My toddler just turned 3 years old last February, and I'm now 5 and a half months pregnant with my second child. Am a bit anxious about how he'll react to his new baby brother once he's born. Will he feel some sibling jealousy? Will he be a good big brother? Is he mature enough to understand how a baby can demand much of my time?
I thought it would be good to take every opportunity we can get to create special bonding moments with him while he's still our only child for now. So when a friend of mine gave me a Gift Certificate that will give us a chance to stay overnight at Sunrise Holiday Mansions in Tagaytay, we took it.
On The Road...Ilog Maria
From Quezon City, we left at 8:30AM and drove through the Nagtahan Bridge in Manila and went straight to the Skyway and SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) towards the Sta. Rosa exit where we passed through Silang and followed the road straight to Tagaytay.
Before reaching our destination though, we passed through
Ilog Maria Honey Bee Farm at Km.47 in Aguinaldo Highway. I always try to visit this place whenever we're in Tagaytay. I love the scent of their honey infused organic soaps that you can smell as soon as you alight from your vehicle. We reached the farm at around 10:30AM.
We, of course, bought some honey...they only sell one container per guest. An average worker bee lives for 40 days and a single bee makes at most only 4 tsps of honey in it's lifetime. So you can just imagine how precious honey is to our farmers.
A must-have is their lovely Lavender soap whose fragrance helps soothe and relax the senses. I always stock up on these when I go there. Some of the other stuff we purchased are the IM Honey & Propolis Shampoo, the Honey Propolis Throat Spray, and the Propolis Ointment (which I always use to rub on my tot's insect bites. It helps reduce the swollen insect bitten areas on his skin).
My son had fun checking out the bees (at a safe distance) and even made friends with their docile farm cat--which was the first thing that caught his attention when we got there.
After we had our fill of shopping for soaps and honey, our tummy's were rumbling and so we took to the nearest restaurant a few kilometers from Ilog Maria.
Gourmet's?...Not Really
I was expecting the same lovely old cottage house feel of the Gourmet Cafe we know from 3 years ago and was sadly met with a newly built white walled establishment and an interior wall ridden of modern paintings. The place did look clean, fresh and classy but I still like the older more homey version that suited Tagaytay more.
Even their menu has changed. They served this Filipino Buffet which seemed too much for us priced at Php600 per person. We ordered ala carte instead. My mom & aunt ordered their Chicken BBQ for Php175. It was way overpriced for a one-piece chicken thigh that's no bigger than the palm of my hand. It came with a cup of rice and pickled veggies. The chicken tastes so-so, and most parts of my aunt's chicken that were near the bone looked uncooked and bloody.
My picky toddler shared my mom's chicken and disliked it so much, it took him 15 minutes to chew each spoonful...and he only ate two spoonfuls til I gave up feeding him since he looked so bored, he might as well be chewing rubber. Ended up giving him double his milk bottle for lunch instead.
My hubby and I opted for the tenderloin steak (around Php350). The meal came with the same rice and pickled veggies (I abhor pickled veggies! So didn't touch those except for one cauliflower which I tasted out of curiosity and found that to be too sour). We asked them for a medium well steak (pinkish but cooked well, not bloody) and it turned out medium rare...I spent the whole afternoon wondering if it was going to be bad for my preggy tummy eating that bloody rare steak for lunch. It was also quite bland and only tasted better when we asked for some A1 sauce and poured some on them. The steaks at Everything At Steak tastes a hundred times better!
Alfonso before Sunrise (Sunrise Part I)
We dropped off my mom & aunt at
Alfonso Hotel at the Buck Estate, which we booked on-line for a cheaper price (Php2060) as compared to booking it straight from the hotel itself (Php2564) since their on-line partners are giving 20% off till March 31 bookings. We left them to freshen up as we went straight to check-in at our hotel just one block away.
Sunrise Holiday Mansion was surprisingly a nice place. Was surprised to find that we had a microwave oven, mini refrigerator and cable tv in our room. The airconditioning seems a little faulty though since it was slightly noisy but isn't much of a nuisance, although it alternates from giving off super cold air and almost low cool breeze. Our room faces the cafe and pool area so not much of the Tagaytay cool breeze can be expected and since Sunrise is located on the other side of the road downhill, Taal Lake is not visible at all.
(Read S
unrise at Sunset below for more...)
Finding Paradizoo
After checking in, we immediately went back our way towards the Rotonda (Tagaytay Circle) direction to find
Paradizoo. We left our hotel at around 2:00 PM. Heard from other blogs it was complicated to find since their website
map directions was far from accurate so we wanted a head start knowing the farm closes at 4:00 PM.
Note 1: From Splendido/Buck Estate going towards Palace in the Sky/Tagaytay Highlands/Rotonda direction: you should pass a Satellite dish on your right side and the Brgy Asisan/Paradizoo road sign is on your left. If you pass Bag of Beans, you've already missed the turn.
Note 2: From the Rotonda going towards Sonya's/Buck Estate: You'll pass Bag of Beans on you right side, then up ahead watch for the Residence Inn/Paradizoo sign (that can be too small and washed out to see from this side) or to be more accurate, the Brgy. Asisan Archway. Turn right under the archway and head straight to Paradizoo.
