Where we ate in Tagaytay: Bon Giorno

After we bid Taal Vista Hotel bye-bye after our short but memorable stay , our tummies told us it was time for lunch. The boy was clamoring for ice cream. As a parent, I know lunch should come first before dessert, but in this heat, I can't really blame him.

So we googled for ice cream places in Tagaytay and it lead us to Fruits in Ice Cream at the charming Cliffhouse in Tagaytay.

The heat was really unbearable, even in Tagaytay, so before I said yes to the ice cream craving, I made sure there was a restaurant within the vicinity where we can also eat a proper lunch. Good thing, Bon Giorno was just beside it.

It was ago!

Quaint little shop

Hard decisions for a 5 year old =) Hmm, what flavor to choose.

Tempting!!!

This is the courtyard between FIC and Platito. A nice place to hang out at night when the weather is more friendly.

Now that the dessert part is over, we go back to lunch. Bon Giorno is not air-conditioned so its a bit hot

We were given this cozy corner booth.

The hungry family ordered:

Spaghetti Vongole for mom

Pizza for daddy

Spaghetti and chicken fingers for the boy

It seemed like too much food, but we wiped this out in no time. Our drinks of choice were tarragon tea for mom (a new find and at just P60 per teapot!) and a tall glass of pineapple shake for the dad at P120.

Good food! We'll be back when the weather gets cooler.

So I won't forget a moment...

I open, read and answer a ton of emails over the week. I work anywhere from 8 hours (minimum) to 13 hours, 5 days a week (and sometimes, on weekends, too!).

I pend weeks working on a promotion or months on a rebranding.

I usually have 6 windows on my laptop open, and each is a different project.

Life at work is busy, busy, busy.

I figured, if I can do all those, then maybe I have a few minutes to document our everyday life. I chose to do this online ( no more lost notes, or diaries!). This blog is my sanctuary, my happy place. I go here to re-read old posts, to smile when stress threatens to overtake my being, to hopefully capture who my son is at different stages of his life, and how he means the world to us.

With the busy-ness of everyday life, and the demands of the many roles I play, it is a challenge to keep up with all the documentation, the picture editing, the writing.

But I continue to blog for very personal, selfish and self-serving reasons.

I blog so I won't ever forget a moment.

Like this boy, all of 5.2 pounds 5 years ago, and now a hefty 55 pounder kid.

And as morbid as it may sound, this blog is my way to my son after I pass on. On how we lived our life, how we are as parents, how I view things while he was growing up.

And hopefully, someday, no matter how trivial the things I write here are, he can use snippets of my advice, my musings as parent as he nurtures a family of his own.


That will make the time I spend writing and composing drafts ( time that should've been spent  sleeping), of editing images, of looking silly trying to capture every move, writing down each funny word worthwhile.

It's just a bonus if in the course of my documenting, that someday this blog may be useful probably to a new mother full of anxious thoughts looking some reassurance, or a working mom battling with guilt leaving her son or daughter behind.

This is just my 500th post, not even two year's worth of our life. While most of our stories are kept in my heart and head, I will still try my best to tell the stories. Here, on my blog.

Designated Beds

During our Taal Vista stay, our room configuration was 1 queen bed and one single bed.

Our usual set up is three of us squeezing in one bed. On this trip though, the little boy plopped his bag and toys on the smaller of the two beds and declared it the "kiddie bed". He said he will sleep there that night.

Mom and dad, he added, should stay at the "adult bed"

It was enough to make me cry.

Easter Egg Making

Last Black Saturday, we made our very own eggs!

If you have, use gel food color instead of the liquid color. The colors came out much brighter.  I filled 3 plastic cups with hot water, added a few drops of the gel color (we used the Americolor brand), added a tablespoon of vinegar and waited.

In a few minutes, our eggs were ready!

Presenting the three eggs.

Creativity flows. It turned out to be a fun and colorful weekend for us.

