Twice a year or at times even thrice (if my Dad is feeling generous), our entire family hies off one long weekend to spend some time together in a totally relaxing place out of town. One such favorite place we often retreat to is a big house on Rodeo Hills, Tagaytay. Aside from its cool weather (definitely a plus), the house is quite spacious that allows our entire clan to fit in – no matter how many we were!!! (This time around there was only 27 of us, around 6 families. But during last year’s holy week I guess we were around 40 – 10 families with lotsa, lotsa kids, truly a raucous affair!) Sounds crazy, huh? But to tell the truth, the house only had three bedrooms, but it can accommodate all of us easily since they had many cushions – around 15. And they had wide open spaces, particularly the veranda surrounding almost the entire 2nd floor which allows just anybody to grab a cushion and sleep outside. No need for an electric fan either because as I said, the place had its own natural air conditioning. We only need to bring our own sheets and beddings, if you don’t want to freeze your ass off.
And as is our usual routine whenever we go to Tagaytay, we don’t usually wait for them (my Dad and Tita - coz he still plays golf in the morning while she goes to the market to buy enough food to tide us for the weekend). Instead, we go ahead (since we have the car, uhm this time the CRV was lent to us) so we can take in some sightseeing of our own and eat their ever famous bulalo for our lunch. This time, we had my two sisters as our co-passengers (coz my eldest kid had work) and we picked them up at their house at past ten. By the time we were at the SLEX, my husband and Keith were already hungry (not really surprising!) so we stopped over at the Shell select station to buy some hotdogs, candies and junk food to tide us over till we reach Tagaytay.
The next day, I was up early again to indulge in one of my favorite past times – taking pictures of sleeping people in crazy positions (he,he,he check out my latest collection!) We ate breakfast in a while and since we all decided not to go to the beach, we just retreated to our own fave nooks of the house and do our own private things – the aunts continued with their chatter; dad was at his laptop at a spot in the veranda outside his room (the only place with a signal!) to check out the daily news and his emails; my stepsister and his husband were watching DVDs (their fave past time!); the guys played cards; the kids ran around and played in the slide in the yard; I brought the laptop but I didn’t get to use it coz my sister was playing Luxor. Good thing I also brought a book and so I was able to retreat in my own little corner to read in peace.
After lunch, the kids were once again getting restless –they grew tired playing outside and with the laptop so we decided to take them out to visit the new zoo near Mendez – Paradizoo. We got lost a bit going there coz the signs were quite confusing. But after a few hits and misses we finally got there. Entrance fee was a bit steep at PhP 199 for adults and PhP 149 for the kids but the tour took more than an hour and we were able to see unique animals (not quite your typical zoo) and experience first-hand life on a farm - so it was quite worth it…We even had a tour guide who explained to us little bits and trivia about the ten-hectare farm/ranch.
First animals we encountered were the miniature horses just after the restaurant and souvenir shop which the kids can actually ride (but did not coz it’s costly at Php 150 for only a few minutes). We continued with the tour instead and saw varied kinds of exotic animals which the guide said were imported from different parts of the globe. There were dromedary camels (with one hump) from Australia, some Kalahari goats (which we can pet and feed with all the grass readily available), dorper sheep which the guides showed how to milk (we can actually milk them and even the kids had fun feeding a baby sheep from a bottle). There were also fallow and russa deer, alpacas and llamas, fierce racing greyhounds (just too bad there was no race scheduled for that day so we didn’t get to see them in action), race horses and miniature ponies. We also visited a butterfly farm (my third for the year), a bee farm, an organic garden (with lettuces, tomatoes, carrots, even strawberries harvested and sold at the resto near the entrance), a fish pond where one can actually catch fish with a rented rod for PhP 100 (but you have to pay for the catch if you like to take it home otherwise it goes back to the pond), an orchid garden, a mushroom growing facility, a piggery where we saw Big Brother’s Peggy and her piglets, and so much more.
All in all, it was truly a very different but still fun experience because it wasn’t regular zoo animals in cramped cages that we saw but farm animals in wide open spaces. But what made the experience unique was the fact that it allowed visitors to interact and experience first-hand the kind of life in a farm. The ones who conceptualized this type of zoo should really be commended because they were able to give us – both kids and adults – a truly unforgettable experience… plus, if the kids still wanted to see more regular zoo animals, they offered a visit to the Residence Inn zoo – for free! (I guess, it’s already part of the Php 199 package) And so off we went to visit the other zoo where we got to see the regular animals like tigers, monkeys, a scraggly lion, different crocs and lizards, snakes, large fishes and birds, eagles, even a porcupine, etc.
