Short Trip to Tagaytay

As mentioned in my previous post, last Monday (National Heroes Day), I went to Tagaytay. Dunno the last time I've been there, but for sure it's been a while. It was a really short trip, one of the shortest (if not the shortest) out of town trips that I've had. We only went to the convent of the Pink Sisters and had dinner then we went home. Though short, it was a fun experience. I went there with my dad, ninang (dad's side) and my cousins.

So on the day of the trip, I had an overnight stay in Marikina at my dad's and we would be going to Tagaytay in the afternoon. In the morning, I went biking all over Marikina with dad. Pretty enjoyable ride, though it was tiring and at one point messy because a part near the river was really muddy. Good thing I wore rubber shoes. :)

In the afternoon, we left for Tagaytay. The ride on the way was enjoyable already, but at one point, we got lost in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. When we got to Tagaytay, we went to the Pink Sister's Convent. I wasn't in the right clothes when we went so I didn't go in the chapel out of respect and we wrote our petitions. Me and one of my cousins went all over the gardens for a bit and then we left.

After visiting Pink Sister's we had dinner at this restaurant named Buon Giorno at this place that had more restaurants, overlooking Taal Volcano and the lake. When we came to the viewing deck, we were greeted by the view. Amazing I gotta say. Unfortunately the pics I took weren't clear >_<. Still, it was nice to see the place. Now, on to the food. All of us, except ninang ordered a rib eye steak (at medium rare) and we also ordered this salmon dish and a salad. Ninang paid for the dinner. While waiting, they served bread as an appetizer which was dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The salmon and the salad were good and after that, the steaks came. Wow, the steak was big and it tasted great along with the sides it came with. I'd say, it was worth it. A steak alone was 600+ pesos, by the way. :D
Just so you know, there's a restaurant next to the one we ate in and my one of my cousins (when they went to the same place in another trip before) told me that the steak there naman was 3000 pesos (yes, as in). Makes our steak's prices look cheap. :P

After that, we went home. When we came to the Metro, we noticed it was raining hard and it flooded at some parts. We went to Marikina first and from there, dad took me home to my place in QC.

Overall, while short, it was an enjoyable trip and it'd be nice to go out of town again for another vacation. ^_^

Some pics:

Pink Sister's Convent

 Buon Giorno @ Cliffhouse Tagaytay

Cliffhouse Tagaytay (found out the name of the place in the 'net)

Taal lake and volcano. Pic's blurred >.<

Dinner at Buon Giorno, Tagaytay.

Rib eye steak. It's bigger in person, plus it tastes great.

Sunset at Tagaytay

Cliffhouse at Tagaytay. Love the lights, it's like Christmas. (which is coming soon)

The Long Weekend

It's been a busy long weekend. As we know, last Thursday and yesterday were both holidays; Ninoy Aquino Day and National Heroes Day respectively. So yeah, it was a long weekend, meaning it was chance to have a break for some of us, although some of us too might've been busy with something, maybe like work or school. In this post, I'll be sharing about some of the stuff I've been doing in the last few days.

Thursday - August 21

Didn't really do much on Ninoy Aquino Day. Uneventful really. :(

Friday - Aug 22

Fridays this semester are no school days for me, since I have no classes scheduled for this day. Yet last Friday, I went to my school (UST) because I had to go to the general assembly of school organization. Other than that, nothing much, aside from homeworks and reading this long novel for one of my classes. Weird novel... :/

Saturday - Aug 23

Busier than the day before. I had to go back to UST to attend the general assembly of another org I joined (Yeah, I joined two orgs. I won't attend every activity though since I've got other things to do). In addition to that, before going to UST, I went to SM North EDSA to attend some event. Didn't finish the org GA, so I asked permission to leave after the dinner portion and I went back to SM North after going to UST. Of course, I still did my homeworks and was nearly done with them at that point.

Sunday - Aug 24

Much busier. By this time, I finished much of the bulk of my homeworks and did my readings. In the afternoon, I went to Marikina and had an overnight stay there with my dad. During my stay, me and him rode bikes all over Marikina during the night. Good experience plus we ate at this pansiteria (forgot the name, it's near the market area, but a bit off) for dinner. For something that's 90 pesos, the pansit was a great deal since it was 1) a big serving (it could feed 2-3 guys) and 2) it tasted good. :)

Just sharing some of my pics I took:

Sunset at Marikina

Taken at the pansiteria where me and dad had dinner during the ride.

Monday - Aug 25

Of all the days, this was the busiest day without a doubt. In the morning, me and dad had another bike ride all over Marikina which we finished by noon. Man, though ride. We rode by the river (which was really muddy. Bikes and my shoes were a mess. :( Good thing I wore my rubber shoes :) ), through the "bayan", took the bike lanes all over the city, headed to Marist (my old school) and from there went home, but not without having lunch first at this Pares house next to Concepcion church. Didn't bring my camera this time though unlike the night ride.

