Tagaytay: Java Jazz

Tagaytay is the best place to be if you want to avoid the busy and noisy streets of the metro.  Not to mention the weather  is so great, the people are nice and there are a lot of food havens to try! 

One of which is at Java Jazz. It is located at 442 Tagytay-Calamba Road, Sungay West, Tagaytay City, Cavite.  You will see this place just before you reach Picnic Grove.

 

It's a simple place to eat, relax and be calmed by the jazz music that is playing. The food is not extravagant, it will satisfy your simple cravings for coffee, pasta and bread! 

Their coffee is Cafe de Tagaytay and it's just simple love! 
There are also other coffee to try as well as hot chocolate.

The place also has paintings from different artists in the city.  The owner also loves to paint thus the paintings.   They were simple yet will let your imagination work! 

Yes, you can eat in this table setting.
Japanese style in the heart of Tagaytay! (just no japanese food :D)
 

The low ceiling and wood floor added to the simplicity of the place.
The environment was calm and it's just nice to be there and talk about life with my husband! 

A simple haven for simple people like us!
The coffee + jazz music + my husband was just the perfect combo meal for me and it made me realize even more the blessings that I have in my Life!!

Xoxo

When in Tagaytay: Bulalo is a Must!

The minute you drive along Tagaytay, you will already see a lot of restaurants offering "Special Bulalo" -- this is because it's their specialty. With Tagaytay's cool weather, a hot bulalo is just the perfect comfort food! 

I am not into beef really, but if I do then it must be really good!  If you want to have a sip of this hot bulalo with it's good bone marrow then Tagaytay will have what you need.  What if you are in a budget?? Then don't fret - I have the perfect place for you to indulge. 

While me and my husband was planning our trip to Tagaytay, we found out that Bulalo is really a must try and then I searched even more and I found out that the best Bulalo with the freshest vegetables can be found at the Mahogany Market. 

How to get there? Visit: 

http://www.cosmotourist.com/travel/d/i/2552699/t/tagaytay/mahogany-market/

When we were making our way to the parking-- we saw a lot of vehicles (SUVs, Cars and others) then I thought "wow, this place is really the place to be! With all of these parokyanos I know we are definitely on the right track!".  When we found our parking, several vendors approached us and gave their items for free taste -- then we headed to the carinderia of our choice! 

It's our first time there so we had no clue on which Carenderia to choose from (since all of them were trying to call us), no one (Sweets, Mama, Papa, Angge) wants to decide and so I just stepped to this one..

Of course we ordered Bulalo, Crispy Pata and Deep fried Tawilis!  

They also had free senoritas at the table (that one is eat all you can).

Then we had Pineapple juice to neutralize the "high blood" haha!! 

Just across the carinderia strip, you will see their wet market with cheap beef!  With this trip we were able to hit 2 birds in one stone.

After almost an hour of eating, wow, we all felt so full and we didn't even finish the Bulalo! We were 5 and the bill was just Php1,300.  It was really good value for money! 

They say: If you travel, you have to eat where the locals eat and that's exactly what we did! 

I will definitely recommend Mahogany Market to my family and friends who will visit Tagaytay for a Bulalo indulgence! 

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

Puzzle Mansion: Guinness Book of Records holder

 

Our second day in Tagaytay started with our Journey at the Puzzle Mansion.  The Puzzle Mansion is a Guinness World Record holder, it is the largest collection of jigsaw puzzles and it was achieved by Georgina Gil-Lacuna.  According to the people at the mansion, Madam Gina started to make puzzles some 28 years ago and it's really just a hobby.

Madam Gina and her family started from small beginnings and made their way up in the garments industry because of their perseverance and patience.  Looking at it now, it all paved the way to success and it's just simply inspiring.

I appreciate art in a form of drawings that has figures, people and things.   The first puzzle that I saw from this wide range collection was a Coca Cola puzzle and it was really like looking at a poster but when you take a closer look, it was indeed a puzzle!

 

 

What made each puzzle interesting was that each puzzle was tagged and it mentioned how many pieces were there in the puzzle and how long it took Madam Gina to complete one.  It was just mind blowing  -- starting a puzzle is something exciting to do but when you are at the middle part, where all the puzzle pieces have the same color, for me it's like dragging and I want to stop.

