the hacienda isabella

April 18, 2009

There comes a point when you would feel that you desperately just need to get away from all the hustle and bustle of living in a city, from all the rush and the deadlines. You will realize that you need a good vacation, somewhere you can sleep so well at night, you wouldn't dream of waking up just yet. Search Google and you'll definitely find a lot of choices.

But for our case, one stood out. Something was unique and homey about this place, and for us, these 2 criteria are what we keep looking out for.

Welcome to Hacienda Isabella.
This private resort is owned by the famous Kuh Ledesma and serves as her Tagaytay home. The place is open for bed and breakfast, weddings, celebrations, and events. You will see a lot of antiques in display everywhere :)
We arrived at half past 2 in the afternoon already, traffic along SLEX is hell due to the on going Skyway extension project, so I would suggest that you take the trip as early as possible. Their check in time is 2pm, but you can freely use the ammenities while waiting. We had the place all to ourselves. It feels like having the entire hacienda all to yourself. :D The staff were extremely courteous and service was excellent.

They toured us around the place, allowing us to choose which room we would like to stay in. But during crowded times, they would choose for you since the rooms are on a first come, first serve basis. There are about 5 couple rooms, the rest are family rooms. The place hosts a couple of function rooms, a big open space, and conference areas too.

Who wouldn't want to sleep in a bed like this?
The room has a blue accent, we like it a lot since it has a refreshing and relaxing feel. It dims the room but not too much.
Food is important too! Dinner was served candlelight style. Did I mention that we have the entire place to ourselves? :) We got to seat at the "master table" (not sure what its called). The dinning area was huge! It could probably accomodate around 50 guests.
Bread was served as appetizer, but shortly after, the first food was served: pumpkin soup! It was delicious! Too bad we weren't able to ask for second servings :(

Next was a very generous serving of fruits and vegetables as a salad. There were nuts, corn, mushrooms, spinach, lettuce, mangoes...They added an extra ingredient that made it quite unique: Langka. (I have always been a fan of langka, especially in Turon :D)
Two pastas followed, once is a Tinapa sauce, while the other a Tomato based sauce. I liked the tinapa sauce since the tinapa was made to compliment the entire dish, while Lis liked the Tomato based.
We thought dinner was over since we were so full already when another dish came out of the kitchen: Rosemay Grilled Chicken. The dish was rather stale and quite dry.. Our guess is because we had late dinner :(
They served camote-que. It was just right, not too sweet. We were so full already that we weren't able to savor the dish.
We headed back to the room after dinner since the place is already dark. Good thing I brought my laptop so we could watch some movies :)

Our appetite was not quite fully restored from dinner and its breakfast already!

We had fried garlic rice, perfect tocino, bangus, hotdogs, a big omelette and lots of papaya. Talk about breakfast being the most important meal of the day! The omelette tasted kinda off and could use a bit more salt and pepper, the rest were great.
The big pool is available, just tell them in advance so they can clean it first :)
We will definitely go back to this place..We can't wait to try the other rooms :)
Driving Directions:
Head towards Tagaytay via your preferred route. Drive along the highway towards Batangas. A few minutes after the Mendez intersection and Bag of Beans, you should see Soto Grande Subdivision on your right. Turn right on the next street. Go straight around 20 min, passing by Flower Farm. Keep left when you see a fork on the road. Keep following the road to your left and turn right at the Brgy Carasuchi sign. Follow the this road, passing by a couple of big gates and RGV Farms to your left, after 20min Hacienda Isabella is on the right side. Don't worry, there are a lot of signs along the road.

the pinatubo climb

Mt. Pinatubo has been a hot destination this summer. People from different ages visit this natural beauty that was once a horrific memory in the country's history.

The mountain is about a 3 hour drive from Manila. Capas, Tarlac is the common drop off point to the crater. We left Quezon City at 330am and arrived roughly 6am. The sun was already up by then. There are two common routes taken by tourist, the Old Route or the "Skyway". The old route is an hour of 4x4 ride, followed by a good 3hour hike while the "skyway" is a 2hour 4x4 ride plus around 45min hike.

picture from mainepot.multiply.com

We took the old route, against the suggestion of our contact person, Noymi. :D Our reason? It's just not worth it not being able to experience the entire hike. :) Its a good thing too, plus we have extra calories that we wanted to burn so.. (exercise :D).

