal place
to set up tables....
...and feed hungry tourists?
The following video shows the Waterfall Restaurant
from every angle, providing the best feedback for the
layout as I could find.
This video is composed of excerpts
from a full video of a family visit to
Villa Escudero in the Phillipines.
The full video can be viewed
here.
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