Valentines Getaway: Tagaytay, Talisay, Taal

We have been celebrating Valentine's day with friends out of town since 2007.

This year, we kept it as simple as roadtrip/bonding within Cavite and Batangas provinces.

Our group left Makati at seven in the morning. 

We are a group of 3 couples. 

We headed to Tagaytay then to Talisay. Talisay is about 15 min drive from Tagaytay.

From Talisay, we had a 20-min boat ride to the foot of Taal volcano.

From there, we had to ride horses to reach the view deck. Our guide gave us masks, gloves and hats for protection. It took us less than an hour to reach the top.

At the view deck, who would want to miss taking pictures of the volcano crater? Not me, definitely.

The view was so relaxing that you will forget about the dust encounter on your way up there.

We trekked upwards (less than 500m from the view deck) and reached the red soil part of the volcano.

We followed the same route on our way back to Taal Lake but was more difficult due to the descending trail with the horses and with the sun up.

The lake's current was also stronger on our way to back to Talisay so some of us experienced some splashes of water on our faces. 

We had our fresh buco break after, changed our clothes and had lunch at Tagaytay.

We had lunch at LZM. A friend who is a Tagaytay local recommended the place and the food was great. 

We went to Sky Ranch after.

We wrapped up the day with a coffee and pastry break at Bag of Beans.

We all have our stories to share every Valentine's day. We all have our different ways of reminding our partners how lucky we are to be with them. To wrap it all up, My Valentine's Day started with chocolate bouquets followed by house bonding, last full show movie date and roadtrip with friends. How did you celebrate yours?

Happy Heart's Day everyone! :)

Cebu Weekend Getaway with my BabySis

Touchdown: CEB 1530

It's my first OOT trip with my babysis. Our flight was delayed due to technical problems so we had some last minute change of itinerary. 

This was our first shot at the airport while waiting for boarding.

After checking in at Crown Regency Towers, we (me and Leli) galloped away to Ayala mall to wet our lips with Cebu Lechon. 

It was almost 6 pm so it was an early dinner for us. After a mouth watering dinner, we grabbed ourselves slices of our somekinda favorite cakes at Dessert Factory at the Terraces.

We didn't eat alone. We were with smurfey. :)

We stayed at the Terraces for a few hours and went back to the hotel for a warm bath and some good chats before we closed the curtains goodnight. 

Next day was a big day. We started our morning with a breakfast at Brown Cup at IT park, visited the Sto Nino basilica, Magellan's cross and Taboan Market.

After immersing ourselves with Cebu pollution and absorbing the scent of danggit from the fish market, we went back to the hotel to freshen up and started our sky adventure.

As seen above, we tried the combo 3 (Tower Zip and Sky lift combined with Edge coaster and Sky walk).

After checking out, we went straight to Plantation Bay in Mactan (45 minutes from Mandaue).

We biked around the resort after checking in and showed my sister the attractions and activities available for us.

We parked our bikes near the cafe and had our second full meals of the day.

Next stop: Aqua Sports Area

We rented a jetski and roamed around the adjacent resorts with Leli trying the motorbike first, then ended up being my passenger.

Next activities: Swimming and Kayaking

We also had some photo shoots within the resort.

Next stop: Dinner at Casa Verde in Ramos.

We initially tried the one in Ayala Terraces but because of the long waiting time, we decided to transfer to Ramos. While waiting for our ride, we grabbed our favorite donuts at Krispy Kreme near the pick up/drop off area of Ayala mall.

After 11 groups, dinner's finally served. :)

Next stops: Mactan shrine, Magellan Marker, then Tops :)

So how's the weather in Manila, Nigga? Lol. It was so damn freezing cold up there. Brrrrrrrrrrrr.

So was it a short trip? Yes it was, but was fun-filled.

We closed the trip with loads of pancakes, bacons and sausages.

Until our next trip! Ciao! ;)

Another Cold Break (Day Two)

After three freezing hours of sleep, I got up, grabbed some chicken wings and a cup of coffee and prepped up for my early morning run with Dee, my partner in crime.

I wore my fraternity shirt (proud to be) and ran all my stress out within the grounds of Camp John Hay.

We had some stops at the Manor and  the Baguio Country Club.

I miss playing golf, but with that smirk, it ain't that obvious, right?

After two hours of running and walking and picture taking, we stopped for a break, stayed for 10 to 15 minutes at the bench, hailed a cab back to the hotel, had a warm bath and rewarded ourselves with our favorite breakfast.

So I had bacon and hashbrown and scrambled egg with my bread and jam (above).

After breakfast, we had our Sunday obligation. We attended mass at St Joseph Parish (just 5 minutes walk away from the hotel).

We checked out after mass and had some more meet ups over lunch.

We had lunch at the Tea house with Leli and her bestfriend, Jhannia and Dee and her friend, Abby.

So with their partners, I was left with this blueberry cheesecake as my temporary buddy. Ending? I gave up on my buddy. She's sweeter than me.

The temperature started to drop again around 4pm. 

Oh this picture has nothing to do with the temperature. It's just me and the sunflowers.

Here's a proof now that it's cold.

Before we left, I tried to capture the sunset, but I was not so successful. I wonder where the real sun is: the one on top or the one behind the mountain. Or was this even a picture of a setting sun? :p

Okay, here's another try with my two suns: one rising and the other one setting. Haha!

So how did my cold Sunday end? Simple. I slept at the bus, grabbed some fish balls and balut and hotdog along the way, and when i woke up, we're back in the city, few minutes before Monday! :)

So, how does that sound? 

Oh, I forgot to mention that both Leli and Jhannia were wearing polka dots. Coincidence or soul mates? Hehe.