Postcard: Tagaytay

Where: Ligaya Drive
taken with an Ipod Touch and Leme Cam app

Sustainability Bites: Echostore

The end and beginning of the year is always the perfect time for most of us to reflect and think of ways to improve ourselves. For this year my key action is to "go green". Let's face it, the world, like most of us, is not getting any younger/fresher, so we might as well think of ways to reduce our carbon footprints.

We are lucky that many people share the same sentiment and have created brands that enables us to "go green" easily without sacrificing the products you cannot live without.

One store that is now gaining popularity is the Echostore (ECHO is the acronym for Environment & Community Hope Organization STORE). They have everything you need to help you make your first step towards sustainability (from chocolates, to lip balm, to tea, to conditioner, and all your everyday needs).

I try to give products from Echostore as much as I can to promote our local products and to raise awareness about adpating a sustainable lifestyle. I usually buy the destressing stuff coz all the people I know are stressballs (including me). Here are some of the products you can buy:

An all-natural personal care product line that contains no harmful chemicals.

Spa in a Bottle 50ml • Spa in a Can 100g • Shampoo 150ml • Conditioner 150ml • Shower Gel 150ml • Hand and Body Lotion 150ml • Antibac Liquid Hand Soap 150ml • Antibac Hand Sanitizer 50ml • Bar Soap 100g • Lip Balm 10g

*Available in grapefruit and/or peppermint scents

Aside from achieving sustainability, percentage of the profits from the sale of Echostore Body Basics goes to the ECHO Hope Fund which benefits holistic health programs of women from marginalized communities. These include livelihood projects and education programs for hygiene and sanitation, cancer prevention, nutritional care, mental and physical health, and women empowerment (that's like hitting three birds with one stone: you get what you need, you saved the Earth, and you get to help. wow lang!)

Echostore has also recently unraveled its EchoMarket and EchoDeli where they sell organically grown fruits and veggies and other fresh food. I hope more people will get hooked and adapt this lifestyle because, honestly, with all the calamities and changes in our environment, there is really no other way to go but the "green" path to save the planet we are living in.

Check out more about Echostore here:

http://echostore.ph/

Flashback: Tagaytay on a whim

I have to warn you... I have the craziest friends... we love doing silly things :) Actually, it's not really an effort for us...we're just plain goofy. :) 

We also hate planned getaways coz it seldom pushes through (sometimes, the plan eats dust too). 

So one Saturday, the plan is to eat at Pino and Mercato. The plan failed. We ended up enduring the traffic in Katipunan all the way to Tagaytay :)

hello C5 traffic...

To Tagaytay...whiiiizzzzzzzzzzz

  

The plan (again) is to eat in Jolina Magdangal's restaurant, Memory Lane. And being our crazy selves yet again, we ended up in Cliffhouse.

Cliffhouse's supposedly dramatic facade

We decided to eat at Buon Giorno since almost all other restaurants in the area are already about to close, and we want to try something new.

While waiting for our food to arrive, we decided to hunt for dessert. Good thing, there's a Mochiko stall :) woohooo

we bought all flavors I think :)

always wanted a chill chair like this one :)

So our food's finally ready. We ordered one meal per person thus the food coma afterwards. The good thing about Buon Giorno is that the servings are just right... or we we're just too hungry to eat everything. haha

eggplant parmigiana

margherita pizza

cannelloni spinacci

puttanesca

ravioli

salmon

our bill was surprisingly cheap too... for too much food, we paid less than P2,000 (P300 each for an Italian restaurant is really not that bad).

So we all ended the night happy and food comatosed. I can't wait to travel with these guys again soon. Next time, we hope to eat in Memory Lane for real! hahaha

Visit Cliffhouse, they have more restaurants waiting to be explored.

MOCHIKO

Retail Unit 3 Cliffhouse Tagaytay
Aguinaldo Highway, Maharlika East
Tagaytay City

(from rotunda, take highway to Batangas. Cliffhouse Tagaytay is on the left, right after Yellow Can Pizza)

Foursquare: https://foursquare.com/v/mochiko/4dc3a1f6887717c87ff572a4

Buon Giorno Caffe & Bistro

4 Cliff House

Tagaytay City, Cavite

Philippines

(046) 483-2102

Foursquare: https://foursquare.com/v/buon-giorno-caffe--bistro/4c97193715829521c8b02ea8

Photos by Lea :)

FLASHBACK: Bliss in Tagaytay

Travel Flashback: I love traveling and sometimes I get too absorbed in the travel that I get too lazy to blog about it for a loooong time. So in memory of the best trips in my life, I'll be doing some flashbacks once in a while :) 

Tagaytay is probably the closest place you can go to where you can unwind after a very hectic week in your office or house.

