Sonya's Garden (Cavite)

I've always been curious about Sonya's Garden since most of my friends have been there. I even have a friend who wants to have her wedding reception there so I told myself that I should go there soon. I didn't have to wait any longer since we had the opportunity to go to Tagaytay a few weekends ago and Sonya's Garden was on our list of places to visit.

The place is quite far from the usual Tagaytay places and we thought we were already lost. Just as we were about to give up we finally saw signages leading the way to the famous place. When we arrived we were surprised with the many cars parked. The way to Sonya's Garden was pretty much empty so we thought that we were just the ones on our way to the place. Apparently everyone was already there!

We didn't really  know what to do so we just walked around and saw the different facilities available at Sonya's Garden. There was a store, a panaderia, a couple of reception areas, spa, the restaurant and of course there were rows and rows of plants!

We wanted to try out the buffet but wasn't prepared for the PhP650 per head tab so we just decided to buy some bread and look for another place to dine at. The spanish bread was delicious and we finished Drew's supply in just a few minutes! I also bought a small bottle of oil which was called "Rescue Me". Wipe some on your nape and it's supposed to make you relax instantly. I bought it because I was pretty stressed out during that time and the oil works! Also got a mint and basil plant for my tiny-mini garden.

I hope next time I'd get the chance to spend a night at Sonya's Garden and try out the spa and take their class, "How to do nothing."

Sonya's Garden
Barangay Buck Estate
Alfonso, Cavite

Map to Sonya's Garden


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Picnic Grove (Tagaytay)

I have fond memories of Picnic Grove since the I used to go there with my childhood friends. It's where I learned how to skate (well I did manage a straight line) and had loads of fun following the trail (something I can't do anymore). It's been sometime since I visited Picnic Grove and I was quite excited to check out the new stuff they had at the park.

First stop was the view deck. And that's what we did. Checked out the view. Couldn't resist though taking a picture of my friends since they looked like an emo version of the F4.

As expected the zipline was... short. It cost PhP200 per head, per way, but I guess it's not so bad since the longer ziplines are located in Mindanao! We wanted to try out the cage zip but decided against it when we found out the price.

Picnic Grove was pretty much the same. Most of the small cottages were torn down and the facilities haven't been maintained too well. Sayang.

Entrance Fee: PhP50/head
Vehicle Fee: PhP35/car

Map to Picnic Grove


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Tagaytay

I've been hankering to go to Tagaytay for sometime now and found the perfect excuse when Drew said he was coming to town. We immediately put things in motion and in just a few days we were roaring down to Tagaytay.

One drawback though about going to Tagaytay is the heavy traffic you might encounter on the South Super Highway. I remember once it took us three hours from Cabuyao to Bicutan when it just usually takes about 30 to 45 minutes from Bicutan to Sta. Rosa. We were lucky that day because we didn't experience any heavy traffic  to and from Tagaytay.

First stop was Picnic Grove since we wanted to check out the famous Tagaytay zipline. It was a very short line but we still wanted to try it out. The cost though was a whopping PhP200 per head, per way! Since there wasn't any thrill to it compared to the zipline at Davao's Outland Adventure we decided to forego riding the zipline.

We were quite hungry and thought it would be great to check out Sonya's Garden since none of us have gone there. It was quite a long way from Picnic Grove and we were surprised to see a lot of cars already parked! There was an ongoing wedding reception and another one was scheduled in the afternoon. We went around a bit and got hungry. We didn't have a reservation and the waiting time was quite long so we decided to move on.

I didn't know that Antonio's branch at the main road already closed so we had a hard time looking for it. We had already given up but luckily found our way to the main branch. The prices weren't as steep as Sonya's Garden buffet lunch. We were quite disappointed though with the food, but found the place quite nice.

We were about to leave when a parade trapped us inside Antonio's. It was cute though, but we had to take another longer route back to the main road. Also passed by the famous Mushroom Burger. Too bad we didn't get to check out the plantation at the back of the store.

Last stop was at Starbucks so we could check out the Taal Volcano at sunset. We hung out for awhile longer and then headed home.