Road trip to the City of Pines part 3 :

This should be the last installment of my City of Pines post.  Here are some of the other must go to places in Baguio. 

Forest House is located in Loakan road and is just near CJH.  The food that we ordered did not fail us!  Hubby had the Binagoongang Bagnet while I had the Twin Porkchops with applesauce. They were both delicious.  Average meal ranges from P300-350.

   

Cafe by the Ruins is a landmark itself in Baguio.  We were not able to eat much here ( we only ordered bread, soup and salad), so I do not have any food posts.  But the place itself is already a feast for the eyes.

We chanced upon Villa Cordillera because we wanted to buy the Raisin bread that you can only buy from Baguio Country Club.  However, since we are not members, the guard led us to this cozy place managed by BCC named Villa Cordillera.  It is located just behind the club and is overlooking the golf course.  My son was so happy to see a real fireplace and he kept on saying, 'like Olaf." 

When you have kids, Burnham Park is a must see.  It was R's first boat ride experience and he loved it so much that he was helping his Dad paddle throughout.  He also enjoyed running the grounds with the toy helicopter that we bought for just P65.  

I already miss Baguio!  Probably next time we should stay there longer and visit during the 'ber' months where we can really enjoy the cool weather.  See you next time Baguio!!!

Road trip to the City of Pines Part 2 : Le Monet

As I mentioned in my Part One post, we stayed at Le Monet in Camp John Hay.  I have read a lot of good feedback on this hotel, so it was worth the try. The deal that we got from Deal Grocer included buffet breakfast and massage for two.   Compared to The Manor, Le Monet is much smaller and has a quaint little garden at the back.  It is located just beside the Filling station, near a football field and just a few steps away from the butterfly farm and the horseback riding area.

  Le Monet's lobby and reception area. Check in and check out was swift.  
I love the chairs!

    The room has two queen size beds, a flat screen TV, a ceiling fan, and a balcony.  

We were lucky that the room that we got was overlooking the forest.

The bathroom is just the right size with a glass enclosed shower area.  

The shower area flooring can get slippery, though.  So be careful especially if you have kids with you.

Our beautiful view every morning.  Try to score a seat overlooking the garden.

    Breakfast Buffet at Dinelli is from 6-10am.  There's a little of everything. My son was over the moon having all the Koko krunch and yogurt for two days.  

 It was the usual breakfast flare with a little more quality.  

This is the indoor swimming pool.  The kids had a blast swimming.  I was a little bothered that there were a lot of flies and there were adults that were not wearing the proper swimming attire.  There was no one from the staff that was monitoring the pool area.

                                

Overall, we had a wonderful stay in Le Monet and I feel that two nights in Baguio was not enough.  Despite the long drive and traffic in the city, it still retains it's charm.  That is why people still keep coming back and cannot get enough of the City of Pines.

Road trip to the City of Pines Part 1 : The BenCab Museum

The last time I was in Baguio was five years ago.  I was there with my office mates and boss. Majority of us were single back then and there were only two little kids in tow.  Last week, we came back to the City of Pines with my now ex-office mates with five energetic kids.  We still stayed in Camp John Hay, but in Le Monet this time (we previously stayed at The Manor).  Being huge fans of Deal Grocer, we purchased our groupons months ahead for P5,200 a night inclusive of breakfast buffet for two and massage for two.  It was a pretty good deal, indeed!  

Travel time was around five hours, with one stopover for a quick breakfast at NLEX.  The travel was smooth. The only time we encountered traffic was already in Kennon Road since they are doing some major road repairs.  In terms of the weather, it was a little hot but definitely cooler than Manila. It was not a jacket kind of weather. Well, probably at night you need a jacket for the kids to keep them warm. Nevertheless, with the scourging heat here in Manila, I would do anything just to have a cooler weather.  

We had an itenerary for the trip that was made by one of my friend.  But when you have kids with you, things sometimes cannot go as planned.  Our itenerary was supposed to be more of a food trip and just staying in CJH.  Out of the six planned food destinations, we were only able to check out three.  We also wanted the kids to experience to pick strawberries at the Strawberry Farm, but the weather did not permit us to do so.  No worries though, there is always next time.

First thing we did once we set foot in Baguio was to visit The BenCab Museum.  It is around thirty minutes away from CJH.  This was a must see for me because I admire his works, especially the Sabel series.  We were also lucky to bump into BenCab himself.  Sadly,  we were not able to ask for a photograph with him because he was such in a hurry.   