It was about 4 pm already when we returned to the house and the kids were bursting with stories to tell of their various encounters with animals we saw in the two zoos we visited… they regaled the oldies with their stories as we ate spaghetti and cake. After a while, it was time to go home and bid goodbye to this wonderful place that we have come to call our very own ‘home away from home’… till next time!!!
By 1 pm we arrived in Tagaytay and we decided to eat at this bulalo place near the Tagaytay rotunda where my husband ate with some officemates a couple of years back – The Diners. The restaurant itself was not spectacular – a little more like an improved version of the carinderia – definitely no view of the Taal volcano here because it’s smack in the middle of the city. But their bulalo tasted better than the one we had last year at that overlooking resto (whose name and taste is quite forgettable!) Even the other dishes we ordered tasted great – the inihaw na pusit, crispy fried tawilis, and ensaladang talong. My sisters and I agreed to split the bill and we ended 
up paying about 170 or 180 per person – quite cheap!...considering how full we all were. We were all quite satisfied with the food that we ate and our entire dining experience would have been quite satisfactory if not for the haughty attitude of the restaurant’s crew – especially the ladies taking our orders. They are the front liners of the resto and they should be more courteous to people coz their snobbishness really is a turn-off. Good thing we were already hungry at the time, so we didn’t decide to just leave and look for another place to eat. Definitely, it’s not a place we would recommend to others if only because of the discourteous staff.
up paying about 170 or 180 per person – quite cheap!...considering how full we all were. We were all quite satisfied with the food that we ate and our entire dining experience would have been quite satisfactory if not for the haughty attitude of the restaurant’s crew – especially the ladies taking our orders. They are the front liners of the resto and they should be more courteous to people coz their snobbishness really is a turn-off. Good thing we were already hungry at the time, so we didn’t decide to just leave and look for another place to eat. Definitely, it’s not a place we would recommend to others if only because of the discourteous staff.
After eating, we wanted to work out a sweat to taper off some of that totally fattening food we all ate, so we visited the picnic grove. My youngest sister also wanted to have her pics taken with the Taal volcano as background (for her Friendster account). So off we went to walk about a thousand steps - we paused by a bridge to have our pics taken; a halfway viewdeck – to have more pics taken; a hanging bridge where we had to walk slow otherwise we might fall off until finally we reached the top where we were able to get a truly breathtaking view of Taal. The spectacular view and the cool fresh air that greeted us at the viewdeck was so worth it! It seems no matter how many times I’ve seen Taal, it still never ceases to amaze me.
When we’ve had our fill of pictures with Taal, we left for the house. But before getting there, we chanced upon a sign just past Splendido and before Rodeo Hills that said Sonya’s garden… and I told them that I’ve read about how pretty the place is on the internet and so we decided to make a detour to check it out. And we weren’t disappointed!!! Just check out the pics and you’ll see how truly made for relaxation and comfort the entire place is …there were pretty flowers everywhere in various colors and arrangements… the relaxing lull of water fountains, the smell of roses and freshly baked bread, and very pretty nooks and crannies to lounge around in, have tea or coffee or even sleep… well, we didn’t get to do that because we didn’t have that luxury of time. Heck, we didn’t even have the budget to savor the smell of all the organic and backyard-grown food that was wafting from their kitchens or to sample the therapeutic massage services of their spa. We just contented ourselves with taking picture after picture after picture in every cozy corner of the place and with buying their bread at the bakeshop/panaderia and some organic beauty items at their country store. I would’ve wanted to buy their soaps but alas I didn’t have any money left… maybe next time coz surely Sonya’s garden is one experience you’d want to experience completely – it will definitely be on my list of places to come back to if I had more money to spare or if my daughter decided to have a garden wedding in the future (very far future, that is!)
By four pm we were already at our ‘house for the weekend’ and surprisingly despite all the places we’ve already visited, we were still the first to arrive. The others slowly trickled in as night settled in and we all feasted on bbq chicken and pork, chicken tinola, and pork binagoongan for our dinner. After gorging ourselves with all the delicious food (esp the bbq, my aunt will kill me if I don’t mention her famous bbq!) we chatted the night away – just talking about old times and doing our usual bashing of others who weren’t around (sorry guys, it’s your fault for not coming!!!) It was way past midnight when they started singing (coz they were also getting quite drunk with all the drinks they consumed!) and I took that as my cue to go to bed (coz I can’t really sing!)
The next day, I was up early again to indulge in one of my favorite past times – taking pictures of sleeping people in crazy positions (he,he,he check out my latest collection!) We ate breakfast in a while and since we all decided not to go to the beach, we just retreated to our own fave nooks of the house and do our own private things – the aunts continued with their chatter; dad was at his laptop at a spot in the veranda outside his room (the only place with a signal!) to check out the daily news and his emails; my stepsister and his husband were watching DVDs (their fave past time!); the guys played cards; the kids ran around and played in the slide in the yard; I brought the laptop but I didn’t get to use it coz my sister was playing Luxor. Good thing I also brought a book and so I was able to retreat in my own little corner to read in peace.
