Girl Bonding at Marcia Adams', Tagaytay

My sisters and I rarely see each other because we're all busy with our everyday lives.  So, it was such a delight when they scheduled a day trip to Tagaytay for our "girl bonding" time. :-)  We all wanted to try Marcia Adams' Tuscany for lunch.

The garden restaurant (which is also the home of owners Marcia and husband Neil Adams) does not have a signage, and could only be recognized by this wooden gate.

My sisters and I, and C by the entrance

We entered into the luscious garden and was greeted by Mr. Neil Adams himself, who showed us to our table and explained the menu.  They have a cover charge of Php700 (or more, depending on your choice of main dish), which includes a 3-course meal (appetizer, main dish, and dessert).

There is no rush in this place.  We took our time exploring the many beautiful things around while we waited for our meal to arrive.  It's such a beautiful and relaxing place, and we had the entire room to ourselves!

The Garden, guarded by a lovely cat ;)

Owls and Roosters collection by the Adams'

Our table was made lovely by these details

Beautiful!

Here's what we had for lunch.

Complimentary bread, which C liked so much!

The Lemon Lime Bitters was a refreshing drink for the hot summer day

My Course:  Amalfi Prawns - so yummy, I greatly recommend it!

Grilled Aromatic Pork - pork was just ok, but the pineapple chutney made all the difference!

and Panna Cotta with Lemon Sauce - an acquired taste, but I liked it a lot!

Sister C's Course:  Aegean Salad - a feast of flavors with mixed greens and various cheeses;

Beef Tenderloin and Bacon Kebabs - all our main dishes came in BIG servings!

and Wildberry Yoghurt Ice cream with Berry Compote - soooo delicious!!!

Sister MC's Course:  Soup of the day - very tasty!
Italian Rabbit - first time we ate rabbit... it tasted a lot like chicken meat, and this dish was very spicy!
and Banana Split - just ok, nothing special about it.

After lunch, we lingered on a little bit more.  The greenery is so inviting, it makes us want to stay a little longer.

Mr. Adams gave this one to little C.  He said it's a rare find. :-)

Side-by-side.
The blue-green one on the left is the usual color of this flower, and green one is rare.

Next time, I'll be back with my husband. ;-)

I find Our Awesome Planet's directions on how to get to Marcia Adams accurate and helpful:
[Taken from http://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/awesome/2010/01/marcia-adams-tuscany.html]

To reserve, call Marcia at +63917 801 1456.
It is located along the border of Tagaytay and Alfonso, Cavite across Ville Sommet.

To go to Marcia's, just drive all the way to Tagaytay and turn right at the Tagaytay Rotonda.
Go all the way to Alfonso, Cavite. You will pass by the restaurants along the Ridge, the Mendez intersection, and the turn to Antonio's.

You turn right when you see the Tagaytay Arch with Pineapples, and Residence Inn on your left. You should see a sign leading to Ville Sommet. You will see the entrance of Tuscany on your left.

The Leaf Project

We got this idea from one episode of Disney Junior's Agent Oso.  It's an easy and fun activity with little kids like my daughter.

Just pick leaves from your garden, lay them vein-side up on a piece of paper, cover with another piece of paper, and color using the side of a crayon.  Use your imagination to create beautiful works of art! :-)

These are some of our artwork:

Try this out and enjoy an afternoon with your little one! :)

Back-to-school Shopping

While at the mall this weekend, I was surprised to see a lot of people already shopping for school stuffs like socks, camisoles, school bags, lunch boxes, and school shoes.  I thought back-to-school shopping only starts mid-May!  Then again, I realized, why wait for that time when everyone's rushing and lines get really long at the cashier?  So, I decided to do some of the shopping now, along with the "early birds" ;-).

These are some of the things I got for C:

Dora school shoes at 50% off, got it for only P400! :)

Rubber shoes from Payless P700

Black school shoes and Rubber shoes

  

Barbie lunch kit, ~P300

White camisoles, 3 for P130

Hankies, 3 for P70

Happy Feet

Today I had the luxury of time to spend a couple of hours at the salon for some pampering. I declared it my "me" afternoon! ;)


Happy fingers, happy feet... happy me! :)

Easter Sunday at Kamay Ni Hesus

It took me a week to post this, sorry! Anyway, have you heard of Kamay ni Hesus in Lucban, Quezon? It's famous for healing priest Fr. Joey Faller. I have been here a few times before, but every time always seems like the first. It somehow always leaves me with a feeling of serenity and blessedness. 

We decided to celebrate Easter Mass this year at Kamay ni Hesus. I heard from the news that approximately 1.5 million people visited the site for this year's Holy Week. Wow, that's a lot! The other times I've been here were ordinary days, so I was a bit surprised to see so many people here on this Easter Sunday. Actually, this time only, we had to park outside the gate and walk a few meters to the Chapel.  And because it was a really hot day, we stopped by this store to buy a couple of hats.

