The view from here

Rising with the sun is a refreshing experience at the Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay City. First you order breakfast (Filipino, consisting of eggs fried sunny side up, daing na bangus, fried rice and native chocolate, with slices of papaya and banana for dessert) and while waiting for it to be delivered, linger at the terrace that commands a breathtaking view of the lake that surrounds the Taal Volcano, with the houses coming into and out of view, as if playing hide-and-seek with you as the morning mist floated like soft cotton.

The night before, also viewed from the same terrace, those houses twinkled like little stars sprinkled around the lake, or sometimes looking like fireflies that you wanted to hold in your palm.

Take your breakfast leisurely, take your time, enjoy every bite of it, so unlike in the city where you do things in haste, racing with the clock. Yonder, up in the sky clearing up with the sun, you could see airplanes passing by, their droning evoking thoughts of foreign lands.

When we were there, a butterfly hovered nearby, dancing towards and then away from us, as if flirting with us. It was colored brown and therefore, according to old folks, harbinger of good news. Or it could be a dear departed making his or her presence felt.

At Pamana, a resto offering home-cooked dishes owned and managed by Happy Ongpauco, you get a welcome blast from the past with vintage showbiz photos like that of Happy’s mom Liberty Ilagan in Maria Clara attire on the cover of the menu (below)

The last time I slept at the place decades ago, it was called Taal Vista Lodge. Built in 1937, it offers undoubtedly the best view of the world-famous volcano which must be quite a sight to see especially at night during its “angry” state. It’s an English Tudor Mansion-style structure that has become a heritage to Filipinos. Today, it has added more wings, with rooms of varied sizes now numbering more than 261. (For inquiries, call its Tagaytay offices at +63[46]413-1000 or its Manila office at +63[2]403-1000.)

On your way back to Manila, stop for lunch at Pamana, only a few turns from Taal Vista Hotel. The resto offers an array of home-cooked dishes served in the well-loved tradition of Barrio Fiesta. You guessed it: Pamana is owned and managed by Happy Ongpauco, daughter of restaurateur Rod Ongpauco and former actress Liberty Ilagan whose vintage photo showing her in a Maria Clara attire graces the cover of the menu which is a collectors’ item (take note of how the dishes are described). Pamana lives up to its name. Its walls are adorned with photos of movie stars at their prime (Susan Roces, Jose Mari, Romeo Vasquez, Amalia Fuentes, Gloria Romero, et al, including Liberty herself and her father, the great Gerry de Leon); and framed covers of yesteryear’s movie magazines such as Weekly Graphic, Literary Song Movie, etc.)

Want to stay one more night up there?

Check out The Boutique Bed & Breakfast, also owned and managed by Happy, which features only a few rooms with names like Love, Hope, Desire and other “conducive” names. When a controversial showbiz couple were there, they stayed at the Lust Room. They separated not long after.

(Note: For inquiries about Pamana and Boutique, call [046]413-1885.)

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Served at Pamana in an ambience that feels like home sweet home are native dishes like (below, from left) Binag.Bagnet, Pinakbet and the Three-Way Adobo. Go ahead, feel right at home and eat leisurely with your hands while gasping at the panoramic view of the Taal Volcano Lake.