Secret Garden – A quick chill

After getting copies of our marriage certificate, I walked from T.Alonzo to Wright Park passing by Baguio Center Mall, Session Road, Hill Station, 50’s Diner, the White House, PNKY, Botanical Garden and Ketchup Community. You would think I am crazy but let me tell you, walking along the roads of Baguio city is a must. J

I thought I’ll be passing by South Drive Rd but I think I really need to consult “the map” on my next visit because I did not see South Drive Rd during my long walk. Hesitantly, I hailed a cab and told the driver to drop me off “Secret Garden” along South Drive.

The restaurant is situated beside South Drive Manor. I thought the restaurant inside South Drive Manor was the Secret Garden. The waiter must have known that I was not expecting a high-end dining place so he asked me whether their restaurant was my choice or the Secret Garden. I told him “Is this not the Secret Garden?” He replied “No Ma’am. That restaurant upstairs is the Secret Garden” So that’s it. I thanked the waiter and grabbed my backpack. I walked out of the fine dining restaurant and went to this tiny way up a cozy place.

I really would like to impress myself with the ambiance. That’s not on the negative side please. But I guess the gloomy weather made its way inside me. In fairness to the servers, they greeted me with all smiles when I entered.

It was a bit early when I visited so I am not surprised that I was the only customer. I chose to sit by the window to savor the wonderful view of pine trees less the BENECO cables.

I ordered chicken sandwich together with ripe mango shake since I was not ready for a pasta meal. I ate heavy breakfast that’s why.

While waiting for my food, I grabbed my camera and took pictures around. It was a tiny restaurant but my lens has a lot of things to play with especially because it was made cozy and homey at the same time.

cozy setup

Counter Details

After a few minutes, my mango shake was served. I took a sip. Hmmm. Good!

A few minutes passed and my Chicken Sandwich was served. I looked at it and said to myself, “Doesn’t look like a chicken sandwich after all.”

not so impressive Chicken Sandwich

I want to rant because I am going to pay a few hundred bucks for my chicken sandwich that’s not even good looking. The fries were also bland. Haist! Gloomy weather has something to do with this. L

In all fairness, I tried to chew my meal. That was the first time I ate a sandwich without the bread and I used knife and pork to dissect it. I did not order a salad. I ordered a sandwich. Why don’t they let me eat my sandwich as sandwich? The bread used was a French bread and it was hard. [As in matigas like a bato.] I really appreciate loaf breads when it comes to sandwiches because they are soft and they taste so good with the fillings. I only have French bread as a side to my pasta.

With this not so good review, will I go back? Definitely “Yes”. To give the restaurant a chance to get better ratings from me if in case on my second visit I’ll be satisfied with their food.

Ratings:

Food – 1/5 [This is for the Chicken Sandwich]

Drinks – 3/5 [For the Mango Shake. They lack presentation with their shakes. A little fruit toppings will be nice.]

Ambiance – 4/5 [In fairness they are really homey and cozy. It should have been 4.5/5 if they don’t keep a cobweb on their Entrance.]

Comfort Room – N/A [I was not able to try their comfort room. I will try on my next visit.]

Staff – 4/5 – Good Staff.

The Perks and Irks of traveling SOLO

Read it right!

I traveled solo last September 13-14, 2013. That was a first time! J

Jenny I did it. Kaso I’d be more thrilled if I did it in an unfamiliar place.

It was not as scary because I think my destination is very familiar to me. I lived here for 5 years so it’s very easy and husband allowed it since I have a valid reason to travel alone.

Backpack Backpack!

I rode a Victory Liner bus at around 1am in their not-so-lovely Cubao terminal beside a delusional “artist” who I discovered was a pervert. Okay erase. What is a more subtle term for that? Hmmm. I don’t have a word. Clue: He was the patriarch of a famous show way back in the 90’s. The show had a remake aired today with those three lovely ladies with initials AKN. If you got it, then good. If you don’t never mind. J [irk]

By the way, my facebook post below was for him.

