Mahogany Market’s Bulalo : Birthday Trip III

We left Sonya’s Garden with hungry tummies so as we’ve initially planned, we’ll indulge to the most famous dish in town. Yes to Bulalo (Beef Shanks or Bone Marrow Soup)! It’s a Filipino dish wherein beef shanks and marrow bones are boiled until the fat has melted into the clear broth or soup. Not healthy eh? Trying sinful food once in while won’t hurt. 😉

Again. We really didn’t have an idea where to get the best one so with the help of locals, we decided to check out Mahogany Market. At first, we considered trying Leslie’s since that’s a known place for trying out Bulalo in Tagaytay, but I’ve read blogs that it tends to be pricey and there were a lot of places where you could get the same taste for a much affordable price.

From Sonya’s we took a jeepney ride to Tagaytay’s Rotunda, only to find out that we should’ve taken the jeepneys taking left from Sky Ranch so it was like we have gone in circles. By the time we’ve found Mahogany Market, we were already famished. We’ve squeezed ourselves through the throng of people shopping and just plainly strolling around. Since it is literally a market, a lot of people were to be expected. The market was lined with stalls to try Bulalo, but I’m looking for a specific stall which I’ve read from a blog (reading blogs is so useful! 😊)

It is not your usual fine dining so don’t expect much. It is situated in front of a parking lot, tables and chairs were strategically placed in front of each stall so it is not on an air conditioned place. Good thing is, there were girls who attended to our needs when we were already seated.

Sonya’s Garden, Tagaytay : Birthday Trip II

This is just a continuation of our little birthday trip in Tagaytay. Our 2nd stop was the famous Sonya’s Garden. Were clueless on how to get there so we have sought help from security officers at the Sky Ranch. They’re so accommodating and there’s this certain security officer who have gone an extra mile and called their headquarters for directions. She was so nice! Too bad I didn’t get her name.

So, we took a jeepney ride bound to Nasugbu, Batangas from Sky Ranch to Sonya’s Garden. That was a long drive. I thought it was just nearby so I was little surprised. I think it took us fifteen minutes when the driver finally called our attention that we have arrived on our destination. He told us that we still need to take a tricycle and they would drop us off in front of the garden. It was Php30 fare for both us. We have noticed that only a few tricycle were passing by on that specific street so we settled to talk to the driver and have him pick us up after an hour.

We were a little curious as to why the parking lot was packed with awesome cars and there’s even a Ferrari parked nearby. A lot of people were engaged in conversation and it’s pretty obvious that everybody knows everyone. Then, I came to check the garden’s signage and there’s the answer to my puzzled thoughts. There’s a wedding that will be held inside later that afternoon. At first, we were reluctant to push through with exploring it, thinking that the entire place would be exclusively for the guests, but still decided to carry on with it. We found out that half of the place was restricted for all those who were not invited so there were limited spots to explore, but still we were thrilled.

Tagaytay’s Sky Ranch : Birthday Trip I

I have ditched books for the meantime, geared in with my camera and explored the beautiful city of Tagaytay for our birthday. Yes, our birthday. Mint and I shares the same birth date so celebrating it every year makes it extra special. It’s like we were twins from different moms. Destiny huh? 😊 Anyway, our friends were supposed to come along with us, but due to recent unfortunate events they weren’t able to so only Mint and I prepared for our little adventure.

Since we haven’t been to Tagaytay, planning our itinerary is quite thrilling. I have searched blogs to have an effective one and really hoping we could make it possible. We only planned to spend an entire day so we would want to go as many places as we could. Luckily, I stumbled upon LakadPilipinas‘s blog and got myself an idea on where to go. We were so excited about the trip we only slept a couple of hours before we left home early in the morning avoiding rush hour. Took a bus from Coastal Mall to Tagaytay City’s proper and rode a jeepney to our first stop.

Our first stop: Sky Ranch 😊

Sky Ranch is a mini amusement park and like any other, they have rides like Ferris Wheel, Merry-Go-Round, Nessi Coaster, etc. They also have horseback riding and zip line to complete the adventure. It’s a five hectare property beside Taal Vista Hotel along Aguinaldo Highway in Tagaytay.

Our Birthday Swim ♥

Who says it’s too late for summer? Well, remember me complaining about my frustrations to have that one summer getaway that would definitely quench my thirst for fun? Our birthday [Yeah. Hubby and I shares the same birthdate Ü] was the best time to have it, I guess.. and my Dad was my Fairy GodFather who made my wishes come true Ü

Our actual birthday is May 29 but we decided to have the Birthday Swim last May 30th so my siblings can come too. We had it at Jed’s Island Resort in Calumpit, Bulacan. It was the perfect weather.. The sky was partly cloudy and the breeze was just right.