Enter that road and go straight. Follow the road straight until the end of the road with a right turn (takes around 30 mins to reach the right turn), turn right there and pass a small bridge and you'll see Paradizoo very soon.
Paradizoo is a Farm/Zoo that is partners with Residence Inn. So you can visit both places for Php199 or just visit once place like we did at Paradizoo for Php99. My son got in for free.
The first thing we saw was this really cute Pony near the entrance. My son had a blast sitting on the Pony and having his picture taken with the pony. Too bad he was still too small to really ride it and tour some part of the farm on it.
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| The Pony at the entrance to Paradizoo |
Little did we know, that might be the only nice part of the farm we saw. The first part of the farm is an Animal Farm where we saw goats, sheeps, cows, carabaos and even several gigantic Arabian Camels. Be careful though, whenever you see animals, be sure to see lots of manure and poop scattered around the floor you're stepping on. Dunno why there are poops outside the enclosure. They should keep the place cleaner. Although, you'll notice upon entering the farm the lack of farm people on hand to assist you. In a way, it's nice to be able to explore the 7-hectare farm on your own pace without someone pestering you with details every step of the way. But they should keep up with the mess the animals make. So it's always a good idea to wear jeans and closed shoes while touring these farms.
After the animals, we enjoyed the Vegetable farm where we harvested with our own two hands. My son got to pick out some tomatoes off the vines too! We plucked out several purple and green lettuce and saw several different basils, herbs, and pepper plants. We met a Manong there that helped us out with the picking and was kind enough to provide us with some plastic bags to put our harvests in. We had to carry around the veggies all around the rest of the farm til we reach the end where there's this snack bar cottage with a cashier that weighs your harvest and charge you a very cheap price for the veggies to take home.
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| The vast Vegetable Farm in Paradizoo where we picked our veggies! |
We also saw a small Bee Farm, and a modest Butterfly Farm after the animals. After which we trugded along downhill enjoying the strong cool breeze which had my tot clinging to me for dear life in fear of getting blown away with the wind. :)
There was another set area of wild boars and piglets that were kinda cute. Lots of poop again. Then some more goats. Then finally the snack bar with the cutest little puppy I've ever seen who came bounding to greet my son. I think the puppies are the owner's pets.
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| The cute little puppy at the Snack bar |
We paid for our veggies and decided to get some snacks soon. It's 3:30PM by now.
B.O.B spells Yum!
Bag of Beans never fails to satisfy the hungry traveler. After the disappointing lunch we had at Gourmet's, this place has more than made up for our cravings of real food and the Tagaytay garden feel.
My mom ordered Fish & Fries, I had a slice of Shepherd's Pie, my hubby had the Country Breakfast, and my aunt the Pork BBQ meal.
The Fish & Fries were really good. Four generous pieces of crispy crusted exterior wrapped arounda meaty moist fish to be dipped in their onion/dill mayo dip with big fries on the side (which my son enjoyed immensely).
The Shepherd's Pie was good too but I liked their Steak & Mushroom pie better. The Country Breakfast comes with two pancakes (that seems a bit cakey & not to our taste), two eggs, two sausages & some bacon crisps. The BBQ meal will satisfy any bbq craving...two big sticks of pork bbq with sweet marinade that won't disappoint.
I would have loved to have their yummy blueberry cheesecake but was getting a bit full already and wanted to enjoy our dinner at Sonya's later on.
Date Night @ Sonya's
My little man ran out of steam and was quietly dozing off even before we reached my mom's hotel. So we left him there with his bottled milk and went off on a date...just hubby and me.
Ahhh...
Sonya's Garden. The place to be in Tagaytay. The lush gardens and the cool Tagaytay atmosphere brings back memories of the cozy second honeymoon we spent there a few years ago.
We went inside one of their many dining areas and sat down on a table covered with crisp white linen cloth with dainty embroidered flowers. Fresh blooms decorate the vases and tiny twinkling lights all around the inner garden with mini falls in front of us.
The waiters were all very accomodating and are quick to service. We had their sit down buffet dinner for Php 610 per person. It includes Salads, Breads, Pasta and a nice dessert which you wash down with their fresh cool dalandan juice. A more comprehensive
menu can be viewed at their website.
What I love about the food here is that everything is made fresh from their gardens and kitchen. The garden plucked salads and the dressings, the freshly baked bread from their ovens and the home-made pasta with all the delightful toppings you can choose from.
Sadly, we had to leave sooner than later to pick up my son and head on back to our hotel.
Sunrise at Sunset (Sunrise Part II)
When we picked up my son at my mom's room at Alfonso Hotel, I took this chance to check out their accomodation. They got a Twin room with two single beds. Although the beds seem smaller than normal to me, their room was cozy, clean and comfortable for the price we got. They had cable TV too, hot shower and clean toilet. And even an electric stand fan in their room, which seemed weird to me at first since they had airconditioning too.