5th Birthday: The Tagaytay Trip

With our birthdays being only a week apart, and me never really having the need to celebrate big time, we sort of always celebrate our birthdays together.

This one is no different. We wanted to "get away" but not go somewhere far. At least not something that involves a plane ride. Tagaytay is the logical answer, being only an hour away from our place.

The excited family that we are (and to avoid traveling around noon where the sun is really unbearable), we arrived in Tagaytay a full 4 hours before the check-in time.

Our first destination was the Lourdes Church to say a prayer of thanksgiving.

At the Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Tagaytay

Outside the church gate, stalls were selling the most luscious looking avocados. Too bad we forgot to stop here on our way home.

After church, and still too early, we spent some time at Starbucks.

Ah, look who's with us?

Who's afraid of color? Definitely not us =)

We checked in at Taal Vista Hotel. Thank you, Dealgrocer for the really good deal on this. I had our room upgraded to their Premier Lake View Room.

Our room was big and comfortable

 And gave us this spectacular view of the lake.

The major reason why I booked here is this garden. If I must say this again, there is not enough patch of green in the metro! I wanted our son to just be able to run and run, and play and explore. And explore he did.

When I saw my son running in this garden, trying to make friends among the sets of siblings we saw, I said a little prayer he'll have one of his own soon.

Enjoyed the pool (well they did, it was too cold for me)

We also (tried ) taking souvenir shots.

The only decent solo picture of me on this trip... well not exactly solo. Look who's in the background!

Stayed a little while at the lobby to refresh a bit. They gave us complimentary welcome drinks. 

Love this patterned green chair at the lobby!!!

Pretended to be explorers!

Look at the volcano, dad!

Fooled around and just enjoyed the breeze!

I had packed for the heat of the summer weather. Mostly shorts and sleeveless tops for me and sando for Jared. The afternoon gave us the much-needed breeze but oh, once the sun set, the weather turned too cool for me (should be pleasantly cool for most folks).

It was indeed a happy birthday for us.

We ate a lot on this trip too. Will make separate posts on them.

5th Birthday: Road Trip

His real birthday was low key unlike in 2011 in Boracay and 2012 in Hong Kong when we celebrated with a big trips. Dad and mom took the day off to be with our 5 year old, but there are pressing errands that we need to do.

First, we woke up the boy with this banner, balloons left over from my birthday a week ago, and 5 yummy donuts!

This made his day. I agreed to him eating donuts for breakfast and he opened his first gift of the day (actually a Christmas gift that I kept).

 

Since our day started later than planned, we just dropped by our parish to whisper words of prayer.

 

 Then, it was time for the tour. We toured the Metro on Jared's 5th!

First stop: pick up some documents at Makati.





Next: Go to Mandaluyong

3rd: Lunch at Festival Mall

It was supposed to be quiet lunch: just the three of us. But the receptionist overheard me and Jared talking about his birthday which she confirmed to me when she was taking our order.



He was shy and reluctant at first to blow the candle. I wish I had captured that priceless expression on his face when the piped in music began playing the Happy Birthday song. And his eyes got wider when the restaurant staff went to our table bearing a small cup of ice cream topped with a candle.

Surprise, surprise!

 

Thanks to the staff of Don Henrico's at Festival Mall, Alabang. You made a simple lunch very special.


He also enjoyed 3 rides in his favorite race track in the metro.

After lunch and still high from his surprise,we went to the Las Pinas City Hall.

As a treat, we went to the toy store so he can choose his gift. We always give him a budget and thankfully, he always agrees to it (not knowing the value of the peso so much). I have never bought him a toy gun before, or allowed a toy gun in the house-- but this water blaster is such a magnet for the boy and I can't say no....

I felt a bit guilty having to drag him to all our errands. But he said " I love you mom and dad" at the end of the day with so much sincerity that maybe, the only thing that mattered to him is being together.

Last installment in this birthday series coming up: Tagaytay weekend