Category: Viaje del Sol

This is simply a leap of faith hoping that the entire experience would be great and not a waste of our time. … Although, Di, Maong and I are already entertaining the idea of buying a farm lot and starting our own farm in San Pablo.
…Although, one of the difficult part was finding a table because there are only a few like 4-5 so people just look for a spot, sit, and eat lunch.

After our Tina Decal’s Quezon tour , we went back to Tiaong last Saturday because we learned from my friend Diwat got raving reviews from her officemate about the Rambutan Festival in Tiaong, Quezon.
…It costs P150/head which already includes the entrance to the farm, a packed adobo lunch, free eating of rambutan within the farm, and 1kg of rambutan as take home. … The signs are small and we actually missed it, so I posted a picture here so that you know the facade of the farm that you are looking for.

Ugu and the daughter of Patis Tesoro along with others started to create a brochure and marketing for these destinations called Viaje del Sol. There is a trend now where artist are starting to venture in secret dining places which was started by Sonya’s secret garden. I realized that the culinary tour is just a start for me to explore the wonderful places in Laguna/Quezon area.

This is not part of the culinary tour anymore but since this is on the way back to Manila, we decided to check this place out. … You won’t miss this on the way to Villa Escudero because there are big signs special on the road going to this place.
…The coffee and tea is also good 🙂 Eating in Kusina Salud at night, does not do justice to the beauty of this place.

Ok, I might be exaggerating here but all of us in the tour really raves about this place and some does not even want me to blog about this. I think I haven’t seen alot of news about this place and one of the secret hidden treasures in Manila, indeed 🙂 Ugu’s pottery garden makes Sonya’s Garden an ordinary salad and pasta place.
…There are three sale sessions: first, is the pahiyas sale on May 15 (this would be too crowded); second, on his even birthdays August 14 discounted depending on his age (42% this year); and lastly during the first Sunday of October (Oct. 2 this year).

A good way to complete the culinary experience is via an afternoon drinking session with Philippine’s own Lambanog. Tina provided a perspective on Quezon’s drinking session rituals or “Tagayan” after the tour of the ancestral house.
…Villamater’s bakery is just down the street from the ancestral house, and next door, you can buy home made pastillas (see middle picture above).

Of course, the tour guides who just comes in just for us was dressed in barong and saya which transports you back in time.
…Frankly, there’s a creepy feel to it, and I cannot imagine living in this house 🙂 This reminds of La Cocina de Tita Monings house.
…The interesting part of the house is the cellar which is where the people would hide from Japanese and there are clothes, beds, and products from that era.

Our lunch started with a serving of fresh buko juice and we were glad that all the food was pre-ordered by Tina 🙂 She ordered fresh tilapia, spare ribs and ginataang kuhol — all of them was very delicious. … Truly superb in all aspects and this is the perfect lunch I imagined in a culinary tour of Quezon province.
… At this point, we are all satisfied and we are starting to feel that the tour was worth it.

There were a few sidetrips along the entire tour which are worth noting:
…It’s has a nice clubhouse, sports facilities and amenities plus the main attraction of man made lagoon.
…Worth noting is the dining area amidst the forest — really nice.