Do Cavite’s havens in a day
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:02:00 06/04/2008
Filed Under: Lifestyle & Leisure, Restaurants & catering, Food
From bee farm to Kanin Club
CHOICE DESTINATIONS SOUTH OF Manila were showcased recently in the Verdana Gateway Tour: Secrets of the South. “There are so many remarkable places to see, visit and experience in the south,” said Eunice Acejo, division head of marketing services group of Community Innovations, an Ayala Land company. “The Verdana Gateway one-day Tour reveals these destinations that make living in the South stimulating and soothing.”
Honey farm
Guided by Southern travel experts Anton Diaz and Ivan ManDy of Our Awesome Planet blog, the tour began at Ilog Maria Honey Bee Farm in Silang, Cavite. Pioneering beekeeper Joel Magsaysay, who has been tending European honeybees for almost 30 years, led the group to Museo Ilog, which celebrates the profession of beekeeping. The tour ended with honey tasting.
Vietnamese feast
Lunch was at Bawai’s, an authentic Vietnamese restaurant in Silang, Cavite, named after family matriarch Yong Tatlonghari. It serves traditional and fusion Vietnamese cuisine—that day a three-course meal of goi cuon (fresh shrimp lumpia), pho bo (rice noodles and thinly sliced beef cooked in hot beef broth) and bahn da lon (Vietnamese-style sapin-sapin).
Chateau Hestia
The group then trekked to nearby Chateau Hestia for dessert, sitting on wooden benches overlooking landscaped gardens and vine trellis walkways. Johannes Zegethofer, one of the restaurant’s owners, served Italian classic Panna cotta, homemade Ferrero Rocher ice cream and Belgian chocolate mousse with red wine alongside shots of dalanghita cello and orange wine.
Treasure and lettuce
Next stop was Yoki’s Treasure in Indang, Cavite, the artifact museum owned by William Ong, a paint factory owner. It has life-size animal replicas. A 30-ft tall giant Buddha is centerpiece, surrounded by Oriental statues and ornaments made from bronze, copper, silver and jade.
Beside the artifact museum is a hydroponics farm for organic lettuce. The water-based system for growing vegetables is becoming popular in the south.
T-House
As the sun was setting, the tour made a pit stop at T-House, a home of meditation. Here tranquility is a modern necessity. It has Zen-inspired rooms bearing urban conveniences and rural charm.
Guests had a sampling of T-House’s healthy, nourishing food, with ingredients grown in the backyard or sourced from the best organic farms in the south. Fresh mountain air and soothing water acoustics enhanced the group’s dining experience at T-House, highlighted by its popular hand-made bread topped in Romaine lettuce, lean chicken and cottage cheese.
Kanin lovers
Last stop was Kanin Club, a restaurant which came about when cyclists started doing the nearby biking trails. These athletes craved rice meals after their grueling ride up and down the mountain paths.
Kanin Club has a rice-centric menu with a variety of classic Filipino viands—crispy dinuguan, an all-time favorite, and the buko turon served with ube ice cream as dessert.
The Verdana is near Nuvali—Ayala Land’s largest, master-planned integrated community in the Philippines.
|