I’ve accidentally erased my supposed to be header of this blog, unfortunately so I picked this instead. It’s not as good as my first shot though..

He greeted me at the entrance. Hihi Ü

The birthday boy ♥

The entrance at the hanging bridge. There’s my Hubby planking and my brother. Lol!

That hanging bridge scared the sh*t out of me for real. It’s swaying especially if there are people crossing it like this shot. I may look like smiling but I’m trembling like hell. LOL!

Luckily, we got a cottage near 2 kiddie pools for my nephew and nieces.

Ayeee.. I’m the queen of the world! Ü

My brother, nephew and nieces ♥

The birthday celebrants Ü

I took a lot of photos so I decided to just choose my favorites to post on this blog or it’ll take like forever for me to finish this. They have this leisure park that includes life-size action figures and all the cutest that you could imagine.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Shrek and the Family

Alie at the Bikini Bottom [May mga epal na mouse sa likod! Haha]

Hi Super Mario Ü

Mint.. err.. Fooling around Ü

Ahlie with his favorite characters Ü [Yes. He is stick thin]

Cheessssyyyy..

The Avatar

Mini hanging bridge

The Little Soldiers

Find me!!! Ü

Cayse + Liezl + Me

We have captured the beast!

The Fishing Village

OUCH!

Our house? Haha!

Haha! So ano to?

The Monk

The Hulk

The Frog and The Prince Ü

Chillin ♥

Me + Cayse

At the Hut

Mint as the Elephant face! LOL

With Appa, The Last Airbender’s pet Ü

Buddhist Temple

At the shore? Ü

My brother Ronnel with The Avengers

Mom, my nieces and The Justice League.. I think.

Mint and The Thing

Darth Vader

My dad trying to kill Sylvester..

with Iron Man

With my Spidey Ü

Mint and I strolled the whole leisure park and took photos of the place and the beautiful landmarks. Here’s some of the photos I took.

The Liberty Ü

The place is so beautiful and we really enjoyed the trip as obvious as the photos right? I am so happy that we were able to celebrate our birthday with my family. It was truly a day to remember and cherish. I’m hoping that we could have more trips with the family in the future. Belated Happy Birthday to us xoxo ♥♥♥

My Top 3 Places For Summer Ü

I’m not pretty sure if I’ll get the chance to get a vacation this summer since work consume most of my time and for such lame reasons.. I can’t get a leave. There.. end of argument so I decided to blog about the places I want to spend my suppose to be summer escapades. Hoping that my fairy Godmother would read this and make my wishes come true. Ü

Aside from the overrated Boracay, I want to explore the Philippines’ wonders of nature so first on my list is Palawan. My friend had her vacation in Dos Palmas Resort last summer, saw the photos she uploaded from her Facebook account and I was like so envy and dying to be there right at that moment. As I read, they have recreational facilities like basketball, tennis, beach volleyball, badminton, billiards, scuba diving, snorkelling, kayaking, windsurfing, island hopping and fishing. So it’s like all in one right? I so love those nipa huts that’s situated along shore.

2nd stop would be Camiguin, the island born of fire. I love the fact that it’s like so far away from the urban that it feels like you are kissing nature. I’ve read that they have untouched coastlines and is dotted by hot and cold springs. You can also go trekking volcanoes, explore trails and caves and be mesmerize with majestic waterfalls. This is good for nature trippers like me. Ü

This is one of their cold springs

Hot springs of course..

Panglao Bohol for my number 3. As they quote.. “From sun-kissed hills to underwater wonders to exotic wildlife, Bohol is a tropical sanctuary of natural beauty.” Indeed it is. This is known for diving and tourist resorts. I really want to learn how to dive. I have a friend who once worked in Cayman Island. She learned how to dive there and now I think she’s a licensed diver already. The thought of getting closer to marine life excites me so much. So much for my dream-in-transforming-into-a-mermaid syndrome. Haha!

Those are my 3 top choices to beat the summer heat. I am such a loser to not even had a chance yet to soak this time of the year while everybody had gone already to the beautiful beaches and resorts not only in the Philippines but from other countries as well. Notice that the places I chose for this blog post are places from the Philippines well in fact that I can choose places from outside of my country. Reason is.. I want to explore more of our own wonderful places. As the famous saying goes.. “Wag maging dayuhan sa sarili mong bansa.” I don’t know if I got that correctly but it’s the thought that counts. LOL! So there.. I just wish that Fairy Godmothers do exist so that I can make this happen.