Later naman in the afternoon, I went to Tagaytay with my dad, ninang (Dad's side) and cousins. Of all the out of town trips I went to, this was one of the shortest ever, if not the shortest. We only went to the Pink Sister's Convent and had dinner at this restaurant that had a great view of Taal volcano and the province of Batangas. While it was short, it was fun. :) I'll be focusing more on this in another post so look out for that.

Pink Sister's Convent, Tagaytay

Taal lake and Taal volcano

And today, classes were suspended in UST, adding another day to the 5-day long weekend. Oh well, more time to do my homeworks and/or other stuff. :) All in all, enjoyable except for a few mishaps that happened. :)

And man, September's upon us again. :)  It's almost the start of the ber months. :)

Rak of Aegis - Review

Warning: Some spoilers ahead!

The ticket

Yeah, you read the title right, it's not "Rock of Ages" (which I haven't even watched), but "Rak of Aegis", a musical play based on the songs of the popular Pinoy band Aegis. Something like "Mamma Mia" which used ABBA's songs (which I watched live during their world tour last 2012 at the CCP, though that's a different league altogether). Yesterday, I watched the play with my mom at the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) Theatre, near E. Roudriguez, QC. Thought I was gonna go somewhere else when she told me we were going out on the day.

Anyways, there were people lining up when we came since the play was to start at about 3 PM. We got in the theater at 2:30, and while waiting, I looked at the nice stage which looked like an estero, complete with a canal that actually was filled with water. The theater overall was quite small, it could seat I think 300 people at the most and it wasn't very comfortable, despite air conditioning (especially compared to the CCP main theater or UST's med audi or the open-air quadrangle of my high school). The play didn't start exactly at 3:00 though.

The play overall was nice. Again, spoiler alert, I'll be telling some (not all) of what happened. Basically the story is about the situation at this baranggay and the main character, a young woman who wants to become an internet sensation to be popular and to support her family, who are having financial problems. It also dealt with the issue of flood in their baranggay, the setting of the play as well as business woes and family problems on the part of its residents. In addition to those, it also dealt with being positive in spite of the problems and how the residents, towards the end were able to rise up against the challenges that they faced through creativity to say one thing. I wont be telling about it in depth but that basically is the story of the play.

For me, on a deeper level, the story is a reflection of some social problems affecting our country, especially on the issue of flooding, and the issue of unemployment and family problems. Yet in spite of this, the characters tried to find something to make them positive in spite of those issues. In addition, it portrays the attitude of many people, aspiring for a better life and popularity, especially at these trying times. I could say, this is a Filipino play because it is timely and shows some aspects of thee society, plus it supports OPM. :)

Personally though, it was nice, everyone watching it was laughing a lot with all the jokes and the acting, and some of the lines that sounded like they came from some teleseryes, as well as some pick-up lines. Best part for me however, ike most of those watching I'm sure, was the singing. Just amazing, parang concert, even if I'm not a fan of Aegis, though I do know some of their songs. Maybe I should check out more of their songs.

Also, a thought came after the play, on the way home. I found it nice to watch this play this month of August, because as we know, it is the Buwan ng Wika, or the month dedicated to our national language. So it's nice (and IMO at least, appropriate)  to watch  Filipino play during the Buwan ng Wika. Man, almost halfway through the month already... :| Ber months na in a few weeks...

Overall score: 8/10. Story and choreography aren't the best, dialogue is ok, aesthetics (stage, props and costumes) were great, venue wasn't so good (compared especially to bigger venues) but the singing's awesome. :) It's like you're watching a concert if it was the singing alone.

Cast of the play

PETA Theater, Near E. Roudriguez.

Lunchtime at H Cuisine

It's nice to eat in a good restaurant once in a while, especially when it's a place that you haven't tried before. Today, me and my mom went to H Cuisine near Tomas Morato. Originally, I was to decide where we'd eat since we were gonna have lunch after first visiting Sta. Clara along Katipunan. Though I had some places in mind and thought of something along the way (like near where we'd be going), in the end, I never decided so mom suggested the place especially since it was featured (daw) on Kris TV and mom's been there before, but I haven't yet until now. So after visiting Sta. Clara, we went there. It was this small restaurant behind Shakey's Tomas Morato. Good thing the place wasn't full when we came. 

On to the food, we ordered their angus beef belly (their signature dish) and their taco salad, along with rice and iced tea. Wow, the food was good, especially the beef. No wonder why they call it awesome since the meat was flavorful and tender, quite rich. One of the best things I've eaten in a while. The salad was lovely as well. Overall, it was a great lunch and nice to try out something different this time around. After that, we headed to TriNoma to do some shopping :)

Facebook page of the restaurant

Taco Salad

The most awesome Abgus beef belly. Really good.

The restaurant. Next to it is Rub (the red and white building), a restaurant where I have eaten at before.

PS: I don't watch Kris TV.