caviteBATANGAS

this blog is long way overdue.. via yang and i decided to have another get-away trip before the year ends.. and since the month of august offered a long weekend break, we thought that taking advantage of it would be best..

we initially planned for a 3 days 2 nights island adventure in zambales (anawangin, potipot and capones). reviews showed they are included in the top 3 must-visit islands in the country. i made initial plans for this trip but since projected whether was not good, we had to do last minute changes.. so we came up with an alternative... tagaytay and calatagan, batangas..


i was happy to have other friends from home join us on the trip.. start up point was at the SM Mall of Asia.. it's also my first long travel with theYellowGuy..

the drive to tagaytay was fast.. it only took us about an hour and a half to reach our first destination.. first destination was sonya's garden. we had to make sure that we see the place since we've heard many good reviews about it.  it used to be a private place which eventually was opened to the public with its bed and breakfast offerings..  for people who love gardens, this place will surely be a big hit. people come to enjoy the huge garden, the fresh and yummy greens at the restaurant, and the freshly-baked bread at their bakery. the place also houses some cool and eco-friendly stuff at their souvenir shop.

we wanted to try the dishes at sonya's garden, but because we were working on a budget, we knew we had to  eat our lunch someplace else.  we explored the long road of tagaytay to have a good lunch..  luckily, we saw this stretch of bulalo houses.. of course, we can't leave tagaytay without eating their famous bulalo.. i must say that the bulalo was not as good as those of leslie's but it's still the best food for a cold weather. 

next stop was bag of beans  i wasn't too excited about it since i am not a coffee lover. since my companions were and the place seems cozy and cool, i still felt it's going to be a good drop off.  it's i guess the biggest coffee place i've been to.  coffee shop is garden-like.  aside from their coffee, travelers also line up for bread and other pastries.  

we still had enough time for another destination.  the rain was getting really bad while we were on the road. i guess no rain can stop us from visiting this well talked about calaruega.  the church is now getting famous not only because of its beauty but also of the celebrity weddings being held there.  the entire place looked like a huge-huge garden.  i really fell in love with the place.  i can still see myself smiling everytime i close my eyes and think of the it.  

it was already getting dark when we left calareuga.. the rain was also getting stronger, and worst we still didn't have a place to stay for the night.  lodges and inns were fully booked and we were starting we feel our tired bodies.  we still made sure to enjoy a quick dinner then tried our luck again to get a comfortable sleep.  looking for a place to stay was really hard (we had the car for our last option), finally, we found one just before another group came in. 

we woke up with a windy morning. good thing that the rain finally stopped. we had a hearty breakfast at mcdonalds..i was not so sure why, but on that morning (after a very loooong time) i had coffee and enjoyed it.. 

across mcdonals is taal vista hotel. the hotel holds a good view of the taal lake and volcano.  it is not my first time to come to this place but i still get awed at the site of the lake and the volcano every visit.  tagaytay breeze never fails to uplift my spirit.  

we started to get ready for the long drive to calatagan. we had a quick stop to buy something for lunch and food for the next day. for the most part, i really enjoyed the ride. we (together with our official travel food - steamed peanuts) had fun singing and swaying along to old songs of backstreet boys. we got more and more excited as we came closer to our destination.  and then, boom! my entire spirit sank when i saw the body of water in front of me.. 1..2..3..mmm...4..5..6..7...mmmm...8..9..10.. dumbfounded!!  i felt that it's so far the worst beach i have ever seen.. i still feel guilty (up until now) everytime i say that i don't like the place at all.. (nahihiya ako kay God for not appreciating it).. and so, with our hungry tummys, we decided to go back and find look for another better beaches.. 

finally, still in calatagan, we came across this beach that seemed to project a very-homey atmosphere.. we decided to spend the night here. i loved the place, too bad the water wasn't really very inviting for a swim.  nonetheless, for someone who haven't seen a beach for more than a year already, the place was more than good enough for me.  

  

i was all dressed up for the swim only to find out the the water was filled with see-grass.. it was actually a creepy sight for me.. it amazed me that there were people who got the courage to plunge in.. i guess, people from the city are easily pleased compared to [people like us] who have been to many beaches. i even felt that our ordinary beaches back home are way way better than this. still, i made sure to savor the cool sea breeze, and the sound of waves.  this will still count as life's simple pleasures (good food, nature, friends, and wasting time).. :)

we had to leave early in the morning to avoid the traffic. on our way back home, we made sure to have time to play around... i loved the long stretch of trees along.. we dropped by for pasalubong (at rowenas). 

and finally, we came to our most awaited visit to the moon garden, our last stop for this trip.. i didn't see much moon stuff, but i know that the owner of the garden came up with the concept because he/she is fascinated with the moon.. maybe next time i can stay there for a bed and breakfast self-treat.. :)

this sums up my august get-away trip. this may not be the kind of trip i had in mind, but the time i had with friends and with nature was all worth the long travel (not to forget the heavy rains).. i really had a lot of fun.. here's another cheers to my wow Pilipinas.. 

to my travel buds (that includes theYellowGuy), thank you for your time and friendship.. see you this summer!! :)

092911thursday (na)