One Sunday @ Tagaytay

Since I made a comeback post, that means I really need to take updating my blog seriously. :)

As much as I want to share all the major events in my family life in one post while I was away,I'd rather tell you some random kwentos muna during that 7 months that I was missing in action here in blogger. I hope you'll bear with me if there are times you'll encounter some sabog-sabog stories in my upcoming posts. you see, I'm still having a blog leave hangover, if there's such a thing! Anyway,during the whole time that I was on blog hiatus,facebook lang at paminsan-minsan na twitter ang naging social life ko online.but most of the time talaga I was on skype because of the husband.

So what's new about the C family? Like what I've mentioned on some of my posts months ago, one of the perks of the hubby's work overseas is that  he goes home every 6 months with his allotted 2 weeks paid vacay. his last vacation 2 months ago was special because he arrived 2 days before my 29th birthday. So yes! it's really a happy birthday for me because I was able to celebrate it with my loves. the joy of seeing my boys together again is already enough for me.sobrang saya,not to mention super miss na talaga namin ni Xian si daddy nya,big time! :) 

Here are some of the photos taken during my birthday lunch. Despite the drizzly September weather, my little family headed to Tagaytay with my dear inay and my sister Sol after we attended the Sunday mass. we decided to have our lunch at Viewsite Restaurant. Good thing the place isn't crowded when we arrived although we had a hard time at first finding a good parking space.

Sharing you some of our family photos -- they're my life's greatest gift:

For our lunch,since i'm a big fan of seafoods, we settled for these. After all,
happy tummy = happy birthday!

seafoods and inihaw platter

 sinigang to complement the cold Tagaytay weather.

I'm a big fan of leche flan, so this one is really a treat for me.yummy!

can you spot my fave drinks?

we were serenaded by this group while we were eating.after the usual happy birthday song, they told us to request any song in mind so we requested our theme song and another 2 new songs.They're really good!

sis and Inay

may sikreto ako, di ko sasabihin! :D

Xian entertain us with his antics.see his dad's reaction? bentang benta eh no? hehe. 

 busy checking some of the pics

I love you,baby!

the little man and the foggy Taal lake view

because more than anything else,the best birthday present is his presence. ♥

Nuvali Saturday

We went to Nuvali last weekend since it's my dream (haha!) for Xian to see and experience feeding the famous koi fishes there and try his first boat ride. And eventhough it's a busy week for me because of the February 14 school activity and we still have office schedule last Saturday, buwis buhay akong umabsent and so far I'm still here at may trabaho pa naman ako.hihi.

Although I also love my work but family is still my top priority since weekend is very precious for us nowadays, eto na lang yung time to have some family day out.

Saturday came, Allan, Xian,me and Inay left our house at around 8:30 AM. Good thing that the weather is perfect that  morning kaso we encounter lang some minor glitch with directions after taking the Silangan exit and turn on the wrong route. Instead of turning right sa left kami napunta,well it's my fault since I insist that we turn left according to my instinct. (But my instinct fail that time. Bigla-bigla nang-iiwan sa ere. I was thinking karma ata 'to kase absent ako.di kaya?) Thank God that the husband "sensed" na wala atang pinapatunguhan pagdadrive nya and adding to that,that one person na napagtanungan namin di sya sure kase di daw sya taga-dun. Okay atleast we enjoyed the mini joy ride.

Fast forward na sa kwento,finally we reached Nuvali around 10:00 AM na ata.

Hello there!

Even though I've seen a lot of pictures of the koi,nakaka-starstruck pa din  ang mga isdang orange na 'to sa sobrang dami nila. 

Xian loves feeding them. He giggles everytime there's splashes of water generated by the koi.For the whole fish feeding experience,Allan and Xian bought 7-8 packs of the feeds and I think sa dami ng napakain ni bagets, close na sila ng mga fish. Kawawa lang tingnan mga fish everytime they went crazy fighting over the feeds pero in fairness mukhang masaya naman sila sa ginagawa nila :)

Here's some of my boys fish feeding moments.They're the Team White.lol.

Now here's the Team Violet:

me with Inay dear

Our day out is incomplete without some family snapshots.

 
After feeding the fish,  what else to do kundi Boat Ride! Allan bought our tickets and reserve the whole boat ride for our group for Php 180. we were assigned boat docking #20 (tama ba yung term?)  and that time nasa #15 pa lang yet Xian already wants to ride the boat. So while waiting for our turn and to entertain Xian, my two boys just engaged in their usual playful self.

daddy,habulin mo ko..

their "huli ka" kissing game.. Btw,can you spot Inay dear, inip na din sa boat ride.hihi.