We set out on our 4x4 at 7am, marking the start of our climb to the crater.

picture from mainepot.multiply.com

Dennis was excited to ride in front of the jeep while Me, Liska and Jess take the back. Jon and Charm took the second 4x4.

The ride is going to be bumpy but wait till you experience the "skyway" :P We passed through a vast land lahar (ash) with sparse vegetation. I couldn't stop thinking that all this came from just one volcano eruption.
On top, Jon and Charm wearing their face mask. Below, you'd see how vast the ash is on the way.

picture from mainepot.multiply.com

picture from mainepot.multiply.com

An hour later, we were already preparing for the trek. Our local guide led the way, but it was frustrating that he kept leaving us behind, then complain that he was bored. We didn't bother giving him any tip at the end.

pictures from mainepot.multiply.com

The hike was not an easy one. We took a 15min break halfway the trek to catch our breath and rest for a while. I had to clean my toe wound also :(

Eventually you'll see the end of the "skyway" and the beginning of the last stretch of the trek. There's a sign here that says is just a 12min hike for youngsters. Don't be fooled, we trekked for 30min and still nowhere near the crater! :P This stretch was no doubt the most difficult, aside from it being an acsent, you're in for a lot of small streams, rocky paths, and steep stairs... We didn't take any pictures at this point, both hands were occupied balancing ourselves hahaha! But forget all that coz taking that last step makes you closer to the top :)
The crater is indeed magnificent. The clouds gave the lake lighting effects that some parts were deeps blue, some aquamarine. With the slopes angled perfectly with the water, the long hike was well worth it. In fact, you would have forgotten about it already at first glance of the top!

Being early has its advantages, or so we thought, we got there a couple of minutes pass 11am, but the place already has a lot of people! darn..they must have taken the "skyway" route :P

TIPS on taking the old route:

• Pack as light as possible - I carried a backpack (the smaller the better) with a towel, first aid kit, tissue, sun glasses, extra clothes plus a thermos of water (I regret bringing this item, just bring a litre of mineral water).
• Wear comfortable clothes - Its ok to wear those branded dry fit clothes, they would really help
• Wear trekking sandals/ hiking shoes - wearing ordinary rubber shoes on the old route would mean that you're willing to have a few tears on it and submerge it in knee high water.
• Wear socks - Sockes will provide added protection from sharp rocks and but they will surely get wet :P
  

Lunch was part of the package and was served on styro containers. We had adobo, chicken, chopsuey, rice, salted egg and banana. It can absolutely be better, but I was really hungry then. Just be careful when you're eating, my salted egg was already sour, plus there are a lot of ants.

On the way down, you might take a chance upon this rock, cool isn't it? Too bad it's as heavy as my laptop otherwise I would have brought it home as a souvenir :D


We opted to take the "skyway" route already (though the old route trek was still an option). You just need to pay the driver additional Php1500 to avail. You have to notify them in advance so that they can pick you up at the pickup point. This route will undoubtedly be the 4x4 ride of your life!:P Jon said that his Ilocos 4x4 ride was nothing compared to this one. It will be a roller coaster ride, full of bumps (like Ayala Avenue :P), sudden deeps crevices and steep inclines. Hold on tightly to the jeep but be careful not to hit the jeep, you might get bruised. We met an Aeta community on one of the mountains and it was overlooking the mountains of Zambales.


Once you returned to the Pinatubo SPA town, you can take a shower at Php100 per head. It's an option but you might want to consider since you will feel like polvoron after the trip. There is a sari-sari store across the street in case you need toiletries. We bought 7-up the moment we got back due to thirst! :P

The entire trip costs Php1500 per head and includes a 4x4 ride (old route), your lunch, the entrance fee, and local guide fee. You may contact them at 0928-3410402.

Driving Directions:
Take NLEX all the way to Sta. Ines exit, from here drive through the town of Mabalacat, Pampanga. Turn right going to Pan-Philippine Highway (McArthur Highway), there might be some detours in Mabalacat so you might have to ask for directions if needed. Go straight until you reach Capas Town Market, you're now in Sto. Rosario. Look out for signs on the right side of the road leading to Capas National Shrine. Turn right on that street heading towards Capas Cemetery. Some 2km is a fork in the road, just keep right, this road will lead you to the Pinatubo SPA.

