Category: Destinations

Sometimes a Place, Most times a State of Mind

The Search is On for Tagaytay Wedding Venues

Rhiza6 Comments

That 500 Days of Summer song felt like last Saturday’s soundtrack!

Saturday, May 5, 2012. A few friends and I went on a road trip to Tagaytay to scout for a wedding venue. It started out as a top-secret mission, LOL, but since word has been out in the grapevine already anyway, I thought there’s no point hiding from our friends (and from this blog) what we were up to that day.

We had a specific purpose going there alright, but mostly, I’m happy for the excuse to be out with good company. It was a day of sun, and laughter, and food, and jokes we wouldn’t dare talk about in front of our pastor, haha.

The people you’re seeing in the photos are just some of the friends I grew up with—back from when we were diaper-clad toddlers, through our semi-reckless, semi-rebellious teenage days, to now, traversing through adulthood and growing in age and in faith. Two of them are getting married (to each other!) in August, and as I said, one of them is on the lookout for a wedding venue.

It’s easy to lose track of the years when life is so full, eh? :)

The photos above were taken from Jardin de Rosella, Leisure Farms, and Ville Sommet—all of the beautiful wedding venues in Tagaytay that are worth considering when you’re planning for a destination wedding. I thought of posting rates and reviews, but this blog has never been about reviews so I guess if you’re interested to know more about these venues, holler in the comments section and let me share the info I’ve gathered to you. :)

A Day at The Malayan Plaza Hotel

RhizaLeave a comment

Going out of town is one of my frustrations lately. Traveling is something I’ve always wanted to do with my husband, but we haven’t done so much travelling since Boracay. I thought having a permanent travel buddy would give me more courage to explore and go places,  but our current schedule is just too loaded. There’s always somewhere to go, tasks to finish, clothes and dishes to wash, and an 8:00-6:00 job to do everyday. By the time we find a free day in a week, we’re too tired already to even consider getting out of the house, lol.

That’s why I was pleasantly surprised to know that for busy people like us, we don’t have to go far to have some rest and recreation after all! Last week, during the Chinese New Year holiday, my husband and I decided to check-in at The Malayan Plaza Hotel at Ortigas Center. His cousin from New York was visiting Manila, so I was secretly happy to have found an excuse to finally try out this hotel.

Swimming in the rooftop pool was pretty much the highlight of the day for my husband and his cousin. The two of them spent the whole afternoon taking laps, enjoying the cool water and the warm afternoon sun.

I took a swim in the pool, too. But mostly I just lounged around and enjoyed my grande Caramel Macchiato. I love love looove that there’s Starbucks right beside the hotel. I watched the two boys,  held on to their towels, and took photos of them, yes, like a Mommy.

When we got back to our suite, a bag of cookies was waiting for us courtesy of the Malayan Plaza crew. I know it’s just a simple thing, but getting something more than what you paid for is always a treat, even if it’s just a bag of snacks.

We spent the rest of the night watching movies, and enjoying the free wifi. Yes friends, Malayan Plaza Hotel has free wifi. THEY HAVE FREE WIFI! In this age and time, a hotel without free wifi should consider closing down, really. I’m glad Malayan Plaza is a wifi zone, you just have to inquire in the front desk and they will generate a user access for you.

Husband wants to go back for the swim.

I want to go back for the quiet.

I think we found our happy place.

More Photographs from Boracay

Rhiza7 Comments

1. Photographs from Boracay, part 2. I was saving these photos for a separate post, just ’cause this is my favorite set. These photos were taken on the morning of our last day in Boracay, before I got horribly sick. Still, I love that I got to preserve the best parts of our Boracay trip in photographs; and how Boracay seemed to never run out of blue skies and white sand.

That morning, unlike any other mornings, my husband and I walked to the beach, found a spot, sat on our sarong (picnic blanket), opened our Bible, reflected on Psalm 92 & 93, and prayed together.

We don’t always get to walk to a nearby beach anytime we want, so even though we’re not exactly morning people, we woke up beyond our usual that day, making sure we didn’t miss the sunrise. It was definitely worth the pain of getting up at 5:30am!

Whether we’re in the beach, or in bed, or in church, or in our dining table, whether in the morning or at night, I love that we can freely clasp our hands together to talk to God 3-way. It’s amazing how I was just praying for moments like this a year ago, and how beautifully God answered that prayer.

2. I love answered prayers, whatever they may be—yes, no, wait. In my life I had an abundance of them—including ones that were answered with a resounding “no” (which ultimately led to one “yes” after another.) Lately I’m beginning to appreciate how everyday is an answered prayer in and of itself. We have roof above our heads, food on our table, warm bed at night. God knows exactly what we need, what to say, what to take away.. every single time! Never fails.

3. And then there are random strangers who leave messages on twitter with 140 characters worth of love and encouragement. It’s a great feeling to be prayed for by a stranger, it inspires me to be a blessing by praying for others too.

