Dining at Balay Indang

In my previous post about Balay Indang I mentioned that I was going to write a lengthier post about the gastronomic delights we ate while we were there. Part of the overnight package included dinner (it's usually breakfast) and after seeing the huge kitchen we were all excited to eat. 

We were all hanging out near the kitchen waiting for dinner to be served. We found out though that they only serve dinner when a table is fully occupied, so we immediately sat on this table. 

Minutes later we were served this huge bowl of salad. Aside from green leafy veggies, carrots, radish, eggs and cucumber, the salad had corn and nuts. The salad dressing was lovely and addicting. 

A couple of dishes were served. Including shrimp balls that was coated with cereal, seafood omelette, liempo etc. I was so excited to eat I forgot to take photos of the other dishes, haha. 

 

Dessert was chocolate fondue with marshmallows, banana and pineapple. The chocolate was actually melted flat tops <3

The next day was the wedding of our friends and the food that was served was awesome. We were first served turon as appetizer and this was followed by the same salad we had for dinner (yumyumyum!). 

Main dishes that were served included honey-baked spare ribs, shrimp kebab, chicken, Talisay lechon (brought by the groom's aunt from Cebu). We were so glad that the food was "bottomless". We were also situated just beside the kitchen and so we had the privilege of having our own food server (haha!).

 

 

Dining at Balay Indang is an unforgettable experience. Everything was fresh and delicious! I'd love to come back and just hang out at Balay Indang again :)

Cavite: Balay Indang

Last weekend we headed to Tagaytay to attend a friend's wedding. It was our first time to visit Balay Indang and had no idea what to expect. To get there turn right from Tagaytay-Nasugbu Highway to Mendez-Tagaytay Highway. Just go straight about 8 kilometers and you'll see the signage of Balay Indang on the left side. It was a bit hard to find so we relied on Google Maps.

Balay Indang is also known as "The Red Ginger Farm and Garden". It wasn't raining when we got there and we explored the surroundings a bit. Lush vegetation surrounded the whole place and you can either stay in the main house or at the cottages scattered across the property. I was too enthralled with the garden and promptly forgot to take photos of the outdoors (haha). Don't bother to bring your laptop since I only managed to get Edge internet connection at the most. That's a plus for me though since I really needed a vacation from my online life. 

I certainly enjoyed the interior of the main house. They had a lot of knick-knacks and I would assume decor bought from abroad. The theme seemed to be "rustic-mismatch". No two things were alike. Chairs, tables, plates, mirrors etc., everything was different. Even the wallpaper was just scraps from different pieces, but everything surprisingly jelled together.

Balay Indang is a place where you can just sit back and relax and be unplugged. A safe haven from the busy wired life you may have in the metro. I should've followed my instincts and left my laptop at home. 

Dinner was an affair to remember and I'm going to make a separate post about the gastronomic delights that we had. For now I can share that we took advantage of the bottomless feat. 

 

 

Anyway, after dinner my friends and I hung out by the pool, but I guess we were just too wired we immediately got bored (haha). We moved to the library and just hung-out. I just played some games on my phone, but it soon ran out of battery. The cool weather and soft lights was like a lullaby to me and soon I asked Sweetie if we could go and sleep already.

 

 

 

 

 If only Sweetie didn't have work the next day I would've wanted to stay another night just to sleep :)

Balay Indang - The Red Ginger Farm and Garden (map)
88 Mabang Kahoy
Indang, Cavite
+63 917 866 5825

Morocco: L'Amphitrite Beach Hotel

It never crossed my mind that I would one day be able to visit Morocco. To me Morocco is a faraway land that I'd just visit through Google Earth and by looking at images online, but alas, work brought me there for a few days. I wasn't able to get around (at all) but I was pretty happy already that we were booked at a beach hotel. 

We stayed at L' Amphitrite Beach Hotel and my seatmate in the plane said that it's a very nice place, but mentioned that I should find the time to go to Casablanca. I loved my room's color scheme, so I took a photo to remember. 

Just a meter away from the bed is the balcony where you can take in the amazing beach front. It was my first time to see the Mediterranean Sea up close. Too bad I wasn't able to find time to wade in the sea shore. 

 

Good thing I had taken sunset photos when I arrived because I didn't have the time anymore. 

The hotel was lovely and my stay would probably have been better if I had my family around with me. Well maybe someday we'd all be able to go have a vacation in Morocco. 

Sarangani Highlands

I had no idea where Avel was taking us last night for dinner. I admit I was a bit nervous because it was really dark outside and I couldn't trace where we were on the map (I really have an overactive imagination!). Anyway, when we finally got to Sarangani Highlands I instantly fell in love with the place.



The open air restaurant was really lovely. Check out our dinner set-up.

After we ordered food we decided to look around the place and we found a lot of lovely nooks.

 

 

This garden area overlooked the sea and was a really charming place. 

I was really surprised to find out that they had a hotel area and lots of rooms. And they also had an area where you can hold seminars/workshops.

 

 

 

And here's some of the sumptuous fresh food we had.

 

 

How I wish we just stayed at Sarangani Highlands for the rest of our trip!

Oh, good thing my dear friend Chelle reminded me... they also have the yummiest avocado shake!

Casablanca: Rick's Cafe

When I found out that I was going to visit Morocco the first thought I had was, "I have to watch Casablanca!" Casablanca is one of my Mom's favorite movies and "As Time Goes By" is one of her favorite songs. I got the chance to watch the movie on my way to Morocco. I guess the airline just found it appropriate to include it as one of the many movies available for its passengers to watch. 

I got more lucky when we had dinner at Rick's Cafe in Casablanca. It's not the real cafe as depicted in the movie, but a replica put together by an American diplomat in 2004. It was an exciting experience nonetheless since it's one of the famous tourist spots in Casablanca. 

Rick's Cafe from the outside.

The entrance.

We had a special set-up though since there were so many of us. 

Interesting lamps adorn the restaurant. 

We each had our chosen menu on a special card (head waiter though was really stressed out because he wanted to make sure that they got our order right).

Another interesting looking lamp sits at the corner.

Center area shot from the second floor.

Me with some colleagues. (I was the only Asian in the group!)

 

Salad with goat cheese. 

Salmon and ratatouille. 

This is the reason why I chose menu #3, to-die for strawberry cheesecake.

It was truly a different experience and was pleased to see the owner wave goodbye to us as we left the cafe. I'm making this post so it would be easier to share the experience with my Mom when I get home.

Rick's Cafe (map)

248 Rue Sour Jdid, Casablanca, Morocco

+212 22274207

*Watch out though for the head waiter, he gets easily stressed out. Haha.