My pretty hat

We arrived before 3 in the afternoon. The Mass was scheduled at 4pm.  So, while waiting for the Mass to start, little C and I went to Mother Mary's hill to pray and see the many beautiful statues of Mama Mary.

There were also statues of some saints.  One of which is this one of St. Padre Pio, one of our favorite saints.

Then we went a few steps up the hill towards the Risen Christ statue, but we stopped only until the first landing, the Last Supper.  There were still hundreds of steps up to reach the Risen Christ, and I feared that we will not withstand the scorching heat of the sun.  I promise to come back and really take those 300 steps to reach the Risen Christ next time!

The Last Supper

View of the Chapel from the hill

The Risen Christ

Holy Week in Quezon

It is a family tradition to spend the Holy Week at our hometown in Quezon. Last year, I wrote about our Visita Iglesia.  Unfortunately, we were too tired from our early morning travel to Quezon that we spent most of the afternoon and early evening of Maundy Thursday sleeping! Thus, sadly we weren't able to do Visita Iglesia this year.

Anyway, we were still able to join the procession on Good Friday. My little C walked most of the way! :-) I don't know how long the route was, but the hoards of people reminded me of our New Year's Eve in Hong Kong.

We had dinner at Buddy's, famous for its Chami and Miki-Bihon pancit varieties. :-)

Saturday was spent with relatives at our annual family reunion.  The different families came in color-coded shirts: blue, blue-green, pink, green, and orange (not shown in picture).  

The kids especially enjoyed the fun games!

Then we celebrated Easter Sunday with a sumptuous lunch at Palaisdaan.  When in Quezon, it is a must to try this restaurant located in the town of Tayabas.  You get to experience eating delicious Filipino dishes on floating cabanas ("kubo"), with a feeling of being in the farm as you are surrounded with plantations, fishes, and carabaos.

Pritong Hito, Ginataang Tilapia, Bulalo, Inihaw na Spareribs, Ginataang Suso

Fresh buko juice perfect for the hot day!

Pilipit for dessert! yum!

In the afternoon, we had Easter Mass at Kamay ni Hesus in Lucban, Quezon.  It's a famous destination for pilgrims especially during the Lenten Season.  In fact, according to news, this year's visitors to Kamay ni Hesus Shrine reached 1.5 million people!  I have been here a few times, but each time always feels like the first.  I will tell you more about our Kamay ni Hesus visit in my next posts. For now, I leave you with this photo I took at the Shrine.  Happy Easter! :-)

 

The Sambo Kojin Experience: Grill All You Can. Eat All You Can.

Last Saturday, my brother-in-law and his girlfriend celebrated their birthdays with a dinner treat at Sambo Kojin in Eastwood. It was my first time at Sambo Kojin, and it certainly wouldn't be my last! 

Everything was just oh-so-delicious!!! If only my tummy could fit all that Sambo Kojin has to offer, I would have tasted each and everyone of them! 

So here's how my first-ever Sambo Kojin experience went. :)

The first thing I noticed was these jars of different sauces placed on every table. My favorite was their very own Sambo Kojin Sauce.

Then I went ahead and checked out the buffet, making a mental note of the dishes I would want to try that night.

My sweet tooth got the better of me, and the dessert spread was the first one I checked out. ;-)

Cakes in pretty colors!

The Chocolate Fondue was a hit for the kids and the kids-at-heart like me! =P

Ice-cream!!!

There was a section of cooked dishes, the names of which I couldn't quite remember. :-S

Here are the breaded dishes: Tempura, Tonkatsu, Karaage, etc.

And then there's a wide array of Maki-Sushi!!!

Hmm.... what to choose??!

Wasabi Overload!!!

There's bacon, pork, and beef strips, and some dishes on sticks.

                            

Veggies wrapped in bacon!  My favorite! :-)

Pork strips and on sticks

Marinated beef strips.... the best!!!

I forgot to take a picture of the Korean spread, but my first plate consisted of Korean vegetable salad and spicy dilis. :)

Special request: Sukiyaki! Soooo delicious!!! <3 <3 <3

These are just some of the sushi rolls I tried. I think I ate 6-8 rolls, if I remember correctly. :D

My favorite plate! Couldn't get enough of the bacon rolls and the marinated US beef!!! I had several servings of both! hehehe ;)

My favorites: Bacon-wrapped asparagus and marinated US beef

Grilling my bacon rolls and pork BBQ.  Thank God for smokeless grills! ;-)

Can't get enough of you!!! :-P~

Hubby's nth plate. If only I'm not allergic to shrimps, I would have eaten more!

Dessert #1: Fruit + Cake = Fruitcake?! ;-)

Dessert #2: I just love plain vanilla ice cream!!!

Dessert #3 and #4: Chocolate overload!!! I just had to have a second serving!

Oh, what a meal that was! I'll surely be coming back for more!!! :-)