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Our First Wedding Anniversary at Tagaytay

My wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary last Sunday, October 05, 2008 and we decided to have a Tagaytay date just for the occasion. So we packed our things, some clothes, cameras, chips, drinks and sandwiches and a lot of enthusiasm with a prayer that the weather would be fair so as not to ruin the occasion.

On our way we had our private talk: some reminiscing of the past year in our married life, how we fell in love with each other, about our baby, work, friends and families and things like that. After about two hours we reached our first spot - Picnic Grove. Outside the park are fixers offering boat ride packages and rooms for rent. I was shocked to hear about the price of the boat ride package. It costs 1,500 pesos inclusive of one hour boat ride in the Taal lake, a tricycle (a motorcycle with a sidecar used as mode of public transportation in the Philippines) ride to the location and a room. We decided not to avail of the offer and instead went inside the park. Entrance fee in the park is 50 pesos per person. Inside the park are souvenir booths, lots of trees, adventure trails, some horses for rent, and picnic tables. For the more adventurous guys there's the cable car ride and zip line. The rides cost from 150 pesos to 300 pesos per person. I wanted to try the zip line but my wife was scared so we agreed not to try it. We bought a pair of souvenir shirts that costs 200 pesos a pair. I also bought an abacca bag for my wife for only 300 pesos. Both shirts and bag are at a reasonable price. After shopping we took lots of photos with the majestic Taal lake and Taal volcano as our background. (Honestly, I didn't exactly know where the volcano is, hehe). One kind police officer even offered to take our picture while we were in a hanging bridge. After that, we had our rest. We sat on the picnic tables, ate our packed snacks and chatted. Then a light rain poured, thank God we were sheltered by the trees with their lush green leaves. After our rest we decided to continue with our trekking. Many fixers offered us with horseback riding that costs 150 pesos to 200 pesos for two people.

We finished our visit of the Picnic grove at around lunch time so we decided to go to Sonya's garden for our lunch. While on our way, the rain poured and a mist enveloped the way. But luckily the rain stopped abruptly. Sonya's garden is located at Brgy. Buck Estate in Alfonso, Cavite - a 45minute ride from Picnic grove. It is a bit hard to find because the restaurant is 1.5 kilometers from the high way and if you do not have your own transporation you can ride the tricycle from the high way to the restaurant. The tricycle fare costs 12 pesos and above per person. My wife and I, both in an adventurous mood, decide to take the 1.5 kilometer walk to the restaurant. And it was the longest and tiresome walk I had ever did! But it was all worthwhile, and even romantic as my wife says. We didnt know what to expect in Sonya's garden because it was our first time to dine there. We just saw good comments on the restaurant in the Internet so we decided to try it. As we reached it we were not disappointed with the experience. We were welcomed by a lush garden full of flowers, pebbles, the sound of water fountains, of course the sweet aroma of the Tagaytay breeze and the garden's flowers, and some old-fashioned buildings.

The restaurant served us with class, a fine-dine for the price of only 610 pesos per person. We had servings of fresh garden salad with finely chopped hard boiled egg, sweet pineapples, mangoes, crunchy nuts and cucumbers, cheese, and corn as toppings. Then we were served with bread and lots of dips and spreads to choose from such as basil pesto, white cheese, anchovies, bruschetta tomato toppings, mushroom pate, black olive tapinade and fresh green peppercorn in olive oil. After that we were served with pasta. You can choose from two sauces: white cream sauce and tomato-based sauce. Aside from the sauces you are also served with various toppings for your pasta such as olives, shitake mushrooms, and salmon. For the dessert we were served with banana rolls with sesame & jackfruit, glazed sweet potato ( I love this dessert!), and a slice of their homemade chocolate cake. We were also served with a pitcher of freshly squeezed dalandan (a local citrus fruit like a lemon or orange) juice. Aside from the food, the washing area is an experience in itself. The lady's powder room and bathroom is vast and decorated with old-fashioned mirrors,wash basins,some portraits and decorations that my wife asked me to take a photo of her inside the powder room!

After we had our lunch we took a walk on the garden where we saw numbers of cottages and benches where we could sit and savor the calming fragrance of the flowers that surround us. There is also a spa and panaderia (a bakeshop), and souvenir shop where you could buy pasalubong. Since we only had a day's visit we didnt try the spa but certainly we will come back for it some other time. We bought macaroons, a jar of glazed macapuno (a variant of coconut that is very sweet), and tablets of chocolate made in the city. We also visited the souvenir shop where we saw lots of herbal products such as soaps and perfumes and other antique items for sale.

At around 5pm we decided to go back to Manila and even though our Tagaytay experience was just brief my wife and I really had fun. I am looking forward to our celebration of our second anniversary, hehe.

Take the plunge

Many of us are afraid of taking risks. Of trying. Of failure. Of change. Of learning. Of the truth…

You can not tell wether you can or can not do anything unless you try. You can not be contented with what you have because everything in this world is temporary. You can never achieve your goal when you dont stand up and fight for it. Look at things the way great people do. Don’t be afraid of failures for they teach you how to succeed. If you failed consider it as a lesson and a stepping stone and not as a stumbling block that would hinder you from reachning your goals. You are not alone, everybody fails in one thing or another.

NBA great Micheal Jordan was cut from the varsity team as a sophomore. Instead of giving up after failing to make the team, Jordan used it to spur himself to greater achievements, practicing hour after hour on the court. “Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I’d close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it,” Jordan said, “and that usually got me going again.” He eventually made the team and led it to the state championship (www.23jordan.com/bio1.htm. Thomas Edison, the father of the incandenscent bulb, burned over 3000 filaments before he could light up a bulb (www.thomasedison.com/enlightened.html). He should have given up on his first or maybe his 100th filament but he patiently worked it out seeing each filament after the other burn up until finally the bulb lighted. They are some of the great people who never never gave up for their dreams.

Don’t be afraid of stepping out and taking the risk. Take the plunge. Live life, learn life.