Villa Escudero

Last June 15 we celebrated two events; the 32nd Wedding Anniversary of my parents and Father's Day for Papa Gary and Papa Nestor.  We all went to Villa Escudero to celebrate and enjoy the entire day. 

Villa Escudero - based from its website - www.villaescudero.com - is a self-contained working coconut plantation and it was founded in the 1880's by Don Placido Escudero and his wife Dona Claudia Marasigan.  Originally planted to sugarcane, the crop was converted to coconut by their son Don Arsenio Escudero in the early 1900's.  A pioneering agro-industrialist, he built the country's first working hydroelectric plant to supply his dessicated coconut factory and Villa Escudero, where he and his wife Dona Rosario Adap built in 1929.

Their children opened the estate to the public in 1981.  From its humble beginnings, the resort has become a prime tourist destination for locals, overseas Filipinos and a wide array of foreign visitors to the country.  It has a worldwide reputation as a showcase for the Philippines' rich cultural heritage, offering a beguiling glimpse of its history, cuisine, dress, customs and natural beauty. 

We took their day tour package, which is at Php1,400.00 per person from 8:00am to 5:00pm, then I asked my family if we can make it to Villa by 8am and we all did!  Good for us! 

We met up at the reception area (while waiting for the Fernando Family) and we were given their welcome drinks! 

After paying at the reception, you will be given a ticket for the following: 

1. Museum

2. Carabao Ride

3. Lunch

Then you will be directed to the pathway going to the museum.

This is the walkway..

Outside, it looked like a church but inside it contained history.  

There were a lot of religious items, collection of dolls, antiques, presidential ensembles and a lot more interesting things.  If you love history then you will enjoy the museum, unfortunately for me, I am not a big fan of history.  Though I enjoyed the doll collections from all over the world.

^_^ 

You can't take pictures in the museum so you have to have a good memory.

After the musuem, the next activity was the carabao ride to give you a view of the place and the houses there.  While waiting for 5 minutes.. Still no carabao.

Well I do not want us to waste my time waiting and also there was a long queue to ride the carabao and so we all  decided to ride in this one intead:

One thing is for sure, it's way faster than the carabao.  When we were being toured in the vicinity, we saw the houses of the workers there.  Yes they live inside Villa Escudero. 

Even if we were not able to ride the carabao, we were still able to take a shot with her! Yes her name is "Sexy" - bagay sa akin! 

After that ride, we all then went to the man made falls for our lunch.  Unfortunately we weren't allowed to enter just yet because it was just 10am - thus we were asked to wait.

Again, I do not wish to waste my time waiting and so I asked my sister to go and ride the bamboo raft with me.  

In Villa Escudero, there is a man made lake that is 30 feet deep and one of their activity  aside from fishing was rafting.

It has no time limit, but since I do not want to stay longer under the sun we decided to finish the rafting in 15 minutes.  Louise enjoyed it much!! That's good to know. 

Then we went back to the man made falls to have our buffet lunch!

It's a different experience because you will be eating while your feet is in the water.  The water is coming from the man made falls and it was really a good view.  It felt like you were eating while in a river. 

The buffet was from 11am up to 2pm so you can stay as long as you want and get as many food as you crave for.  We stayed there from 11am - 1pm. 

Of course we can never miss the photo opps in the falls! 

After that we went to the hall to watch their folk dance presentation.  This presentation are only shown during weekends and holidays.  It showcased the history of our dances in the Philippines. 

It was about an hour and a half long and if you really love to dance and you love history you will definitely enjoy it! 

Those who presented were also working in Villa Escudero as receptionists, maintenance and more, the kids are the grand daughters and grandsons of the employees which even made the presentation very special.

After the presentation, we then went for a dip for an hour and then went off! 

Overall, it was a very relaxing day and I would recommend my family and friends to come and visit Villa Escudero one of these days.

Xoxo

Happy Friday: Happy thoughts = Happy Self!

We are living in a world that is full of rants, complaints, anger and a lot more!  It's bowl of mixed emotions and they are half positive and half negative.  