Apparently, the hotel thought of everything when they provided the electric fan since my mom related to us the next morning that they didn't use the Aircon in their room that night and just opened their windows to let the cool air in and just used the fan. Their room overlooked the mountains so it was quite breezy and cool, unlike our room at Sunrise which face the inner hotel and pool area.
Back to our hotel at Sunrise Mansions, we started to settle in and I decided to bathe my son in their shower/tub. But minutes into bathing, and just when I was about to finish rinsing my son, the power went out in our room. My 3 year old was scared of the dark so it was hard to tell him to stay in the bathroom so he won't catch cold while I get the flash light I brought with me. Good thing we had the emergency light turned on that time. At first I thought the hotel was observing Earth Hour but then the lights outside my window told me otherwise. We were the only room without lights on. The hallway had lights on too.
I called the front desk to tell them about the problem but it took them 20 minutes to get someone to us...and that person didn't even know we had a power problem since he just handed us the toilet paper rolls we asked for an hour ago. I called my hubby who was down in the lobby area checking his emails since that's the only area with wi-fi. My hubby was the one who got the lights back on by switching the circuit breaker back on (yes, there's a circuit breaker inside our room). Turns out we figured that having the heater on in the shower somehow overloads their circuits, since it happened again a second time as I was taking a shower myself. We didn't ask for another room since it was already late and we're all tired and ready for bed by that time and as long as we didn't have the TV, aircon and the heater on all at once, the power didn't fail again.
We had complimentary breakfast for two the next day. Each of us had a plateful of two eggs, two slices of american ham, and rice with a cup of joe for my hubby and orange juice for me. A generous fruit platter in a mix of watermelon, pineapple, orange and melon slices was also served. My son had a few bites of our ham and his favorite watermelons for breakfast too.
The breakfast area overlooks the pool and my son decided to throw a tantrum about wanting to go for a swim. There were some kids swimming that time and that made him more eager to persuade us to let him swim. The morning air was still a bit cool so I only agreed to let him splash his feet at the pool side with his daddy. He seems happy enough to be able to do that so I agreed on the compromise.
Horseback-riding @ breakneck Pricing
After we checked-out of our hotels, we decided to drop by Bag of Beans again to buy some of their yummy cinnamon rolls, then continued on to find that horseback riding area somewhere between B.O.B. and Leslie's.
Again, the area is expected to have horse manure all over so better watch your step. They have bicycle rides, carriage rides and horseback. The carriage rides go for Php300 per hour while the horseback rides are Php 200 per hour.
We should have opted for the carriage rides since I might have been able to ride that with my son and we could have gotten value for our money, instead of having him ride horseback with my mom. Since after only 10 minutes of riding, he suddenly wanted to stop, get off the horse or have me ride with him. Again, being preggy has a lot of limitations and horseback riding is definitely one of them. The caretaker insists we pay full price even though they only rode the horse for 10 mins. We grudgingly obliged since my son was having one of his 'moments' and the Manong was taking advantage of that fact. No other choice there.
Next time, I think it would have been better to let him ride the friendlier looking horses at Residence Inn or the pony we saw at Paradizoo.
Leslie's at Last
We reached Leslie's for lunch at 11:45AM, and all the good seats near the Taal lake view are already taken. As soon as we took our seats at the back end of the restaurant near the entrance, people seem to have suddenly come in droves and the line in the front desk never seem to diminish. And soon enough, there were no more seats to be had but plenty of people still waiting patiently in line to get a bite to eat.
It took them 20 mins to deliver our food, but considering how jam-packed the place was, that was pretty ok. We were very satisfied with everything we ordered...Sizzling Tuna Belly, Pork Sisig, Inihaw na Liempo (Grilled Pork Belly), Pinakbet con Lechon and of course, you can't go without ordering their Bulalo Special Soup.
We all loved the Iced Tea Shake too. My son couldn't get enough of it!
The waiter was even nice enough to cater to our request for extra corn cob slices since the Bulalo soup contained only 2 slices and it seems like that was the only thing my toddler fancied eating that time.
Damage: Php 2,600 for 4 adults with big appetites and a toddler.
Stop-overs on the way home
On the way home, we stopped over
Rowena's for some of their mini tarts and buko pie. Their place is packed too. I think many of us are already tired of Colette's buko pies and Rowena's freshly made pies and tarts serves as a great alternative to the over-commercialized ones from Colette's.
We stopped over some more at the many stalls that sell those nice flowers in small plastic pots...I got 3 marigolds for Php100. We also got some papayas and bananas at neighboring stalls on the road.
The very last stop we made along the way was this small
Toscana Farms shop set-up beside this Caltex gas station. They sell the most amazing cherry tomatoes, big-sized tomatoes and sweet bell peppers. You can't not buy anything once you've seen their veggies. We got some to toss into the lettuce we harvested from Paradizoo for a home-made salad once we get home.
The way home seems to be faster than the way going there. And it does seem like we were always in a hurry to go from one place to another to fit everything into our agenda. Everyone is tired once we get home, and it's nice to sleep in my own bed once more. But then I've always enjoyed being in Tagaytay, and would be back again soon.