I would love to visit this Museum again the next time we go to Baguio and enjoy the place a little longer.  


Here are some of the pictures at the BenCab Museum.  This is definitely a must see when you go the the City of Pines especially when you want some art and culture.

The BenCab Museum

Art, culture, beautiful scenery and good food blend so perfectly.

My favorite among BenCab's works.

 Contemporary artworks.  These are the same artists that have masterpieces at the Pinto Gallery as well.  

I love the colorful yet simple design of the cafe.  We opted to sit indoor because of the kids.  Warning though, if you have active toddlers, better to always stay alert since there is a long flight of steps leading to the duck pond from the Cafe.  

Cafe Sabel is located at the basement of the Museum that opens up to a garden, overlooking the duck pond and the forest.  We ordered Carbonarra, Grilled Porkchop,  Volcano ice cream, Tomato soup and Lemonade with Basil (not in the picture).  We give it a thumbs up, except that we wish that the serving of the pork chop was bigger.   

                                                                

                                          

                                                

                     

               

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.

A weekend in Tagaytay

Last August 9, we trooped to Tagaytay with my ex-officemates and their families and stayed at  the Taal Vista Hotel.  We bought our hotel vouchers from Deal Grocer, which had a pretty good deal at P3,999 overnight package for two with buffet breakfast!

Going to Tagaytay is usually an easy drive.  It would  take us an hour to an hour and a half to get there.  But that weekend was crazy.   We were not aware that there was an INC (Iglesia ni Cristo) gathering in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.  We were stuck in Greenfield alone for two hours, can you imagine!  Loads of buses and jeepneys were parked everywhere, plus people walking along the road made it harder for vehicles to pass through.  We were able to breathe when we hit Nuvali and there was no more traffic.  We finally arrived at our destination at 4:30pm, after three and a half hours of travel time.

It was my first time to stay in Taal Vista hotel.  I have always loved hanging out there because it is the only hotel in Tagaytay that has sprawling grounds that kids will enjoy.  Not to forget that it also a great view of the Taal Lake.

We stayed at their Deluxe Room in the new wing.   You would have to walk quite a distance going to their rooms which can be a challenge for some, especially senior citizens.   But don't fret!  They have golf carts available that can take you to the lobby or to the other side of the hotel.

The size of the room was just right.   I found it ok.  We had a King sized bed and a daybed and the room had the basic necessities.   I would have loved it if the room was carpeted, that there was a door in the bathroom and that there was a detachable shower head.

The shower and toilet areas have frosted glass doors, but it still felt weird not having a door in the bathroom, especially if you have other people with you other than family.  The shower area is quite spacious.  It is a good thing that they have a rubber mat because the tiles get too slippery when wet.  But if you have a little boy who loves water so much and would jump in excitement while showering, better bring an extra rubber mat.  Child-friendly and Child safety. Yes, these are the things that I notice or look for especially when I became a mother.

The hotel also has a small play room.   It was small and there wasn't really much to do.  They just placed some books,  a plastic playground system and a TV.  There were a few dead insects lying around in the corners of the room.  Still,  I am thankful that they even thought of putting a playroom.  But I hope they can somehow re-do it.  Make it more kid friendly and cleaner.

Moving on to breakfast, they have a pretty sumptuous buffet spread.  There was a lot of people checked in but we were able to secure a place even if we were quite a big group.  They had Filipino and American breakfast dishes like Adobo, garlic rice, lugaw, danggit, taho,pancakes, bacon, cereals, etc. They also have an Omelette station, which is always a plus.    After breakfast, the kids just enjoyed running up and down the garden.  We were not able to swim because of the inclement weather.

In general, the hotel staff was friendly.  Any chance they pass by you, they will greet you and would offer to help you in case you are carrying something.  We just weren't happy about how the F&B manager handled my friend's request about the waiving of corkage, but that's another story.

Overall, we still had an enjoyable stay.  There are some details that they are missing out on and hope they will address it. The kids enjoyed running around the garden and just having a relaxing weekend.  We will definitely go back because we love how big the place is, lots of room for running for R.

My friend's daughter was celebrating her birthday that day.  Cupcakes were made by moi.

Personalized greeting.

Deluxe Room bathroom.  No door.

Deluxe Room bathroom.

Deluxe Room.

King sized bed + a daybed.

Vanity and media area.

Playroom.

A few books in the playroom.

R running.  What's new.

R loved going up and down the garden.