We arrived at Baguio city at 6:30AM. Since I am very familiar with the place, I went out of the terminal and proceeded to my favorite place to eat Filipino breakfast. I ordered my usual Hotdog Meal with hot choco and ate silently. I observed that parents together with their children went to the counter with their lunch boxes and ordered the breakfast steak. The crew happily placed the order inside the lunchboxes. I was able to count 6 parents and children do the same. I don’t know if it was a promo or something. I just thought it was cool.

After getting what I needed from Baguio, I was ready to explore [again].

[perk] I walked from T. Alonzo to Wright park passing by Baguio Center Mall, Baguio Public Market, Session Road, SM Baguio, White house, Botanical garden, Saint Joseph church and Ketchup community. Wondering how far? Hmm. I walk for about 2 hours. That's all I can give.

The whole experience was relaxing because walking along the roads of Baguio city was bliss. It was cold, comforting, warm to the heart and uber relaxing. I have a very good attachment to nature ever since I started climbing mountains. If you’re not on that side DON’T TRY THIS. J

I chanced upon a good place to eat in front of Wright Park. It is called Ketchup Community. I think I read about this in one of the blogs and it is gaining popularity in the blog world. I must try this on my next visit.

Meantime I hailed a cab and told the driver to drive me to South Drive. My goal for the day is to visit the Secret Garden.

Full review is posted HERE. 

I keep on discovering new things/places in my favorite place. Thanks to the creative businessmen, it keeps on going and going and going.

After my lunch I went straight to the city market to buy some fruits for my family who are waiting for me at home. [perk]

Conclusion:

Paul will always be my favorite travel buddy. But because of some unavoidable circumstances, there are times [and will be times] when we need to take separate routes.

Being alone means I can control my time. [perk] I can be anywhere I want to be [perk] and I can eat anywhere I fancy. [perk] I can buy things I want without the usual side comment “Mahal yan.” [perk] I can walk kilometers without hearing any complaints. [perk] I can be at the same place twice and eat the same thing over and over again. [perk]

On the other hand, I don’t have somebody to ask where would be the nicer place to eat. [irk] No comments whether my new slippers are pretty or not. [irk] No one there cheer me up when I’m feeling down. [irk] No one to laugh with. [irk] No one to carry my bags. [irk] And no one to talk to over a cup of coffee. [irk]

I guess I just need to find the balance. I want to explore more things and do more things alone and with company.

Tara byahe tayo!:)

Couple’s Date

We’ve been biking lately and I’m proud to say that my bike reached its first 100km last Saturday night (September 7, 2013). Thanks to Paul who is actually having fun on our recent escapades.

I purchased my bike few weeks ago and we’ve been going out every week to hit the road and explore things old and new.

My bike’s first ride was when we went to Kapitolyo, Pasig to have dinner and try out the road there. It was a 6km breezy ride at the heart of Pasig City. The streets were silent and we enjoyed the night until it was a little past 12 midnight.
Our second ride was a tour in Binangonan. Paul calculated it to be around 6km (12km back and forth) from our place. We went there to explore our way to our upcoming long ride to Jala-Jala. The place was good however I expected more so I’m kinda disappointed. I thought it would have the country feel. But to my dismay the town was also crowded.
We went to my sister’s place on our third ride. It was a rough 20km route via C6 which is by the way not good for vehicles and bikers. We reached our destination after 2 hours of pedaling. Much to my surprise, the Laguna lake view was awesome! J

With cutey Catalina

Last Saturday we went to UP Diliman via Floodway. The way to Manggahan was not cool so we went to Eastwood to ease up a bit and went to Katipunan all the way to UP Diliman. The sun is about to set when we arrived. Thanks to Paul’s camera phone he was able to capture this sight.

A trip to UPD is not complete without some cravings. We initially planned for Mang Lary’s isaw but there were lots of people lined up for the food stall. We decided to have some fishballs instead.

After satisfying our stomachs, Paul told me to try another route. It was via Marikina. I think the route was better because of the bike lane and we arrived at our destination earlier than expected.


Should this be the start of our biking dates? I dunno. But I hope we will continue to ride our bikes and hit the road together.

Till next time. ^_^