Mommy's day out

my mom turned 57 this week, and my sister and i decided to "book" her for a sunday junket to tagaytay. it was a weekend long overdue -- the last family trip we took together must have been in my sophomore year of high school, when we still had a car. my mom didn't even know that the tagaytay-sta. rosa route now exists! (she thinks the old way was faster.) but now that my sister has max, hopefully we'll get to take more girl-bonding trips together. thanks ate!

i felt very grown-up and efficient making reservations for lunch and spa treatments -- both of which we were late to, naturally. :-)

lunch at the cliffhouse

after reading about it in a magazine, ate and i set our sights on lunch at the cliffhouse, a new retail/dining complex overlooking taal lake. doesn't the phrase "retail/dining complex" just evoke ugly industrial-type images? (strip malls anyone?) luckily, cliffhouse was none of that.

the cliffhouse is set low in the ridge, so it offers a closer (and clearer) view of taal volcano than our childhood haunt, taal vista lodge. ample space is provided between restaurants, so while the place may be full, it doesn't feel crowded. everything simply feels open, airy and sunny -- perfect for a laid-back sunday. for dining, one can choose from cafe breton, buon giorno, papa vinz' pastries and fire lake grill. there's also a nifty home store/bar (domecillo), a non-cheesy souvenir shop, a sun deck with benches and ample parking.

lunch was at fire lake grill, which has received pretty good reviews so far. while the food didn't quite blow me away (reviews really make you expect a lot, huh?), it was all good. the service is decent, the food is well-presented (if a bit lacking in flavor), and the ambience simply puts you in too sunny a mood to complain. it's probably the priciest joint in the complex, which simply means makati prices.

ladies who lunch

i never realized my sister was so matakaw. (or takaw-mata?) or that my mom was so picky with food. we ordered a a beef, brocolli and cream cheese pasta for her, and she gave most of the beef and all of the brocolli to me and ate. sigh.

rare tuna steak salad, nicoise-style with lime-cilantro dressing (php 260)

cappuccino of pumpkin with cinnamon froth and beef slivers (php 120) -- top pick!

for the family carnivore: coffee-crusted striploin steak (php 875)

darne of norwegian salmon with tagaytay greens and dalandan (php 350)

we also had philly cheese steak-style penne (php 240) and asparagus and mushroom risotto (php 220), but those were demolished before we remembered to take photos.

pampering at nurture spa

my first visit to nurture spa (with marlon) was no great shakes, but the services seem to have improved over time. and of course the ambience is quite relaxing. i got my mom a one-and-a half-hour ginhawa massage (php 1,500) as a birthday treat. rather pricey for a massage, but well worth it when she burst into our massage room afterwards, all aglow and raving about her liberation from assorted aches and pains. :-)

mothers are funny. after an hour and a half, my mom knew the entire life story of her masseuse, as well as half a dozen factoids about the spa and the oils they use. my sister and i passed out after the first ten minutes!

doña imelda in her garden

coffee at bag of beans

after being rendered jellylike by our masseuses, my sister decided we needed batangas's finest barako to perk us up. i don't know if bag of beans does indeed serve batangas's finest, but it sure seems so!

we didn't get to try their famous english pies, since we were too busy chomping down two large, fluffy cinnamon rolls topped with cream cheese (php 35 each) plus a plate of moist, mouthwatering carrot-banana loaf -- a hybrid of my favorites. everything got washed down with free-flowing brewed coffee (php 55). caffeine and sugar bliss.

will update this post with links, contact information and how-to-get-theres when i have more time. stupid internet explorer at the office is making uploading pictures a living hell. i miss firefox. i miss lulu.