What can I pray for you today? (:

Photographs from Boracay

Rhiza4 Comments

The following photographs were stolen with our MacBooks, so if ever you see them anywhere beside my Facebook account and this blog, let us know ‘coz we’re still looking for suspects. Haha. (Kidding, we’ve let that issue go and have forgiven the bad people, just for the record.) That said, I’m glad to have backed these up by uploading them on Facebook. Don’t you just love how the world wide web can become your personal Time Machine sometimes? (:

Moving on. The thing is, it’s impossible to come home from Boracay without an SD card loaded with lots of memorable photographs of the sunset, the skies, the ocean, the white sand, and the fire dancers. And you don’t have to be an expert to take beautiful photos; anywhere you point your camera lens to is simply picture-worthy! Ok, I’m going to shut up now and just let the photographs do the talking blogging story-telling.

Getting to know Boracay: Taking lots of photos by the beach on our first night, lots of walking and scouting for good food, and feasting on some yummy Gelato! (:


Island-hopping: Photo session at Cove Island, swimming at Puka Beach, and some snorkeling. We looooved the Puka Beach, a secluded island with hardly any commercial establishments, just a boat ride away from the main beach front. It’s the only place in Boracay we actually got to swim at all! I really wish we stayed longer there.


Sunset; and getting a glimpse of the Boracay night life: We’re not really into bar-hopping, but we did enjoy walking by the beach under the moonlight, and watching the fire dancers somewhere at Station 2. But the highlight of our last night there would have to be that early dinner by the beach at sunset. We used to just dream about these things, and now we’re actually living them!

Boracay was truly a beautiful experience for us. Staying there 3 days was just right for us though, we would have gotten bored if we stayed longer haha! We loved the beach, the sand, and the food, and being away from the city for a while to just rest and relax. But mostly I loved doing all of these with David. I’ve always enjoyed my travels, but the thought that I’m never going solo again makes me look forward to exploring places—with a permanent travel buddy—even more. :)

Three beautiful things, Boracay edition

Rhiza8 Comments

So I went off to Boracay with the husband over the weekend and literally got the Boracay *fever*. We only spent 3 days there and we packed our itenerary with so much activities that the fatigue got the best of me.

Even worse, our flight back to Manila got delayed for 6 hours and I came home with a high fever and a really bad cough. I haven’t fully recovered just yet. The last stretch of the trip was horrible, but the rest of the time there was a dream!

1. Endless, endless waters and skies.

I could lie on my back all day just staring where the water meets the sky. You get that shrinking feeling inside, like the universe suddenly zooming out on you and you feel like a mere speck in this vast space, which you are, and for one moment there you feel insignificant. The next moment someone holds your hand and you zoom back to the shore where you lie, and you know that to that person holding your hand, you are important. And then you’re reminded that the Creator of all these beautiful things around you loves you even more, and He’s mindful of you in a very unique and special way. And joy just starts to well up inside of you and sigh, that just made me tear up writing that paragraph.

2. Foodtrips and walkathons.

Actually, even more than island-hopping, swimming and snorkling! In one of our walks, we found this isaw stand somewhere in Station 1, and boy, was it the best-tasting isaw we ever had! (Isaw is large intestines on a stick.) Dare I say, even better than Mang Larry’s Isaw in UP Diliman! I think this was the highlight of David’s trip.

3. In sickness and in health.

So I came home sick, and I had to take another day off work, but David is doing quite an awesome job taking care of me. A line from the traditional wedding vows runs through my head, “for better and for worse, in sickness and in health.” This past week, I learn, is what it means.

Words of Wisdom from my Dad

Rhiza5 Comments

There’s not a day that I don’t miss my Dad. It’s been four years since he went to be with the Lord, and things have changed a lot ever since. Losing a loved one, they say it gets better as days pass and you learn to cope and move on, and true enough, I’m not anymore a wreck like I once was. But there are days like the past few when I just long to sit with him, laugh with him, ask him stuff and pick his brain.

Last March 26 was Dad’s death anniversary, and in honor of the best dad/pastor in the world, I found myself on a trip down memory lane and flooding my Facebook page with his memories. And then I found this note, tuck in one of my old photo albums, written by my Dad with his swanky left-handed cursive.

It was from ten years ago (literally!), on my 18th birthday party, and it said:

“Anak, you’ve grown to be a very beautiful lady. Much more, a beautiful, fine and committed Christian lady. And you know how I love you so dearly. It’s my wish that you will always put God first in your life, love Him well and everything will be well.”

Needless to say, there was a lot of tears as I re-read Dad’s note, happy to have kept this remembrance of his handwriting, and his words of wisdom. Indeed, there’s no better person to hear those words from than this man who lived his life loving and honoring God.

Love Him well and everything will be well.

There it was, the answer to my questions. What would my Dad say about my getting married? Anak, love Him well and everything will be well. What about my dreams, Dad? Love Him well and everything will be well. What about my career? Love Him well and everything will be well.

It’s practically the answer to all the questions I could ever have! (My Dad is too smart! Haha.) And I’m more than honored to share my Dad’s words of wisdom coz I can’t help but think that someone out there may have the same questions as mine.

Friend, the answer is all in these 9 words:

Love the Lord well and everything will be well.

It was my Dad’s secret to a full and happy life, tested and proven. Let’s take it from him shall we? ;)