Tagaytay Weekend: Breakfast at Antonio's

over the weekend i went to Tagaytay City with our Thailand Trip travelmates together with our respective kids.

i saw our the itinerary prior to the trip and it included dining at one of the branches of Antonio's.

i've been to Tagaytay numerous times, being so conveniently close to Manila, but never got to try this very well-recommended restaurant called Antonio's. i've passed this up way too often before so i'm going to make sure i do this time.

maybe the real reason i've always wanted to try out this restaurant is my affinity to the name. from my earliest recollection i've already been introduced to it, it being my father's name. then when i finally had my own child, i named him after his grandfather, so my son's full name is Jaden Antonio.

here i added a piece of jaden's name to antonio's signage.

this is the main dining area of Antonio's since it the biggest. even saw Nadine Samonte here with her date. man, she's skinny. hahaha

here's another dining area which is more private and is very appropriate for a big intimate family dining experience.

here's the window scene of the same room, perfect for that intimate date. if she's not your girl yet then bring her here and it's a guarantee she'll be your girl before the meal ends. if she's your girl already, bring her here and propose and she'll surely say yes.



here's another dining area by the koi pond. it is the only outdoorsy-feel of the four dining areas.

here's another shot of the main dining area. there's another dining area after the stairs, a little secluded and doesn't have those ambiance as the other three.

here's the main staircase to access all four dining areas.

the waiting area was very homey and comfy.

in front of the main door. it turns out two Antonio's were now incorporated into one. we were looking for the old Breakfast at Antonio's but were told that they are now housed under one roof.

Antonio's Restaurant is newly renovated to accomodate the previous Breakfast at Antonio's theme of white-colored interiors. i think on a business standpoint it really was a good move, lowering overhead cost significantly.

this scene reminded me of a Shakespeare novel, Romeo and Juliet, only with DSLRs.

looking at the old Antonio's restaurant pics, they managed to re-use this interesting artwork. it can be seen at the waiting area upon entering the main door.

good thing we really dined here. the koi pond made it worth it since my son can't get enough of it because of his fondness to any kind of fish.

the koi fish here were huge and very colorful.

you can always ask the waiters for fishfood so you could feed them.

make sure you don't leave your children alone to avoid falling in.

mom and son enjoying the experience.

jaden had the best seat (table) in the house.

we arrived around 3:30pm so we can avoid the crowd but guess what, the restaurant was full even that late. we were told breakfast menu was only available till 4:00pm so we hurriedly ordered since the breakfast menu was the most affordable.

our tab was Php900 for 3 persons without drinks. average meal is around Php 350 for a basic breakfast meal.

i'll try saving up php3,800 for that set meal at Antonio's restaurant and maybe get to be seated in the bigger dining areas.

Punta Fuego (Peninsula)

Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind. ~Seneca

last june 8, our family had one last hurrah for summer with yet another outing. this summer's been very productive as far as outings were concerned, to wit, we've been to ilocos for cocktails, zambales for appetizers, taal lake for the main course and for our dessert came punta fuego.

i've made an extensive piece for the ilocos and taal trips and decided to step aside my piece on zambales (i'm having a hard time with it, honestly) and instead go straight to my punta fuego piece.

punta fuego (particularly Peninsula) is exactly an hour's drive away from tagaytay city. coming from commonwealth it took us a total of 2.5 hours in all. it is part of nasugbu town in batangas. it is a very exclusive subdivision but the residents somehow made it a business of some sort to rent out their vacation houses to willing tourists.

their website is http://www.puntafuego.com/ for more extensive information. but for now, here are some pics of this surprising beach destination.

this was our rented house in punta fuego peninsula. it only costed us P8,000.00 for an overnight stay. if you thought this is a bungalow, well i'll let you in on a secret, it's a 3-storey house with 3 bedrooms that can sleep around 15 persons comfortably.

now, upon entering the house. everyone's attention will be attracted to this terrace like a magnet.

this is your view from the terrace. this magnificent view is inclusive of the P8,000 rent already. in other places you might be charged for having such a view but not here in punta fuego. the view, as that visa card commercial goes, is just "priceless".

the caretaker let us in on a secret, the house in your foreground is the resthouse of Sen. Ralph & Vilma Recto. by the way, Punta Fuego is part of Batangas so it's no wonder that the couple would have a resthouse here in their province.

this is the beach adjacent to the Recto's resthouse. it's directly right at the back of their house. it offered a good shade for picnicing but beware of the ants, they got huge ants here that have painful bites.

the 2 antonios, antonio chua and jaden antonio andres enjoying the sun, sea and sand.

this is what they call the long beach and is the most crowded beach of the many beaches inside punta fuego. what's unique of the beaches in punta fuego is the trees that offer a good shade for guests who are not particularly fond of the sun's heat.

they also offer some water sport activities here like kayaking ...

jetskis, banana boat and a few more activities.


my son, jaden here showing everyone his new shirt and shorts. :)

this was taken while in the water, it was the only way to give a glimpse of the shoreline.

this was already taken around 5:30pm which is already considered the "golden hours" in photography,

jaden here drying up after his late afternoon swim. notice the sun's light as it already is turning golden, that must be the reason it is called the "golden hours".

the view from the rented house's terrace, this part of the province also offer spectacular cloud formations as can be seen that added more drama to the view.

punta fuego is real good value for your money. the good thing about staying here is that you can bring your own food to again save on your meals.

