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.

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.

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.

TagayTay-Canyon Cove-Nuvali Birthday Celebration: Tagaytay Leg

We planned it to be a road trip with designated stops. In celebration of the husband's nth birthday, we are going on this Tagaytay-Canyon Cove-Nuvali outing.

We left our place early, picked up his lolo and lola and went straight to Nuvali.

The backseat passengers.

Arriving at the destination, we went straight to the main attraction: fish feeding.

It was a bright and sunny day, perfect for this little family's outing.

Among the many meals we were to share on this adventure, the first was his all time favorite.

After finishing off that ice cream (which was a breeze), we were off to Tagaytay where we planned on having breakfast at Mile High Diner.

 This little boy enjoyed the entire trip the most.

The Diner.

 

We filled our tummies with Filipino and Continental breakfast fare. We have an hour more to go  before we reach our final destination that morning.

It's easy to please a man, or a boy for that matter, Give them food and look at their smiles after.

Of source we will not leave Tagaytay without this pic by the ridge.

Next stop: Canyon Cove

 

More of Tagaytay

We went to the Residence Inn Zoo (entance fee is P250 I think), where the stairs are so steep it scared me. And rightfully so because Jared miscalculated a step and had a lip cut. Thanks for the ice cream stand inside, it helped stop the crying and the bleeding.

at the parking lot of Joaquin's before we went around. The lot offers a great view already.


This giant primate will stare down at you at Residence Inn Zoo. Our boy panicked at this sight.


These days, it seems our3 year old is up to anything. Asked if he wanted to ride the pony, his answer was a loud and super long YES


Still at Residence Inn Zoo. This is a scene straight out of Lord of the Rings


Sweet-sour smile =)