Independence Weekend at Tagaytay

June 12-14, 2009
Tagaytay City, Philippines

Food trip weekend with the family. Medyo splurge sya. But enjoyable. :)

Overnight
We stayed overnight at One Tagaytay Place, a relatively new hotel managed by Genesis hotels (they also manage Astoria Plaza in Ortigas). It was relatively new and had mixed reviews on the web...yun nga lang mana ang dad ko sa akin and nagpapadala rin sya sa advertising. I think they were just had some advertisements in the travel section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer --- ayun, dun na kami nag-stay!

Cons:
Located on the other side of the ridge, so there really isn't a view. Breakfast buffet was so-so. The theme song of the hotel seemed to be "bulilit...bulilit, sanay sa masikip, kung kumilos, ang sikip sikip!". Halos lahat masikip -- restroom, lobby, dining area, the slope towards the basement parking. Even the infinity pool at the rooftop was narrow! Plus, they require a non-refundable deposit when you make your reservation, which really irritated me.

Pros:
The bed and the pillows were nice and fluffy, very conducive for sleeping in! Ang sarap matulog! The rooms were clean and modern. May flat screen TV. The rooms weren't initially impressive but it does grow on you. Both the one bedroom suite and the normal deluxe room had sofas. There was one hour free wifi (you had to get the username/password from the front desk). Over-all it was a relaxing stay, and though I'm not raring to go back, I wouldn't mind going staying there again either. Especially if it's free. :)

Food Trips
Ok, this is a trip Bok would love. In fact, I think this was a trip Bok did love. So, no I wasn't able to eat Greek food at Manos. No Bag of Beans, no Moon Garden, no Residence Inn Zoo, not much sightseeing around Tagaytay. It was basically...eat, sleep, eat, sleep. And then eat, sleep, eat sleep again =)

Verbena at Discovery Country Suites
We arrived around 1pm for lunch, and we were the only ones there. Food was yummy. From other blogs, the cheese fondue was highly recommended, but obviously I would not want to eat cheese fondue all by myself. (Bok doesn't like cheese much). My lamb ravioli smothered with blue cheese was delicious and filling. They served the wrong dessert, but the panna cotta they served was delicious as well.

***Budget: 500 to 1000 per person.

Fire Lake Grill
Located in the Cliffhouse area, where Cafe Breton and Buon Giorno are. Serves steak. Well that's all I remember. Hehe. Steak, salad, soup, grilled seafood. The parents and I shared a cowgirl steak. Bok had grilled salmon. Afterwards, dessert was at the next-door Cafe Breton.

Carlos' Pizza
Surprisingly good pizza with a great view of Taal Volcano. They have branches around the Metro as well. Nothing beats good food and a really nice spot with a view.

Antonio's
Barangay Neogan, Tagaytay
0918-8992866 (among other numbers)

O.M.G. Haha. Yes, this was really a splurge. It was my first time to eat at Antonio's, and all the praise it gets is well deserved. We had steak (again). The salad, soup, entree and dessert was delicious. I had warm flourless chocolate cake. Panalo! The house is impressive, there's a koi pond and a big garden. Really nice and romantic as well. Suitable for special family dinners or very special occasions. Chef Antonio also makes it a point to greet the guests, so you feel that this really is a special dining experience.

Getting there is a mini-adventure itself. Medyo malayo sya from the main road. The signs are easy to follow but it can get lonely driving up to Antonio's. If coming from the rotonda, turn right when you see the sign for Antonio's. After that, it's around 2km of narrow well-paved road. Just follow the signs. Antonio's will be at your left side.

Reservations are a must. Also, be sure to wear presentable clothes. Slippers, sandos and shorts are not allowed. Credit cards are accepted.

***Food budget: 1500-2000 per person. Worth it!

Zoe and Joward's Swimming Session

Zoe's swimming session with our neighbor Joward.

One Day at Max's

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Zoe's Day Out -- Tita Rei brought Zoe (and Nanay and Dessa and Ate Cely) along to Piolo Pascual's event at Max's Tomas Morato. I wanted her to have a picture with Piolo, hehe.

Well, it seems Zoe had lots of fun in the play area, na pagkatapos kumain eh nakatulog sya at muntik nang di makapag-picture with Piolo! Buti na lang mabait si Piolo at pumayag syang maistorbo sa kanyang lunch para mag-picture kasama ang isang baby na bagong gising.

Thanks Tita! Thanks Piolo! Thanks Max!

Bisita Iglesia and Easter with the Parents

April 10, 2009
Holy Thursday

Inscribe Tours organized a Bisita Iglesia tour through 7 churches in the Batangas-Quezon area. Apparently, this was a yearly activity for the said tour group. This year, there were 8 big bus loads of people. Zoe has got to be one of the youngest participants in this tour.