After lunch, the kids were once again getting restless –they grew tired playing outside and with the laptop so we decided to take them out to visit the new zoo near Mendez – Paradizoo. We got lost a bit going there coz the signs were quite confusing. But after a few hits and misses we finally got there. Entrance fee was a bit steep at PhP 199 for adults and PhP 149 for the kids but the tour took more than an hour and we were able to see unique animals (not quite your typical zoo) and experience first-hand life on a farm - so it was quite worth it…We even had a tour guide who explained to us little bits and trivia about the ten-hectare farm/ranch.
First animals we encountered were the miniature horses just after the restaurant and souvenir shop which the kids can actually ride (but did not coz it’s costly at Php 150 for only a few minutes). We continued with the tour instead and saw varied kinds of exotic animals which the guide said were imported from different parts of the globe. There were dromedary camels (with one hump) from Australia, some Kalahari goats (which we can pet and feed with all the grass readily available), dorper sheep which the guides showed how to milk (we can actually milk them and even the kids had fun feeding a baby sheep from a bottle). There were also fallow and russa deer, alpacas and llamas, fierce racing greyhounds (just too bad there was no race scheduled for that day so we didn’t get to see them in action), race horses and miniature ponies. We also visited a butterfly farm (my third for the year), a bee farm, an organic garden (with lettuces, tomatoes, carrots, even strawberries harvested and sold at the resto near the entrance), a fish pond where one can actually catch fish with a rented rod for PhP 100 (but you have to pay for the catch if you like to take it home otherwise it goes back to the pond), an orchid garden, a mushroom growing facility, a piggery where we saw Big Brother’s Peggy and her piglets, and so much more.
All in all, it was truly a very different but still fun experience because it wasn’t regular zoo animals in cramped cages that we saw but farm animals in wide open spaces. But what made the experience unique was the fact that it allowed visitors to interact and experience first-hand the kind of life in a farm. The ones who conceptualized this type of zoo should really be commended because they were able to give us – both kids and adults – a truly unforgettable experience… plus, if the kids still wanted to see more regular zoo animals, they offered a visit to the Residence Inn zoo – for free! (I guess, it’s already part of the Php 199 package) And so off we went to visit the other zoo where we got to see the regular animals like tigers, monkeys, a scraggly lion, different crocs and lizards, snakes, large fishes and birds, eagles, even a porcupine, etc.
It was about 4 pm already when we returned to the house and the kids were bursting with stories to tell of their various encounters with animals we saw in the two zoos we visited… they regaled the oldies with their stories as we ate spaghetti and cake. After a while, it was time to go home and bid goodbye to this wonderful place that we have come to call our very own ‘home away from home’… till next time!!!
For the next couple of days we got busy with our work – Everything was already standard procedure for us (well, after six trips we have already managed to get our jobs down pat) but we didn’t expect the huge number of media who came to witness the event. Even Susan Enriquez was there although she was only one of the three Manila-based reporters who came (because everyone else was caught up with the Jun Lozada expose which erupted at the same time). We got deluged by Davao-based reporters and even from nearby provinces like Cagayan de Oro so that our IDs and press kits ran out. But nonetheless, we were able to cope up and simply made do with what we had.
So on the third day, when our duties were finally over the group decided to just pack our bags and head for Davao City where we were billeted at the Marco Polo Hotel. After checking in our bags and freshening up a little in our rooms, we all left for Jack’s Ridge and for the first time in three days we were finally able to sample Davao cuisine at its finest! Sure, the food during the 2-day workshop was OK because the governor’s caterer was Kapampangan and they sure know how to cook good food. But still you can’t take Pampanga out of them no matter how far and how many oceans they have traveled. They still will taste like fiesta food pretty much like a typical Kapampangan. 
Expectedly, the group wasn’t able to leave by 8 because we were so many and we had to wait till each and every one of us had finished with their breakfast, taking their baths, doing their usual toilet routine, and dressing up. Finally, when everyone was ready we left aboard three (or was it four?) rented vans to visit the world-famous Samal Island. We took a short 30-minute ferry ride to Samal Island where our first stop for the day was the Bat caves. The entrance was free although we had to endure a short ten-minute walk from the entrance to the actual cave itself. Once there we were all overwhelmed not just by the sight of millions and millions of bats sticking to the all the cracks and crevices of the cave but also by the smell!!! I never realize until this moment that bat droppings could smell like a public toilet – thus we never ventured any nearer to the mouth of the cave. Also, the guide says there were many snakes living at the cave floors, just waiting for the right moment to snap and catch their next meal. 