Finally after 25 years, it's our turn! :)

mahangin talaga sa labas.

 

gusto nya solo lang nya yung upuan

Xian loved it when  the boat entered a tunnel under the bridge. There was also a time when he happily exclaimed "wow,mommy look flamingo!" We were shocked that at his age he already knows that kind of bird.

The water taxi ride took about 10 minutes to go around the lake which the little man enjoyed every minute.Feel na feel nya lang the whole time. With the boat's sudden turn before our boat ride end (pang-finale ba.. haha!) I looked at Xian to see his reaction and he said "mommy,di naman ako scared!"

moment lang..

After our boat ride,we had our lunch at Claw Daddy. I will publish a different post about it next time. For now I'll enjoy the rest of our precious days with my boys. This is our last weekend before Allan's flight.

Happy Weekend everyone! 

It's a Casa Rap Afternoon!

Last Saturday afternoon on our way to my in-laws place, we had an impromptu stopover at Casa Rap to have our snacks. They're just our neighbor town and only 20 minutes drive if we use the expressway.

Casa Rap is an organic garden restaurant located at San Jose Batangas and owned by Sister Emma Alday, an advocate for the environment. Proof of this can be seen in the restaurant's earth-friendly designs and color. At first, it just looks like a house covered with trees. It is not easy to find if you're not familiar with the place. Hindi sya masyado pansinin, unless pumasok na mismo sa loob. 

As soon as we enter, the whole place feels like a secret  garden. Bigla ko tuloy naalala ang favorite show ko nung bata ako na Mary and The Secret Garden! :D

The Place!

I heard they serve really good food for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Based on experience, it's better to go there early pala because they're only open until 5:00 PM. 

When we arrived there, it's 4:00 PM already so we only had an hour to enjoy the food and the place,  plus we're the last customers na ata that time so we had the place all to ourselves! 

When we were seated at our choice of table,too bad some of their menu  for snacks like their grilled sandwiches are not available that time. So go lang kami dun sa available. Hubby and I tried their lomi, the husband having lomi as one of his comfort food love the taste of Casa Rap's version. When we ask Xian what he wanted to eat, the little man quickly replied "mommy,fries atsaka burger!" Patay! So we told him that there's no available fries nor burger there and we'll just drop by at the nearest drive-thru after that.Okay naman kay bagets.He just chose what he want and pointed Casa Rap's Salad.Okay, so we tried it too.Then for dessert,we had their famous Casa Rap Halo-Halo. I super love it! The best thing about their halo-halo is that instead of using ice, they use buko sherbet.
 

According to the articles which you'll find there, Sis Emma personally designed the place.  They were even featured in some lifestyle television programs because of the popularity the gained through the food they served by organic farming. Since she also has an innate love for art, you'll find a lot of interesting pieces inside her restaurant:

 

framed write-ups about Casa Rap

 books

some recycled pieces you'll find at the place

 the owner's handwritten note on the menu book

Some Family Snapshots

 Xian love this aquarium thing that is fish-deprived that time.hehehe.By the way,did you know that it is made from the truck's windshield? Talking about creativity,huh?

They have different tables and chairs there. One of them is this wooden table and bench which is Xian's favorite spot.

Hello, ako Xian!

Up for something? ngitian pa lang nila nagkakaunawaan na :)

kulitan of my two boys while waiting for our food.

may textmate na ata si Xian at mukhang kunsintidor pa ang tatay. 

My two babies: Baby Allen and Daddy Allan 

moi

mommy and my baby no more.

 Mukhang nalugi yung isang bata sa tabi.hihi.

The Food

 Xian's Choice: Casa Rap's Salad.Xian love the okoy. I love the sour dressing.I'm not sure if those flowers are edible.lol.

Yummy Lomi! Since andami pala ng serving and we both order this, hubby finished my leftover lomi since Xian only got to taste a few spoonful.

Meal is better kapag may Coke! #cokeaddict

Casa Rap's famous Halo-Halo. The Best!

Happy Customers

The C Family!

One thing is sure,we will definitely go back again at Casa Rap for lunch to try their other yummy dishes,I'm craving for their Sinigang na Gindara and Halabos na Hipon and their ice cream with lambanog! :P

 *Casa Rap is in Km. 90 in San Jose, Batangas. It is open daily from 7am until 5pm. For dinners, contact them two days in advance for arrangements. You can contact them at 043 726 2873.