Sonya’s Garden, Tagaytay

Last March I finally got to go to Sonya’s Garden in Tagaytay, thanks to Candy, my friend from the review days.

When I found out that Tyne had the same dream as me – to visit the famous Sonya’s Garden – I suggested we go there with Candy, who had gone with me to Tagaytay before.

Candy fetched me and Tyne at the airport. Tyne had been in Manila a day earlier while my eyes were drooping from having had less than four hours of sleep on the airplane. As a consequence, I actually fell asleep during the ride. Good thing I decided to let Tyne ride shotgun. Heh.

It was Candy’s first time to drive to Tagaytay but she had done her homework and consulted some maps. We also had to ask several people on the sidewalks for directions.

There was one funny instance when upon rolling down the window, Candy told the guy outside, “Kuya Tagaytay, Tagaytay” and the guy looked confused as to whether she was asking for directions or asking him to get in, like an FX barker.

We eventually found the place though.The air was refreshingly cool and the landscape was as pretty as we had anticipated.

We were excited to try the much raved about fresh salads which they grow in their own gardens but we were too early for the lunch buffet which serves that. So we had the breakfast buffet instead.

It was composed of unlimited fried rice, cheese omelette, bangus, chicken pork adobo, green mango salad, fresh melon and ripe mangoes and hot chocolate. The omelette was particularly good that we wondered how it was cooked.

Unfortunately we have teensy appetites and I seriously regretted that I had some pandesal and mocha while waiting for them at the airport. There was so much food left waaahhh. 🙁

Tyne takes a bite of the edible flowers

I especially asked if I could convert my hot chocolate to fresh dalandan juice instead. They said I couldn’t drink chocolate and dalandan juice together as it would cause a stomachache but I insisted that I won’t drink the choco. So they finally agreed.

I was in for a shock when they served an entire pitcher of the juice. Eeps. I was expecting just a glass! Despite being so full, I forced myself to drink as much as I could. I think I finished off 3 – 4 glasses. That’s Pinoy for you – we hate to put anything to waste, especially if we paid for it! But it also helped that it was very delicious, one of the best I’ve ever had! And I love that it was so pulpy.

A pitcher of my fave drink – fresh dalandan juice.

After breakfast we drove a bit around Tagaytay. Candy, a mom, wanted to check out the market for fresh goods she could bring home to her kids. Tyne and I enjoyed the taste tests.

We also dropped by a store that sold goat’s milk products. I loved the “ice candy” and the jar of achara (pickled papaya) which has no goat’s milk in it whatsoever.

Before hopping off at our last stop, we took a detour to libingan ng mga bayani to visit Tyne’s dad.

It was a lovely first day of my vacation and that was only the beginning.