there's a refrigerator inside the rentable house, has complete amenities for cooking, they have hot and cold showers, a videoke machine (P5/ song so stock up on those P5 coins at home). they have billiards, darts and table tennis at the basement level though offered at affordable prices.

bring playing cards for an all-night card game, we played poker and were able to finish two sets. and of course do bring some booze.

for a good beach experience without being too far from the city, punta fuego is a very sensible destination to consider. for only P8,000.00 a night, it is really worth it. the use of beach is free and the spectacular view are again just priceless.

so next time when thinking of your next destination, give this place a consideration. it won't be too heavy on the budget.

for inquiries, i got the number of one of the caretakers there. his name is "awanen" (sounds ilocano) with cell number 09197055796. give your budget and he'll try to find a house suited for your budget i hope.

now where's that zambales blog of mine again, so i can finish it up.

Taal Lake & Taal Volcano Crater - Finally!

Finally! you see i've been wanting to visit the Taal Volcano Crater for the longest time now. this volcano that's so near and yet so hard to decide whether to go near or not. this volcano that in grade school made us a little proud knowing that this is the smallest active volcano in the world.

anyway to reach Taal Volcano, one would have to go to Talisay town in Batangas. Talisay is the community you see from the various viewing decks in tagaytay city. Upon reaching the Tagaytay City rotonda turn left and then after 1km. you should see signages pointing to Talisay. don't worry the view going down to Talisay is quite breathtaking so no need to complain and ask your driver "are we there yet?" every now and then.

From the many resorts available we decided that Taal Lake Yacht Club (TLYC) would be our entry point. entry fee per person was P100 and a cottage cost around P400 if my memory serves me right. a boat going to the crater was P1,500 for a maximum of 6 persons.







we didn't need too much time before getting on a boat bringing us to the volcano base. the trip will certainly get you wet especially during strong winds. the trip took about 30 minutes.





there are several fees again to pay upon reaching the volcano base. there's an entry fee of P10 per person, there's a parking fee for your boat also and of course the horse that can get you to the volcano crater faster and less physically demanding will cost you P500, that's for roundtrip already.

we agreed that the more adventurous way to go would be by trekking. we were told it will take about an hour to climb to the crater along the 3km trail. "no sweat!" said the group in unison composed of 1 in his 40s, 1 in his mid 30s (that's me), about 8 in their 20s and 4 in their teens.



to give you a more detailed description of the trek, let's divide the trail into 3 parts: above is the 1st part which is the "feeling out" part. be ready to get all powdered up by dust, every step of man and beast would turn everything in front of you in a cloud of dust. this is the hardest part, you'd think that the P500 ride might have been a bargain after all.



the 2nd part is the "thinking it over" part. because upon reaching this part, you will really start to question and blame yourself why you didn't bring that extra P500 bucks in your wallet. but don't forget to look back at TLYC because doing so will give you another breathtaking view.



many "colorum" horses will trail you up to this point thinking you can't go on. they will offer you a small discount coz you've covered some ground yet still far from the crater. a cousin's wife rode here coz she can't stand the steep trek under the heat of the sun no more.



this part is the easiest of the trail but then it is also here that you'll try to come up with an alternative route. we've been thought in geometry that the shortest distance from one point to another would be a straight line. well we kept that in mind and looked for another route so we could skip the curvy trail, some 4 of us from the group.





as you can see, there's no longer a trail ahead of us. most local folks were jeering us and laughing at our misadventure. we shamefully went back and our girl cousins were already ahead of us and already well-rested.



this is the last part of the climb i call "what the heck?" part. there's no turning back here. the colorum horses are no longer behind coz they know you're really keen on finishing it. this is the steepest part, here your legs get heavier every step. i tried dashing up the final 50 meters just for the heck of it and ended up drinking 3 softdrinks at the crater due to the added exhaustion of that mad dash.







this is the resting huts at the top of the crater. they offer refreshments like softdrinks, buko and beers yup beers, that good old pale pilsen.



kevin and kirby deserved free refreshments for keeping up with their older cousins.



the group!



the view!



another view!



from viewdeck!



judging from this foreigner's look, he's quite satisfied with the view.



so we headed back home. but keep this in mind: if you really think you can't make the trip back down anymore, try to haggle for the ride down. my teen cousins rode down at a haggled price of P130 per person. but i guess this was becoz 2 of them rode on 1 horse and besides they were small built so it's almost like carrying one big guy.



jump shot for a successful adventure.



on our way back!



if only these Crocs could talk, surely they would be complaining for the abuse they got from their masters.



we stayed here. i forgot the name but it's the 3rd house from TLYC. we got a room for P2,200 aircon room with 3 double occupancy beds. now, that's cheap for say 6 persons and an additional person comes at a relatively cheap cost.

was this trip worth it? on a scale of 1-10, i give this trip a 5. well the entire group didn't get to swim in the lake coz the water near the resort was too dirty. they did have a platform in the middle of the lake accessible by kayak or can be brought there by banka but it was too deep.

the taal crater climb was not that exciting either. if you rented the horse, it's not worth the P500. if you trek on foot, the sight at the top is not worth the exhaustion. then the P30 softdrinks will really disappoint you also.

sadly it's one trip a city-dweller should take due to its proximity to metro manila.

next stop ... baguio or punta fuego. BYAHE NA!