T&J Travels #8: Tagaytay 2017 (Part 3)

First thing I did after turning off the A/C! (Oh hey I have too much time to even add a watermark!)

Like I said earlier, our breakfast at Destination Hotel WAS AMAZING. It wasn't your typical silog. I might book one just to get another amazing breakfast.

(I'm not sure if I could replicate this matte look hmmm)

+ Picnic Grove +

Entrance 50PHP each | Fare from Terminal 11PHP each (?)

I was hoping we could have been there earlier but it took us a while to prep. Because of this, that Tagaytay breeze is nowhere to be felt. We walked around the park and at this early, we would have tried the cable car but was told they're still waiting for their techs. We figured the sun would be harsher if we waited.

It rained the night before so it's a bit annoying that they didn't think of cleaning some part of the wood planks that are extremely muddy. When we reached the cottages some of them even have mud on the seats!

Speaking of the cottages you might think that with that rental of theirs they could have improved the place. I won't even bother paying. We sat there for awhile until we were "kicked out" by a family who paid.

We roamed some more to the mini zoo and the shops which ironically sell thick ponchos at this weather. We also looked for the bike rentals that are too sad to even bother. I was enthusiastic at first but the bikes doesn't look safe at all. It's as if just touching it I would get tetanus.

+ Sonya's Garden +

For us to go there we needed to get a Nasugbu jeep so we had to get a tricycle back to the terminal. We were able to secure front seats at the jeep which is convenient for us to spot where we need to go. It's quite far from everything else we've been the entire weekend and it took us some time because our jeep had to wait for more passengers on another stop.

Sonya's Garden is easy to go to, you just need a tricycle that will take you there. They are impossible to miss because they are just at the highway. What's hard though is getting out. It was extremely hard to get a tricycle from Sonya's I wonder what would we do if we're a larger group. We were just lucky to get one even! Don't bother looking for Grab too. Doesn't work here.

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The garden is really nice, I see why everyone can find this place really charming for a wedding. It has a secluded feel to it, like a home with a huge garden. They have multiple lounge spots too. Perfect to keep guests occupied.

Our primary purpose here though is not to get ourselves a healthy buffet of greens (I heard they don't serve meats here) but for their famous breads. Reagan and I each got cheese hopia, I got me some pan de coco and he a bag of coffee buns. I loved my picks but too bad didn't impress my sister.

+ Kusina Tropicale +

After checkout we decided to get some lunch. From Destination Hotel we walked back to the Rotonda and ended up at this restaurant that doesn't look condescending enough. It was also a good choice because we are the only customer around.

In the entirety of the week this is the most refreshing one yet. The breeze, though not cool, is welcoming enough I could fall asleep. They have huge windows that have an unobstructed view of the lake, and if that's not enough they even turn an electric fan on. And while waiting they even gave us binoculars to pass time.

We ordered what everyone in Tagaytay would order: bulalo and crispy tawilis. Bulalo is fine, there are huge chunks of meat, while the tawilis lacked the "crispy" part. We barely ate it.

I won't dismiss the experience though, I really liked how friendly their servers are and again, the location. Probably won't get the tawilis again though.

+ Going Home +

Quite easy. Almost all buses have the same route (Lawton) so it was easier for us to get home. This small adventure of ours was not bad. I didn't think we could have survived without a car, and yet we did. Maybe we could do a repeat but not in the summer anymore. I hate going there having the same climate back in Manila. I mean I rarely go out during lunch. I wish summer is over!