I used to go to Tagaytay just for the heck of it since it’s just a bus away from the city.

Even with its commercialized parts, you’ll always find Tagaytay a perfect getaway to clear your mind off things.

One wonderful thing about going to Tagaytay is that your trip won’t be the same every time. The place has a lot to offer and you’ll definitely come back for more.

My last trip to Tagaytay became one of the best weekends ever so far in my life. I guess I owe it all to the person I’m with and the realizations I’ve finally made concrete and choosing to go to Tagaytay was so appropriate at that time.

Travel Tip 1: Travel with a person you want to spend a long time with so as not to ruin your trip. When possible, I try to travel with only one companion, since you won’t have to think about a lot of considerations. Big groups are fun but sometimes it’s not as relaxing. 

with my fave travel buddy :)

Arriving around 9pm, we looked for a place to stay in and being an impromptu trip, we did not have any reservations. We then opted to stay at Andanita Taj of Tagaytay since we know the owners . Unfortunately, Taj is already closed :( but the owners are planning their new hideaway place...which I will hopefully write here soon :)

The place had a great view of Tagaytay’s green terrain and sunset. It is open 24 hours and has a spa, themed rooms, and an Indian restaurant. 

Room for the night: hello Cairo!

After sleeping all night and almost half of the day when we woke up... we had our Continental Breakfast overlooking the thick fog that is Taal Lake but relaxing, nevertheless :) 

Indian tea and coffee + amazing view = tanggal stress for eons of years

Continental breakfast + the night's leftovers = heavy heavy breakfast :)

We checked out around noon in time for lunch.


Since we want to try something new, we went to Pamana restaurant, which is owned by Happy Ongpauco (Ongpaucos own the Barrio Fiesta food chain). It is basically a treasure throve of the family's memorabilias :)

feasted on the Ongpaucos' family pictures while waiting for our lunch

humble humble Filipino lunch : Sinigang + pinaputok na tilapia (i think)

condiments in a sungka

creative billing system too

To cap off our weekend getaway, we dropped by the new branch of Bag of Beans. Honestly, this is the first time I’ve been to BoB because we always get discouraged to go when we see how many cars are parked outside the area. 

big happy face pancake + cheesecake + good company and conversation = happynesss  to the nth power

What I really like about this place is the AWESOME cheesecake that melts in your mouth. Words cannot even describe how it tastes like.

This getaway is just one of the many awesome foodroadtrips I had in Tagaytay. Like I said, I have more Tagaytay stories to share next time... so when you feel like taking a break but don't have the luxury to go too far... drive an hour to Tagaytay :) 

*photos taken with my Canon camera by Grace and me (i cannot tell which is which na eh, the sucky shots are probably mine haha) 

PAMANA

Aguinaldo Highway
1315 Aguinaldo Highway, Silang Crossing East
Tagaytay, Cavite, Philippines
(63 46) 413-2461, (63 922) 859-2707 

Foursquare: https://foursquare.com/v/pamana-restaurant/4c6f52379c6d6dcb0a6fcf7a

BAG OF BEANS 
(just near the Tagaytay Rotonda)

Original Branch: 

115 Aguinaldo Highway
Mendez Crossing West
Tagaytay City, Cavite, Region IV-A
0923 720 9970

bagofbeanstagaytay.net/

 

Foursquare: https://foursquare.com/v/bag-of-beans/4c0b5e1e6071a593db34e132 

 

SKYLINE LUGE

I have to admit that seeing this attraction's poster...driving on a downhill road not to mention the cable chair lift we had to ride to get to the top gave me the jitters... but overall, the Skyline Luge is a fun and yes a potential "addicting" ride.Here's some snapshots:

Sentosa Luge is one of seven attractions within the Imbiah Lookout area in Sentosa Island. The Sentosa Luge is a combination of a go-kart and toboggan. The non-motorised, three-wheel carrier is the first attraction of its kind in Southeast Asia. The original luge is a racing sled for one or two people in which the rider or riders lie supine.

The ride is quite safe since children can ride without adult supervision having only a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour on a four-meter-wide track. Riders can also choose from two trails.  

from: A Guide To Asia

How to get there and rates: http://www.sentosa.com.sg/en/attractions/imbiah-lookout/sentosa-luge-skyride/


Next time I'll try the night luge! Do try to get on a luge when you're in Singapore...and get ready to be addicted because "Once Is Never Enough" :)