When I flew to the Philippines for Jon and Maybelle’s Tagaytay wedding, it gave me an opportunity to meet up with a few friends after I visited my parents in Puerto Princesa.
At Home in BGC
I asked Drew if I could “AirBnb” at the cozy travel-themed condo that he lives in, for one night. He said sure, for the price of Garrett’s popcorn. 😄
He hosted dinner for me and our other friends Kes and Arni at his place in BGC.
There was a funny blooper – as there always is with our gang – when he ordered Chinese Filipino fusion food from Honestbee. He was supposed to be ordering it for a night in advance but he accidentally ordered it for immediate delivery instead. He couldn’t cancel it because Honestbee apparently has crappy service in that regard, so he just refrigerated everything and we warmed them all up the next night.
So by the time Kes and then Arni arrived after being stuck in crazy Friday night Metro Manila traffic for hours, we were joking that Drew had singlehandedly prepared the whole meal for us. The food was really delicious, by the way!
We just spent the night talking, about more “tita” (auntie) stuff like kids and anti-aging regimens, compared to what we used to talk about over ten years ago when we were still colleagues.
At one point we Facetimed our friend Yen, who is based in the USA, and had to end the call when her two kids started playing with cans of cat food and had to be attended to before they hurt themselves.
Sonya’s Garden, Tagaytay
I was scheduled to check in to my hotel in Tagaytay the next day, and luckily, my friend Maya offered for her and her boyfriend Jed to drive me there, because it is at least a couple of hours away and would have cost P3,000+ if I had to hire a car and driver. Since Tagaytay is also a very lovely touristy destination, they didn’t mind going there themselves for our reunion.
They picked me up at Drew’s condo, then we met our other College friend Ronald at Tim Horton’s, where we grabbed a quick breakfast before going on the long drive to Sonya’s Garden in Tagaytay, where we were meeting Flisha and Gim.
It was a funny coincidence that Jed actually knows Gim, Flisha’s husband, since they had been classmates for one class or so in College as well. Jed wasn’t even sure that Gim would remember him, but he did.
Sonya’s Garden is known for their flower salad buffet, so we had that. But they don’t just have salad, they have pasta and salmon as well, so it was actually quite a filling meal.
The place is pretty, so we took a lot of photos everywhere.
After faffing about for so long, we realized that we should have spent all that time getting a massage instead. We had just enough time to do it, so we got hour-long massages before driving off to chase the sunset.
Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay
Taal Vista, as the name suggests, offers a view of Taal Lake where the Taal volcano is. They also have beautiful decorations such as light-strewn trees and a giant picture frame where you can pose for pictures.
It was really cold and windy, so after a while we went indoors and decided to have some warm drinks and dessert in front of a cozy fireplace in their cafe.
After that, they drove me to my hotel and we had to part ways.
Ribchon, Tagaytay
The next day, my friends Chi and Punch picked me up at my hotel and we had lunch at Ribchon. They had actually decided to book a hotel in Tagaytay as well, so it would be easier for them to pick me up early.
We really enjoyed the crispy ribs with the gigantic bowls of salad that we ended up having when we asked if they could convert the rice to veggies instead.
I love Chi’s curls! She achieved them using the famous Dyson airwrap styler. I wish I could have one someday! Maybe when I’m rich and famous lol.
I wish I could have met up with more friends like I did last year, but unfortunately, since I was based in Tagaytay, I could only meet with a few, and I’m glad that they were actually willing to go completely out of their way just to hang out with me! So grateful to have made such friendships which have transcended time and distance. 😊
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