Our short weekend trip

Last Friday, we had a small family road trip to Acuaverde Resort in La Iya, Batangas.  We chanced upon the resort promo in my favorite groupon site, Deal Grocer.   The overnight promo with full board meals (dinner-breakfast-lunch) for two was for P5,500.  We just added an extra P800 since we were checking in on a Friday.  We have been wanting to take R to the beach and the deal was very timely.  I am not so much a fan of the sun, so for me, the perfect time to hit the beach would be around November to February.

Officially, this would be R's first beach experience.  Well, he has been to Punta Fuego and Anvaya, but he was not able to enjoy the beach at that time since it was too cold (Fuego) and there were jelly fishes (Anvaya).  We were worried that he would not like walking on the sand, but to our surprise, he loved it so much that it was hard to make him go back to our room.

I will now bombared to with captioned photos from our trip.

It took us three hours to get to Acuaverde. Checking in was a breeze.  There was a small playground right in front of our cottage, which is a plus for families with kids.

This is the Casa La Iya room.  It has a queen sized bed, air conditioner, LCD TV and a private veranda overlooking the resort and the beach.   The room is quite small, but still had a little space where R could play on the side of the bed.

The bathroom had the basic necessities.  I wish it was bigger, though.  

There is a foot wash near the steps of every cottage which was a nice surprise.

They have a small aviary in the middle of the restaurant that kept R entertained every time we ate. 

The package came with full board meals and unlimited iced tea and coffee.  The food they served was buffet style.  I would not really say it's the best, but it was decent.  

Acuaverde has the same owners as Aquatico, which is just its neighbor.  They are still in the process of building the swimming pool.  However, my son was just happy playing in the sand.  I'm sure that if he had his way, he would just stay there all day long.

There are several lounge beds and chairs at the beachfront.  Majority of the guests at that time were British, who were there for a wedding.

We cannot wait to go back here again.  Hopefully, the pool will already be functional.

Mommy Eats: Patio Vera

For thirteen years now, I always make sure that I do not have any plans on the first week of December to celebrate my sister's (aka BFF) birthday with orphans.  Right after the party at White Cross Orphanage in San Juan, we headed to Patio Vera in Marikina.  It was everyone's first time there.

Patio Vera is located in a narrow road and there is only street parking. Good thing that we arrived at 5 o'clock in the afternoon so we got all the available parking slots on the side of the street.   I can imagine what a parking nightmare it will be if we arrived later!  

Anyway, moving on to the restaurant, once we entered, it felt like we were immediately transformed to another place!  It is an old house turned restaurant (well the other half), which adds to its character.  You get to learn a little about the family's history and appreciate the house's rustic interiors.  There was nothing not to like about its vintage decors and inviting al fresco dining set up. We all agreed to have our dinner in the lounge area which was a unanimous favorite. 

    The menu consists of Filipino dishes.  Price wise, it's a little above average.

     Above :  I love the entry way's vignette!

     Below: The bar area to the right as you enters the gates of Patio Vera

    I love the rustic interiors and unique decors (hanging chair, who would have thought of that!). Truly, there is no place in Patio Vera that does not fail to interest anyone.

                  The common bathroom's quirky interiors.

    I am not a huge fan of al fresco dining, but this one was an exemption.

     Appetizers consisted of the complimentary bread with balsamic vinegar, Salipcao (which we all loved) and Calamares.

   Some pictures of the main course included  Seafood Pasta, Sardine Pasta, Paella con Carne, Lechon Kawali and Chicharon Sisig con Lechon.The Seafood Pasta was an instant crowd favorite.  The Sisig was missing the crunchiness.  

    Boy were we stuffed and still had a few bags that we took home. We decided to have dessert at Tiyo's (also in Marikina) though.  The bill unwittingly came in a shoe!  Now, that's unique!

It was a night of gastronomical journey in Marikina and I can't wait to bring my family here soon!

Happy birthday again to my sis!  

DIY: Painting stripes

This is a rather late post since I finally completed painting our room two weeks ago.  I initially wanted to stencil the whole room which I blogged about here.  However, I hesitated.  Since I am so crazy about combining different prints now a days, I decided on stenciling one side of the room and going with stripes as my accent wall.  It did take me quite a while to paint the stripes because I was not so sure if the color combination will make sense.  So, it took me almost three months before making a decision and test it out.   

I did my project for two nights right after R slept.  Combining my work hours, it only took me roughly two hours to do everything.  It was relatively easy project and I am already thinking about doing my son's room soon.  

One down, three more to go.

Our room is all striped up!  I like the combination of stripes and print.

My little nook in our little room.  I love how it made our room feel bigger!

Gone too soon

The first of December was welcomed with the sudden death of one of my favorite Hollywood stars, Paul Walker.  I have been a fan even before Fast and the Furious and it was truly heartbreaking.  Sorry hubby, but yes I was kinda affected.  I liked him not only for his  good looks, but because he never had any controversies tagged to his name.  

F&F will never be the same without him.  Rest in Peace, Paul Walker.  Thank you for making movies that will always be remembered.