In the pm, as my son who drove all throughout the trip dozed off, exhausted from a late night of practice, doing his homework and class from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m., I decided to order pancit canton and crispy tawilis room service. Realy, really yummy. Lots of seafood and meat, vegetables too. The tawilis was apparently fresh. I wanted to get a second serving but thought my son might want to eat it when he woke up, but he didn't. As we were to have dinner in the coffee shop, the maid who had some of it too for merienda finished it off along with a KFC meal for dinner. Lucky for her. Here she is appreciating the view from the ridge.
Here's a picture of Tagaytay as the night was about to set in:
The Japanese buffet was extensive in terms of choices but wasn't too exciting. The rice was curried, I think. But the watermelon was oh so sweet. There were the usual choices: sashimi, sushi, miso soup, tempura (chicken, beef, fish, shrimp, vegetables and squid). I didn't take any of the other meat dishes like the Japanese beef curry, a chicken dish, a fish dish. Thankfully, the dessert was magnificent especially the midnight madness (a chocolate-mocha cake with a sponge layer at the bottom) and the pistachio cake. The coconut cake was all right, but the Christmas red and green balls and the white ball were lousy, even if the latter had mongo paste in it. They must have been for diabetics or the chef forgot to put in enough sugar.
The waiter was solicitous and made up for the lackluster food.
The buffet breakfast that came free was a let-down. The cold cuts were not 5-star in quality, and you should have seen the tocino. I hate my camera for not showing the truth. While in person the tocino looked dry, the picture I took showed it to have some oil. What a lie. Here's the picture of the scraggly tocino which actualy looks edible here:
The bacon was crispy as expected, but there were no sausages or longganisa. There was tuna, egg omelette, corned beef with potato cubes (think corned beef hash ), chicken adobo. Lots of fruit choices: watermelon (not sweet), peaches, pineapple, banana (senorita variety), papaya.Juices were available as were coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Waiters were cordial, sadly the food was not yet again 5-star.
Currently the hotel is building a new structure to increase the number of guest rooms and function rooms. Good for them. Hopefully, they'll lower the rates. Dreaming? Wistful? I guess that's me.
Ambience in the existing hotel is tops, so is comfort. Wheelchair accessibility was apparent. I think Henry Sy is very considerate of the disabled. Thanks, Mr. Sy.
They should do something about the food, though, and fast. The chef was an expat who smiled when he saw us. Nice of him to do that.
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Peninsula de Punta Fuego. Wow. Wow. Wow. The guards at the gate were snooty (reminiscent of the guards in Corinthian who remind me of the Gestapo), all of them wearing shades. But once you get past them, heaven. Wonder if St. Peter looks as forbidding. Hi, St. Peter.
Anyway, the houses are not too close to each other the way they are in subdivisions, even of the rich in Metro Manila, where the roofs almost reach the wall so that if there's a fire, chances are fire will transfer to the neighbor's house.
Anyway, at Punta Fuego, the houses are differently designed and come in different sizes, really beautiful. (I think most had three stories. )And the view is simply breath-taking. It is, after all a peninsula where the houses are, so you can see land jutting out into the sea. To prove that, shortly after we left our son with his friends, I texted 7000 and looked for him just so I know how Globe would describe the place. The reply: ____ is in the gen area of /near Luzon Sea. Good thing we knew he wasn't out in a boat or swimming. Imagine, Luzon Sea. Also, there were houses which had steps leading to the sea. And some houses had speedboats. Lifestyle of the rich really. I'm not sure who the residents are so I cannot say they're necessarily famous too. I'd like to visit PF for a night at least. I'm not sure this will be possible in May because of budget constraints, hehe. But I want to go bacccckkkkkk. There's a book that says "100 (1000) places to visit before one dies." If I were to make my own list, PF would certainly be in it.
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At any rate, now there are three properties I dream of owning: a unit in Rockwell so I can shop in Power Plant anytime, without having to wait for husband to be available; a house in Tagaytay with a view of Taal Lake, and a house in Peninsula de Punta Fuego. Tall order? So why?
I'm inspired by two people who're known to have visualized such seemingly grandiose dreams: Willy Ocier, I heard, did that and saw his dream materialize in Tagaytay Highlands. Henry Sy, on the other hand, had a picture in the wall of Taal Vista Hotel which detailed the hotel's history, showing him with back to the camera, gazing at Taal Lake from what was then Taal Vista Lodge. Now he owns the hotel, a decidedly five-star place, at least judging from the Royal Suite (rooms 307, 308, and 309) which measured 112 square meters. The suite had a room at either side of the sala and dining room, two toilet baths with a bath tub each, one powder room, two refs, 3 TV sets, a dining table for 4. And the furnishings were tops.
Oh and by the way, the management of Taal Vista Hotel was insightful enough to locate the hairdryer in the bedroom rather in the bathroom. A number of hotels place the hair dryer in the bathroom which I think indicates an accident about to happen. In grade school, maybe the one who decided was absent when it was taught, one learns in Science class that touching any electrical object when one's feet or hands, or worse, body, is wet can ground/electrocute a person. Which is why if you see me in a hotel where such is the arrangement, my hair is in greater disarray than usual. I'd rather a bad hair day than a scorched, or worse, a dead body all because of vanity.
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