Mother's Day Lunch At Pamana Restaurant

Today was more of a spur of a moment thing. But having been burnt out at work for weeks now, I have been wanting (and needing) a reprieve (from the house, from the sight of my computer) even for just a few hours.

So even if the kids have been very vocal about hating commuting of late, they all agreed to give me some slack today and allowed me to finally embrace the reprieve that I've been yearning even if just briefly. We decided, albeit at the last minute, to head off to Tagaytay to celebrate mother's day. Last year, we also spent mother's day there at Bag of Beans. And since my nephew is vacationing with us as well, it would be nice to bring him up there as well too. Maia was excited to show him the place where Mommy and Daddy got married.

The plan was - hear mass and eat. And maybe visit a few sites if time would permit. Tibs did warn me though - manage my expectations. It's warm in Tagaytay now. And yes, the temperature didn't give us much options when we got there. After hearing the 11am mass in Lourdes, we walked a few meters towards Pamana Restaurant and that's about how we burned our time in Tagaytay.

No regrets though. I still was happy to "escape". And I finally made time to buy those plants that I've been asked to buy for my team's work area. (Kind of defied my purpose of escaping the thought of work, but at least I had a change of scenery. Which was enough for now, at least).

On Pamana Restaurant:

We ordered what we feel is just the appropriate thing to order when you're in Tagaytay - Bulalo and Crispy Tawilis. Tibs is a big fan of Binagoongang Baboy so we also tried that. We ordered their ube halohalo for Gogol and Sago't Gulaman for everyone else.

The Bulalo serving was too large for us. We should have just ordered small or medium and we still won't feel it's "bitin". We had leftovers for everything and it was good enough for another meal (yes, we had the same thing for dinner).

Price-wise we wished there were more of us to share, then the close to P2,000 bill wouldn't have really mattered. But sadly we were just a group of 3 adults and 2 kids who only devoured the cold desserts. Safe to probably budget at around 300/head if you are with the company of purely adults.

The restaurant is kid-friendly and on a Sunday, we just came at a perfect time (at around 11:30ish) because a few minutes after that hungry diners came rushing. We picked a table at the rooftop. We had a great view of Taal and it was pretty breezy considering the ultra hot summer temp. They could work on providing more toilets though because it really was a long line we had to endure just to get bladder relief. If you're with kids, that could be a really difficult situation to be in.

Maia Travels: A Weekend At T-House, Tagaytay

The minute our kid laid eyes on our wedding photo album, T-house (where I had my bridal preparations done) immediately grabbed her attention. Every year, during our anniversary, my husband and I would troop over to Tagaytay to hear mass at the church where we got married and last year we decided it was time for us to bring the kid along as well. T-house is conveniently located beside the church and she immediately saw it.

"I want to see what's inside, Mommy! Can we get in, please?"

Unfortunately, our anniversary trip to Tagaytay is always riddled with other plans so we never had the chance to take the kid inside even for a peek. But the kid is persistent. Once in a while she would take out our wedding album and declare "ONE DAY, I WILL GO AND SEE THIS PLACE".

Finally!

Thanks to Deal Grocer, her ONE DAY finally happened last weekend. The husband booked us an overnight stay mainly to celebrate my 35th birthday quietly (away from the noise of the city). We planned to do it on a Saturday, but apparently, you will need to book at least 2 weeks prior if you want to reserve a slot. So we grabbed the next best thing which was Sunday. Being a commuting family, we prayed hard for good weather. But an hour before we left the house, the sky turned grey. It dampened my mood but not the kid's. And her excitement is really contagious it seemed to push the gloomy clouds away. After a heavy but brief downpour, the sky cleared and we headed out. Kid was singing and hopping. You can tell she's over her head happy. 

grey as grey can be. but didn't stop us from having the best weekend ever!

T-house is 4 rides away from our place (3 jeepney transfers and one bus ride). Because of the prior downpour, it took us almost an hour and a half to get to the place (twice the travel time of 45 minutes on ordinary, sunny Sundays). Oh and we also made a short stopover at the grocery to buy snacks (mostly chips and cookies for the kid. READ: Junk haha). We planned to stay in for the rest of the day so we wanted to be armed and ready with our potato couching must-haves.

"Mommy, are you going to wear your white gown again when we have our pictures taken?" It just dawned on me that the kid was probably expecting us to 'get married' again. To replicate everything that she saw in our wedding pictures. Oh my poor little girl. In between chuckles, the husband explained to the little girl that we are just checking in to rest for now. When she's a little older, maybe we can replicate our wedding again even if just in pictures. (OR maybe we can afford to do a renewal of vows with immediate family members then, we'll see). She didn't cry (thankfully). I guess, she didn't make room for tantrums and drama on this trip (fortunately for us!).

When we arrived at the hotel, kid was speechless and just beaming from ear to ear.When we were handed our key, she immediately grabbed it and proudly carried it till we got to our room.

welcome drinks and a question: "bakit F3 yung binigay na room number sa atin?
bakit hindi F1?"

"Hmmmmm, ang bango bango naman ng room natin Mommy!" 

Ahhhh soft sheets and cable TV. THIS IS THE GOOD LIFE.

She proceeded to claim her space on the bed and feign sleep (with a matching loud snore). She was so amusing to watch. The husband and I couldn't stop laughing at all her comments and observations. She really is a great travel companion now.

