This past week my mind has been on anything but work. Stark contrast to last week when I felt like I needed more hours in a day just to get all of my “must-dos” out of the way. I’ve always disliked Mondays and this last one, well, didn’t even try to be a sweetheart, so that by Wednesday, I was already plotting my escape to Tagaytay with friends next weekend.
Actually, I haven’t been anywhere near Tagaytay in years. Consider me NLEX and SLEX (North and South Luzon Expressway) challenged. Although I fly to Manila quite often (from duh-wow where I am based), I don’t really go out of the Metro anymore. I just go back and forth Makati and Taguig and do an occasional Greenhills and Quiapo when warranted.
My friend Erlin (who is not coming along), asked for her inputs on my forthcoming trip, gave me a long list of places to check out and eat at in Tagaytay. She insisted that we had dinner at Antonio’s and sample the farm products at Ilog Maria. Drop by Sonya’s Garden, Buon Giorno, Ming’s Garden. Thinking about it now, most of these are chow places. She’s a foodie, see, her mom was in the catering business and dinners at Erlin’s are nothing short of Martha-lous! We always make a point of telling each other about the good stuff we’ve eaten where, and her last heads-up-with-a-thumb-up sent me all the way to Damosa and Spirale.
There will be eight of us going to Tagaytay and I desperately wanted a room with a view. My heart was aready set on Tagaytay Discovery Suites. Why? Because of Tripadvisor, lol. I read all the reviews there and cleanliness seemed like less of an issue here than at the other hotels. But as luck would have it, the reservations clerk told me that they were fully booked the next three weekends. With only 7 rooms/suites, (despite such prices), this is just bound to happen. Mental note: plan and book really early the next time.
And then I thought of Taal Vista Hotel. Reviews about this hotel were mixed but there were enough bright spots there that made me go ahead and make reservations online. In fact I was about to key in my credit card details when Irma called and said that she’d take care of this herself. She said she thinks she can get a good rate if she coursed our reservations thru her company’s agent. Expect my review of Taal Vista + the chow spots after the next weekend!