Another busy day in Tagaytay

Most of the houses that we visited on our last trip had a musty and unpleasant smell which gave my asthmatic boy a sinus attack. Although the rates were very reasonable, we really didn’t want our guests (relatives from Australia) to stay in any of those houses. So the first order of business for this trip was to find a suitable hotel for them.

Canyon Woods proved to be the perfect choice for us because of their full-service clubhouse and shuttle to ferry guests around. Their casitas have 2 twin beds, a sofa bed, kitchenette (with a mini-bar refrigerator), a small dining area, and the bathroom has a bathtub. It’s meant for 2-3 persons but you could easily fit 6 adults inside (Filipinos being the way they are). For Php 4,000.00 it doesn’t get any better than this. All you need is a member to sponsor you and you’re all set.

On our way to Canyon Woods, we dropped by this new B&B called The Boutique. They’ve only been in business for 10 days but they were fully-booked for the weekend. The rooms are a tad small for the price tag but they make up for it by having king-size beds, luxurious sheets and one-of-a-kind service. It’s more of a couple’s hideaway, perfect for those who are feeling a little amorous as it has a subdued decadent feel to it (think minimalist Moulin Rouge). I would suggest this place for young mini-mooning newlyweds.

Next stop was lunch at Sonya’s Garden. They’ve expanded quite a bit since my visit last year. It looks like they can handle bigger groups now, but curiously there weren’t as many people as before (the noontime crowd didn’t even fill half of the Conservatory). As expected, Eric didn’t think too highly of the food (we like our meat) and felt that having all those choices was just a bit wasteful. There’s no way you can include ALL of the ingredients in either the salad or the pasta (they’ve added a few more items) and of the three different desserts we were served, we only had one. My first trip there we were a big group of about 12 girls so having all those choices was fun, but now that it’s just the two of us, I would’ve appreciated being asked to choose just 3 or 4 items that we’d like to have for the salad/pasta. Having all those little ramekins just made it confusing and we ignored about half of the things on our table.

After lunch we drove to RCJC Flowers to talk to them about Caleruega. The owner looked a little shocked that we were inquiring about a date that was just 5 weeks away. A quick look at her calendar and she told us she was booked for Dec. 15, 17 and 18 – nothing on the 16th! Ha! Thirty minutes later we reached an agreement then we left for Balay.

I love going to Balay, it’s like our home away from home. On our last visit Eric left me by a couch and I promptly fell asleep. The management of Balay was there in full force; we chatted quite a bit with Marge and it was nice to see Rose all dolled up for that evening’s reception.

It was also our first time to see the set-up of our caterer, try their food and meet some of the staff. We didn’t really need to try their food (it’s not like we’re about to back out now) but we were curious to see how they work. I must say, I am very, very happy with our decision.

I can’t wait for our wedding!