Tagaytay Getaway 2008

At last today has come! It took forever for weekend to arrive... what can i say, excited e...I was very hungry already all throughout the trip to tagaytay..traffic pa sa SLEX :P i was reserving my appetite for Bag of Beans. For some reason, the drive was a bit longer today as compared to before..maybe its because of my hunger :P tsaka delicate na yung car so careful driving na :) It was a foggy Saturday morning at the mountain :) The road was a bit hazzy and blurry.. And the breeze was very cold..yes!

1. Bag of Beans

We arrive around 900pm.. around 1hour late from planned haha :) we still have to go to Bag of Beans. Its just right after the Mendez intersection, probably around 10 minute drive :) There were still very few people here, buti na lang coz im starving :) The dining area is down stairs, in a garden type setting :) It is a great site. You can already feel energized with all the fresh air :) Lis and I chose the Bacon and Eggs breakfast (Php250) with a White Bread Basket (Php125). Lis had hot chocolate (Php85) while I tried the Brew coffee arabica (Php85) :) Bring an umbrella along, you'll never know when you need it...then again, whats a few drops of cool clear rain water? after all we all don't get to come here often..

2. Cliffhouse Tagaytay

I have to admit, I really don't know if I would be dissappointed or not... The entire place is covered in fog :) well for one, our short stay here was relaxing. But you couldn't get a good glimpse of the scenery that the place promised. Hay..bad timing.. owell.. Nonetheless, we'll still definitely head back to this place, probably March when we come back with Lis' sister :) There are a lot of good comments we've read about the food here. We just had a look around since we're here already, and the fact that parking is a whooping Php 100 for the first hour and 50 for every succeeding hour. Its even more expensive than any Makati parking. So if you come here to eat. Eat fast!! Just kidding. Probably we'd get to write more about this place next time..hehe :)

3. Manos Greek Taverna

Aaron is an avid fan of Mediterranean cuisine so he was so eager to try Manos Greek Taverna which is also along the main highway of Tagaytay. The serve authentic Greek food and offers an ambiance of how you would imagine a Greek restaurant would be....roughly finished but "home-y" with blue, yellow and white painted walls. Atleast that was the idea we got from "Sisterhood of Travelling Pants"...remember Lena when she went to her grandparents in Greece. We had:

Lamb Gyros - Souvlaki Shawarma (Php90);

Greek Salad - Elliniki Salata (Php160);

Baked Summer Vegetables - Briami (Php130)

4. Tagaytay Zoo

Next agenda: get our picture with a tiger cub:) Atleast that's what we expected! Residence Inn is a mountain resort and mini-zoo which is also the "Halfway Zoo" to Paradizoo Theme-Farm. The entrance fee is one payment for both which is Php200. The mini-zoo have a huge variety of exotic animals with some you can interact with. Its a great educational experience for kids and animal lovers. Their tigers, specially, are all beauties! They were huge and obviously well taken care of (unlike what we have here in Manila Zoo=P). You'll also see ducks, chickens and peacocks running around the vicinity allowing tourists to touch them and take pictures with them. Oh yeah! Don't go too near the orangutan...it spits!=P The time came for our one-on-one pic with the tiger...and its also the time when we've realized that it wasn't a cub! It was 1 year old Mia:P That's right the name of tiger is Mia, together with her brother Mio...are both trained tigers trained for picture takings like what we've experienced. There will be a zoo keeper there to assist.. he'll tell you what to do and what the tiger is trained to do :) Php50 if you use your own camera and Php149 if their camera (print out). We don't want to spoil any of the details.. it definitely was a tiger experience :) Don't worry, they won't bite, other wise we wouldn't be typing this entry hehe :P
Paradizoo is a different experience since you don't usually get to experience farm life in the city. They have a flower farm, vegetable farm, honey bee farm, butterfly garden, perpetual pet park, etc. Its also a great exercise since you'll get to walk around the whole lot:P

5. Caleruega Church Sunset

The last time we went here was sad.. we didn't know that it closes at 530pm.. I read a lot of good things about this place so we wanted to check it out. This time around, we were determined to reach the place. My God this place truly is heavenly. "Closer to nature, closer to God". The scenery was absolutely stunning. We got to see the sunset... Of course, it was planned.

There were two paths to follow, one to the hall and a road leading somewhere else.