So why do we need to linger on the negativity of the world? Maybe we are thinking of how to make these negative things into a positive one but we should remember that there are a lot more reason to be happy than focusing on the not so good things.  It's our choice and the choices we make determine who we are as a person and it is reflected through our actions and how we relate to our family and friends! 

Plus -- being happy is an instant botox and a cheap one for that matter.  So the choice is yours, if you want to be beautiful inside and out then the answer would be "Happy Thoughts and Happy Actions".

Xoxo

Reminder: Give it back!

Just this afternoon, I took the MRT and I specifically queued up to the women's area in MRT.  There was a male senior citizen lined up as well and he has an arm support on his left arm, he was wearing a face mask and he was walking too slow.  He has one eco bag with I think some documents in it.

When he entered the train, the guard asked the girls (sitting) to let him sit.  I was standing at that time and I was looking at him as he slowly took his seat.

He dropped off at Boni Station - luckily he was able to alight given that he walked too slow.  Just when he was about to reach the hand grills at the platform, a man passed by him and moved his hand away from the grills.  He can't do anything, I felt that he was restless.

It came to me -- how could he be travelling alone? It seemed that he came from a hospital or a clinic and clearly needed medical attention.  I don't know his family's current situation, why it happened but I do not wish to see the same situation again. 

--------------

My simple wake up call is:
"Make sure that I will be there when my parents need my time and attention".

What's your wake up call?

Xoxo


 

Tagaytay: Bag of Beans

When we (Sweets and I) were planning our trip to Tagaytay, my cousin told me (i think three times) to buy her Raisin Bread in case we can drop by Bag of Beans. Going to Bag of Beans was never in the itinerary because it's out of the way but we thought that since we were in Tagayay, might as well drop by Bag of Beans. 

It was around 10am when we went there.  We came from The Puzzle Mansion and it's just the right time for an early lunch. 

Bag of Beans was just along the highway: 115 Aguinaldo Highway l Mendez Crossing West, Tagaytay. 

You can never miss it! 

There were two parts, the picture above is the entrance to their bakery, then the stairs at the left side is the entrance to the restaurant. 

Once you are the dining area, you can choose from the airconditioned room or outside (with the trees and plants).  Then you can either go to the umbrellas, or to the cushioned dining area. 

Initially we went into this area of the restaurant: 

Cozy right!! With a very nice macopa (they were real fruits) center piece.  Then when we ordered our food, we were informed that if we are going to dine in this area, we should have a minimum of Php1000.00.  We didn't know so instead of thinking what to eat that will cost us more than 1k, we decided to change our dining area.  Besides, how can we afford to eat as many food! Whew! 

Now this was our new place! 

I was a bit bothered with the red colored umbrella, because when the sun is up, the color of the umbrella makes it even darker.. Well maybe it's just me.. Dont bother :D
 

Then on to our foodies.  They offer an "All day Breakfast" so we tried that one! 




Omelette 3-egg omelette folded over cheese, mushroom, tomatoes and onions with a choice of bacon or sausage. Served with Bread and Butter.295.00






Country Breakfast 2 Buttermilk Pancakes, 2 Eggs, Sausage and Bacon320.00

If you will take a look at our foodies, it's as if one can finish it in 15 min but NO! It was really heavy breakfast so we took it as our brunch!  

They also have a coffee bar, if you feel bloated with what you ate then a caffeine intake will do the trick :)

You can also take a look at this Bag of Beans Menu from Munchpunch!
Very helpful - to also prepare you for your dining pleasure!

And this is the bakery downstairs. 

If you will go up to their other bakery, you will have more place there to dine: 

Then you can buy pasalubong! 

And yes, I was able to buy that Raisin Bread and it was indeed a good one! Thanks to my cousin for sharing the goodness.

Overall, outrstay in Bag of Beans was not extra ordinary -- i loved their food, no doubt about it but if you are on a budget (for your tagaytay trip) then this might cost you! :)

Xoxo