This puzzle is MONALISA, we all know that it was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci.
This puzzle has 1,500 pieces and it was completed within 14 hours.

Amazing right! :)

Now on to one of the next painting este puzzle in this mansion.
It's called RETABLO DE SANTA COLUMBA by R. Van Den Weyden.
It has 18,000 pieces and it was completed within 1095 hours! Fascinating right!

It's really like a painting and I was just blown away with the patience given in completing this puzzle.

Madam Gina did not just rest for an ordinary puzzle, she made a lot more puzzle variety ranging from the very basic one.

 

 
There is a 3D puzzle, round, pyramid, crystal, can, plastic and a lot more.

 

It was just fascinating, that something that started as a hobby will turn out to be part of the Guinness World Book of Records and I am very proud to be a Filipino.

Watch this video to learn more about the story of Madam Gina and how she came about this wonderful hobby.
 

This is the video that was done by Sweets.. to give all of you a view of how it looked like :)
 

 

For me, puzzles are very symbolic when it comes to defining our lives.

Our entire journey is like a whole puzzle, each situation, each part of our lives are the bits and pieces of our entire being.

There will be times where we cannot match things up, but if we become patient and understand how situations relate to each other, we will see the big picture and realize that every situation matter. ^_^

Xoxo

Aroma Tagaytay Hotel

When we were planning for our trip to Tagaytay, we looked at several sites, reviews and blogs to choose the best deal that will be comfortable for us as well as with our pockets.

After a few discussions, we both agreed that we will go with Aroma Tagaytay Hotel.

It was just along the highway, you can never miss it [admittedly,  we did :(].

If you will be coming from Sta Rosa you will see Tagaytay Econo Inn, then you need to turn right, then on your left just watch out for Starbucks Coffee, then you will see Iglesia ni Cristo.  Just wait a few seconds and you will see (in the left side) Aroma Tagaytay Hotel.

 

We were welcomed by their very accommodating staff and even guided us to our room.  We chose one of the rooms at the 3rd level, which are the VIP Rooms.  The very instance I step foot in that place, I felt like it was an old house (ancestral house), simply because it was not your typical hotel rooms, floorings, corridors and stairs, it felt like home. 

 

Then when we had a quick chat with the Officer in Charge (Ate Mina), she mentioned that this hotel was indeed an old house turned into a hotel.  This is a Filipino owned business, no wonder that the staff are very accommodating and hospitable.

 

Now on to our room:

 

It was a very spacious room, with a queen sized bed with antique side tables with flowers, Cable TV, Fridge, Closets and a nice comfort room with hot and cold shower.

 

In the morning (say around 5-6 am) you can open the windows to let the sunlight in and feel the cool breeze coming from the lake. 

We have our own terrace and it's over looking Taal Volcano.

You will notice some contruction going on because they are always up for continuous improvement -- which is a plus of course!

 

 

Just outside our room, we can share a common dining table and sala set.. It was really homey with a fireplace (it's just a design though).

 

This was the sala set overlooking the Taal Volcano.

 

Then here are the terrace, dining table, china wares, antique chairs and tables and fireplace.

 

 

 

 

 

They have a pool. You can have a dip anytime you want but of course not during when it's being cleaned up.  They have a huge area by the pool and sometimes it's used for birthday celebrations and wedding receptions.

 

They have free Wi-fi but it's just at the reception area.

Well, if you are in a vacation, you don't need to have a Wi-Fi in your room because it loses the essence of "Me Time" or "Us Time".  It loses the intent for connection and bonding.. I saw this one post before that says "Be with the friends / family that you are right now" and not focus on Social Media -- which for me is absolutely right!

They have free breakfast - simple Si-Log dishes but it will surely kick start your day.

 

 

They also have quick menus for lunch and dinner if you do not wish to dine out.

I will surely come back to this place when we need to stay overnight at Tagaytay.  The lovely weather, accommodating and hospitable staff and the homey environment are just the perfect combination for an ultimate vacation.

If you are used to hotel settings with white beddings and towel and a corridor like walkway and elevators, then this place is not for you.  However, if you want to feel like home while in Tagaytay, then this is the place to be!

If you wish to stay here, you can inquire by texting or calling their Office in Charge - Ate Mina at 0949 784 2462.  You will definitely have a fast transaction.

Xoxo