We entered the hall around 430pm. We looked quite funny there coz we really didn't know where to go exactly... We had a few pictures here and there, not knowing of the beauty this place really holds at her door steps. We reached their roof top, nothing much. went here and there watching the scenery and feeling the air rush to our faces. There were a lot of "romantic spots" for lovers. hehe i convinced liska to atleast sit with me at one of them.. Caleruaga was full of cottages, I didn't know... Apparently maybe for the wedding guests :) Oh, there were a lot of "hanging bridge" signs all over the place, but we couldn't find one... :( there is a bridge though, with vines on top that u need to use to get to the roof top. Maybe that's the one. :)

When it was time to settle for a nice spot for the sunset, we decided to head down to the road. Not really knowing where it leads, we sat at a small hut with its chairs as swing, dunno what this is called tho. The road is a 'road' for the stations of the cross. you'll find carvings of the depictions per station. Lis asked if we could go down further the road, which we did. We noticed some cars parked, which was odd. But we decided to head to their direction nonetheless.

Whew! It was a long walk, and this has been a long type :P

There was a 'hidden' park apparently down the road. Lis has more pictures that wasn't included in the collage. you'd really feel like you're on a hidden moutain oasis, natural but clean and well maintained. From here there are two places you could go to, to the right was a camping site. There were several campers there, so i guess the cars parked were theirs. To the left was a 'hanging bridge'!!! so there it is!! the last time i got to cross one of these was during a camping trip in Makiling way back in high school. Yes! after the bridge was an open field, with picnic tables around, plus a small 'hill'.. not sure :P but definitely u have to walk up. :P Of course we went up. I wouldn't miss it for anything :P it wasn't the highest peek in Caleruega, but it has the most open view! you'll get to see clearly the fields below... the small hills... several mountains... the clear sky... and you guessed it, we were just in time for sunset! :D

Caleruega is definitely a must go place :) its known to be booked for weddings a year in advance :P well.. who knows :P we might be back here again someday :)

Just a note though, be careful when driving, it might be foggy... when we were going down, the fog was already thick enough to block your view of the road :P It was fun.. but be careful. :)

Bag of Beans
is along main highway in Tagaytay near Mendez Intersection.

Manos Greek Taverna
is shortly after the Tagaytay rotonda if you are coming from The Cliffhouse or Bag of Beans.

Residence Inn
is located after the Tagaytay Radars after Bag of Beans, maybe around 20 minutes of drive.
Residence Inn Resorts

And right before the Radars is a street to the right, straight ahead, turn right till u hit a dead end and you find the Paradizoo Theme-Farm.Paradizoo
Here is a map to the zoos.

Casa San Pablo

It was a sunny Saturday morning to begin with... the air was cool... I left my place to fetch Lis at around 6:30am. We were excited to reach our destination - Casa San Pablo. The place has have numerous write-ups, famous for its scenery and ambiance, it's a filipino style bed and breakfast anyone will surely enjoy. Nonetheless, we started this little adventure around 8am. Esda was a breeze and we arrived at Batangas in 2 hours. We were greeted by the guard at the entrance and led us to the main parking area.

We had the day all to ourselves, no worries, (no work!), just pure relaxation.

It was drizzling when we arrive at the reception area. Unfortunately we weren't able to get our preferred room, but the room we got was cozy though. It has a twin bed and a bathroom. It was nice, in a modern filipino kind of way. After settling down Lis set off again with her handy dandy camera to take whatever pictures her eyes feasts on. But there's a problem. We're hungry. In our original "masterplan", it states that we will have our breakfast at Kusina Salud (another Filipino must-go-to), yet circumstances led us to accept that this it but another adventure for another time. In other words, we were late in our schedule :P


We had a huge serving of what seem to be a Filipino-style spaghetti w/ toast. It was sweet start for turns out to be brunch already. Lis had her photoshoot after while strolling the vicinity. A gift shop was located on the second floor but was open only upon request. They had souvenirs, novelty items and the likes. The pool was unavailable, darn. Owell. We spent most of the time appreciating the scenery since there was nothing much to do.


Lunch was served Laguna style. We had Bulalo, yum :) After spending some time at the garden, it dawned to us that there were few guests for the day. Though perhaps most of them are enjoying the Viaje Del Sol experience..


We left around 4pm. Hoping to atleast visit the popular Kusina Salud. However, after driving around, it seemed that the directions given to the "driver" (Aaron) weren't quite clear, so we had to decide to head back home instead.


One advice though, go home when there is still daylight. The road was pretty much pitch black. We arrived at anila around 7. Whew!

Casa San Pablo

San Pablo City

http://www.casasanpablo.com/

0917-8126687, 0917-5268628

Rates:

Php1000 for day trip (w/ lunch and am&pm snacks)