I'm really glad we took this trip. Seeing how happy she was, I already received the best 35th birthday gift ever.

(more photos after the jump)

Maia Travels: Mother's Day At Bag Of Beans

Tagaytay is becoming a favorite destination for our little family. Thinking that it's much cooler over there, we left the house early last Sunday to hear mass at Ina Ng Laging Saklolo. Then we planned to have breakfast after at the main branch of Bag of Beans further up in Mendez. I just learned recently that they now have a branch at the Tagaytay Rotunda strip of restos (what's that called exactly? I can't remember anymore). But wanting to find a more comfortable and well, quite breakfast place we decided to take a extra few more kilometers to travel to where the original cafe is.

The last time we ate at BoB was when Tibs and I were planning our wedding in 2007. We stumbled into this quaint little cafe (if I remember correctly, the extension where the buffet set up is now was not there yet) because we were looking for a big place to for our families to stay in after the wedding. Although we already acquired our house then, it wasn't big enough for several families to stay in. Good thing, as I was a member of w@w then, I found Amirsache Villa and we were able to rent the entire place.

Oppps, I digress once again. Sorry about that. Going back to my story, we've stopped over the store several times after that coffee date often when my family comes over to visit but we never thought of stopping there to grab a bite. We've always just come back for the bread and never really bothered to check out the restaurant inside.

Deciding to spend our mother's day there was just right. Although the resto was packed when we arrived at around 9:30 am, we were immediately ushered to available seats. But as they were bursting with guests, food took a little longer (probably than usual) even if we only ordered usual pinoy breakfast fare of longanisa, chicken tocino, chicken pork asado. I ordered funny face pancakes for the little miss because the day before she mentioned of wanting to make me pancakes for mother's day breakfast (and i indeed ended up eating most of the pancakes and her eating most of my longa meal). Tibs upsized to bottomless brewed coffeesince we both are huge coffee drinkers. I think we still make better brewed coffee though. With our ever-reliable tiny 3d coffee maker and a few spoonfuls of Monk's Blend ground robusta coffee. I got curious too how the restaurant turned out to be so packed with hungry guests so early in the day and the servers told me they open as early as 6. I made a mental note to invite the hubs for an even earlier breakfast date (and maybe a short run? hmmmm) one of these days.

 The restaurant also serves buffet breakfast (at P395/person) and brunch (at 495/person).

While we wait for our food, Maia, Ate Inday and I took the opportunity to explore the area and took turns posing for photos in almost every photo op-friendly corner. We were silly like that. The little girl even set a limit on the number of shots we should take of her. (Dito mommy, 4 pictures. Dito 5 ha. Kailangan 5. two pictures lang tayo dito, mommy. Kalurkey having a camera-hugging kid)

So even if the day was supposed to be all for me, it turned out to be HER day mostly. The number of photos of her alone would be enough testament to that. Gone is that camera reticent kid that I used to chase just to steal a few decent photos from. Lately, she gleefully volunteers to have her photo taken.

We left Tagaytay just before noon. The highway was not that busy when we got there around 8am-ish but at noontime, it was evident that it was a special Sunday. Most restaurants we passed by were all packed with nary a vacant parking spot within plain sight. I guess on special days like this it's better to plan an early morning trip if you ever decide to come up to Tagaytay.

I'm really happy that Tagaytay is now very commuter-friendly. It makes planning for special weekends a lot more easier for me.

How did you spend your mother's day?

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Bag Of Beans
Coffeeshop, Restaurant and Bakery
115 Aguinaldo Highway, Crossing Mendez West
Tagaytay City
046 413 2724

How to commute to Bag of Beans via Aguinaldo Hi-way 

Take bus or jeepney (at the Olivarez terminal) that is heading towards Nasugbu. Bag of beans is along the highway to your right a few kilometers after Crossing Mendez Intersection.

More on Tagaytay sights here.

Maia Travels: Breakfast At Antonio's

A peak at how and where the little girl spent her Saturday morning yesterday. The past 4 years we always celebrated our wedding anniversary by just attending mass at the church where we were married and grabbing a quick (fast) breaky at the nearest fastfood chain (how cozy and romantic no?). Yesterday, we thought, kid was big enough to already bring with us for a shot of fancy celebration. So we commuted our way to this little fancy resto in Alfonso, Cavite for breakfast.

Will blog more about this soon over at our family blog. In the meantime, let me direct you to the restaurant's website in case you would want to drop by this place soon.

Click for more photos here.

First Official Out of Town Trip

Hello Maia,

Today Mom and Dad took you to Tagaytay. Mommy Ninang, Daddy Ninong, Tito Iko and Kika Mao was with us for this trip. It's your first official out of town trip and we could tell you had fun. Your eyes would light up each time something new to your eyes catches your attention. Mommy love it when you would open your big eyes and giggle. You would wiggle your head and laugh in delight. Your laughter's is music to Mommy's ears.

I do wish we can make this a weekend affair. The fresh air would do you good. And there's just so much to see outside of our house. But I guess, your little body can't take frequent trips like that yet. Maybe when you're a lot older we can make that a regular family affair already. I feel so much excitement just thinking about it.

When we got home you were a little fussy though. I guess it's the congestion on your tiny little nose. That has been going on since you woke up early this morning. Mommy got a bit worried. She decided she's taking you to the doctor tomorrow just to be sure.

All in all though, the weekend was a good one for the three of us.