Friday, Saturday & Sunday these are the days of our lives.

Weekends..always looking forward to it after a busy schedule at work and the best thing to do is take a road trip to Tagaytay. An hour away from Metro Manila, taking the route via the newly renovated South Luzon Express way(SLEX). There are 5 places in Tagaytay where your mind, body (tummy) and eyes can relax aside from the beautiful..cute as it seems Taal Volcano (smallest volcano in the world). With the cold breeze sweeping your cheeks, the wind sounds like soft chimes and greens all around you. Peaceful!


But nothing can beat an early morning coffee in Bag Of Beans, freshly brewed Batangas coffee- Coffee Alamid is Philippine civet coffee that comes only from the sweetest coffee cherries of the Philippine forests. (trust me you don't want to know what civet coffee means) served in their customized coffeee mugs, yummy breakfast composed of eggs, sauges, bacons, hash browns, protein over load which my friend Liezl indulged and finished the whole plate in 10minutes...and fresh baked breads, best seller are the cinnamon rolls, cinnamon loaf, cinnamon sticks...anything cinnamon hahaha.All of these and Tagaytay mornings can never be better. This place is conveniently located near the Mendez intersection so you'll never miss it. Chances are, you would have seen this place already when you get stuck in traffic in that intersection. Another landmark would be when you start seeing vendors selling steamed peanuts (I'm addicted to this), which signals that you are near Bag of Beans already and there are a lot of cars parked along the road.


A pass thru the newly renovated..Taal Vista Hotel is a must in every Tagaytay road tirp(hahaha all places in Tagaytay are renovated). Here you can see the whole of Taal Lake, you can dine for coffee, buko juice or an early beer at the lobby or by the viewing deck. A TRIO of singers with string instruments will serenade you of any song you want to hear, just request and they will sing it for you (ahh romantic) while having your nachos or basil and tomato pizza in the lobby. Then sweat it all out by rolling down the grass in Taal vista's sloped viewing deck. Lay down and ease your mind under the huge trees and before closing your eyes take the view of the whole Taal Lake. The sky turns red during sunset in this part of Taal, the volcano slowly creep into the darkness while the lights of Taal Vista's Lodge turns on one lamp post at a time. Amazing...


Since it's weekend and we are out of town diet regimens are put into hold and what better way to spend it by simply eating the ever delicious greek dessert "Baklava" at Mano's Greek Taverna, the most authentic Greek restaurant I have ever been. My experience dining in this taverna was very pleasant because when we went there the owners which were truly greeks are there with their whole family, they smiled and greeted us when we entered.They were laughing,telling stories even if I cannot understand their language I can feel the warmth of a very loving family like what we have at home. But it was not just the people in the resto that really made this place genuinely authentic but ofcourse the food. My friend ordered a pork shawarma, the pita wrapper was so thin and crisp and the meat was done just right with its truly hot...very hot sauce and the baklava my ever favorite,with just the right amount of sweetness and every bite was perfect indulgence ahhhh SARAP.


Weather in Tagaytay is really cold just like Baguio so my friends and I usually stroll at night at Tagaytay's Main Road to warm ourselves with hot coffee from Starbucks ( i did tell you that i Love coffee) and for the buddies San Mig Light beeer will do. Midnight snacks from Mile-hi and Carlo's pizza is a must while you hang-out at Kontiki Bar for fun and laughter with friends.


And last but not the least one should dine at the famous Leslie's Restaurant...a Filipino resto that serves the best "Bulalo" in the country (stewed beef with its meat, whole bone and bone marrow, with chinese cabbage, onions, potatoes, pepper, best condiment would be fish sauce "patis" and calamansi). Who...who can ever refrain from eating the "Kare-Kare" (beef cooked in peanut butter mix with aprika, with chinese cabbage, eggplant, string beans paired with shrimp paste)..every Filipino loves Kare-kare. But my super fave would be the Buttered Prawns..had the whole plate by myslef.Hahaha and what better way to eat? alfresco with the spectacular view of the Taal in a nipa hut. With all of these I wish Weekends Never Ends!!!!

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