January : A Fresh Start

What better way to start the year than to immerse one's self to the pacifying beauty of nature?

... I did just that....

Prior to the getaway, the Saturday before our "date", we celebrated a simple debut cum swimming party for the 18th birthday of my cousin Tina. It was sort of drizzling during the day so I was not in the mood to swim (well, my mind was very set to embrace the cold breeze already, not cold water). But anyway, I found the picture cake of Red Ribbon to be pretty neat - a nice accent for the simple party ('twas a gift/contribution of Tita Elmi for Tina's birthday). I found out that it was made the same day (no pre-ordering needed or some long waiting time) so I found it pretty cool.

Anyway, a day later, my Tita Elmi (who was spending her last week in the Philippines... she has to return to Chicago), my mom and bro left around lunch time on a Sunday to head to T House at Tagaytay.

Tita had been spending for lots of things while on "vacation" here; also, I hadn't really treated my mom for her birthday, so I decided to bring them to a nature trip and a good spa experience.

That time that I booked in T House, they still do not accept credit cards, so prior to our "date", I had to ask the messenger from our office to deposit 2,000 pesos to a BPI Branch (BPI Family Savings do not accept payments for their account). Anyway, it was a relaxing experience and a welcome change of scenery for all of us who had been overly immersed in the hustle and bustle of the city. Their nice zen interiors and the welcome tea which greeted us as we arrived whispered to us - relax.

We even were very pleased with the bathroom, it being spacious and still with good interior design compared to the other places which put bathroom design as last in their priority. The not-so-good part though is that for the four of us, the room was too crowded. It seemed like the bathroom was bigger than the bedroom. The bathroom also did not have a two-layer shower curtain so we had to place the sole shower curtain inside the tub to shield the water from going to the bathroom floor. Unfortunately, the curtain was too long so as we decided to place it inside the tub, we kept on stepping on it. If we were a little careless, we may have slid from it.

Good thing, we enjoyed our dinner. From the highway, we searched for the big billboard sign which said Lagusan Drive. After a few meters (which seemed as far as coming from McDonalds Katipunan to Ateneo Gate Three), we saw two signs that read - Bawai's and Chateau Hestia.








Since we were in the "green is refreshing" mode, we opted to try Bawai's. Paul, who hails from Alabang, who owns the place and who has Chinese and Vietnamese heritage, gamely entertained us even if they were supposed to be closed on that day. Since I'm counting on my memory now, I could not remember the details of what we had. Except that we shelled out a thousand pesos which was equivalent to filling the tummies of four big people. We ordered about four entrees with three extra cups of rice (the other entree went straight to the tummy even before I was able to take a picture of it). Paul gave us complimentary "Viet Ginataan" for dessert.




Our day ended with a good spa experience at the T House (but I honestly think that their price is better and very much more acceptable comapred to Nurture Spa inTagaytay which even is difficult to access). I was not disappointed, but I was not impressed either. For instance, the foot spa that we had was definitely better than the one I had at My Cool Mint Spa at Katipunan. But it does not come close to the great foot spas I've had from Gloss Designer Nails and Skin Perfect at Eastwood City, Libis. The massage was good but not very satisfying compared to my full body massages at My Cool Mint Spa and the excellent Foot Reflexology (with back massage) I had from Sole Mates at Eastwood City. Their foot spa is just at par with our neighborhood spa called Porcelana which offers competitive service but way cheaper price. Recently, I had an Armpit and Playboy Wax plus Foot Spa for 750 bucks only!!! I'm a virgin with waxing but with the kind of service that I had with Porcelana, I would be glad to do it again (at least, the armpit wax).

Anyway, more of our spa pictures....



After the spa, my brother felt like a king. We had a good sleep but an even better morning - thanks to a sight-pleasing, taste-pleasing and tummy-filling breakfast. But the green thing on the pic is a centerpiece... we were not asked to turn the stones to bread, ayt? :)


The bread served before our breakfast plates were so soft and tasty, I wanted to take some home...

I was tempted to eat the omelet as soon as it was placed in front of me... But after slicing it, I realized, "oops... picture first", hence the imperfection of the omelet.


Anyway, after breakast we passed by the fruit and flower (Lola's favorite indulgence) stands along the highway. We passed by Rowena's to get our favorite tarts, silvannas and pasalubong on our way to T House so we did not make a stop there anymore on our way home. We passed by Taal Vista instead.








We got Lola this red flower plant...

Mom and bro on our trip's culminating activity - kulitan.