Here are some pictures from that tour. Photos taken mostly by Bok.

April 12, 2009
Easter Sunday

Spent some time at Eastwood mall with the grandparents.

Bicol Road Trip

For the longest time I have been bugging Bok to vacation in Donsol and swim with the whale sharks. Several years later, here we are!

We took our Innova (nicknamed Pinoy Big Blackie) to a roadtrip from Manila to Bicol and back. It was actually supposed to be Bok's birthday trip, pero kawawa naman si Bok kung magda-drive sya sa birthday nya diba? Kaya we had the outing the weekend before his birthday, plus we had to compress everything because most of the folks only had Monday off.

Our itinerary took us to Donsol for the whale sharks and to CWC for the wakeboarding. We left Manila midnight Friday and arrived at Donsol around 3pm on Saturday.

Our itinerary:

Friday Night: leave for Bicol! We left Manila right before midnight, and gassed up at the Shell station in E.Rodriguez. It was 3 minutes before midnight, but the gas station already raised their prices by 1 peso. Bad trip! Medyo traffic din sa southbound portion ng EDSA, turns out the MMDA was doing some road repairs on both sides of the road. SLEX was also slightly heavy.

Day 1: Saturday: We got a bit lost in Batangas, but eventually found our way to the road bound for Quezon. When we reached Bicol though, there was a huge traffic jam on the shorter way bound for Sipocot -- it turns out portions of the road were being repaired and were passable only one-way. Syempre malamang may mga di nagbigayan, deadlock, ayun traffic jam! We had to divert to the longer way that would pass through Daet and Bitukang Manok, where we had to stop because Zoe puked. Haha, she was so lively right before, sayaw sayaw pa sya ng "single ladies" and "low", tapos maya maya di na mapakali at umiiyak na, tapos ayun, nahilo na pala at nasusuka pala.

Lessons learned: When travelling through zigzag roads, do not let a child with a full stomach dance and jump to her heart's content in a fast moving car.

Zoe's photo sessions:

We had lunch at Naga City, then proceeded to Donsol. We arrived at our homestay around 3pm. We stayed at Aguluz Homestay at Barangay Awaii, a barangay away from where the Donsol tourist center is located. All of the resorts I tried to contact that were in Barangay Dancalan were fully booked. The owners were accommodating. The 6 of us stayed in their biggest room, which had its own toilet and bath as well. Aguluz is around 7 minutes drive away from the tourist center.

In the evening we took a boat to see the fireflies. Enchanting! Sayang lang umulan bigla, and we had to go back.

Places to Stay in Donsol: Vitton Beach Resort is right beside the tourist information center. Amor Farm Beach Resort, Woodland resort and Casa Bianca are also located in the same barangay (Barangay Dancalan) as the tourist center, but you'd need to walk a few minutes. Their contact numbers can be Googled. We stayed at a homestay in Barangay Awaii. Aguluz Homestay even has a Friendster profile! Cost per person: 350 pesos.

Day 2: Sunday: Whale watching day! Our homestay cooked breakfast for us, and after a hearty breakfast, we proceeded to the Donsol tourist center. We didn't wake up early enough though, so we had to wait and managed to board a boat almost 10 AM already. It was a bit rainy, and the visibility in the water wasn't that good, but still we managed to see 5 whale sharks. We had lunch at the nearby Vitton's Beach Resort. We left Donsol around 3pm, and drove back to Naga City, where we checked in at Villa Carceres.

Our Whaleshark Video: Click here.

Places to Stay in Naga: This information I got from the N@W yahoogroup: You can stay at Casa Catalina Hotel and Avenue Plaza Hotel, both along Magsaysay Ave, or Naga Land Hotel along Elias Angeles St. Useful links: naga.gov.ph and camarinessur.gov.ph We stayed at Villa Carceres hotel at Magsaysay Avenue.

Day 3: Monday: CWC day! We were up bright early and was at the Camsur Watersports Complex before 8:30 AM. Amazingly, even if it was still before 8:30, the place was already open and there were already people wakeboarding! The Governor was there, as well as Aga Muhlach and Paolo Paraiso. Good thing we were early as even more people arrived around lunch time. We only took the half day rate. After lunch and a quick wash up back at Naga City, by 2:30pm we were driving back to Manila.

About Camsur Watersports Complex: For more information about CWC, including rates and accommodations nearby, check out their website. CWC is located in Pili, Camarines Sur, near the Provincial Capitol Complex. All the nearby accommodations were fully booked when I inquired, which is why we stayed in nearby Naga City instead. Naga City is a 15 minute drive away from CWC.

Wakeboard Videos: to be posted.

11:30 PM: Home sweet home!