Nature/Nurture
April 13, 2003 | 12:00am
Are you tired, and find the pace and stress of the city too much to handle? Travel affords the opportunity to slow down, lose the weary self, and find it whole again – part of the dynamics of rejuvenation that’s hard to find when stuck in a crowd or a city.
For Cathy Brilliantes-Palma, a frequent traveler, there’s a positive power one experiences when hitting the road. It doesn’t have to be a long, exhausting travel, but just enough to make us pause and ponder, and liberate and refresh ourselves. And that’s how Nurture Tropical Spa and Café in Tagaytay City came about.
Since opening its doors to guests last December, Nurture has seemed to be the "it" destination when seeking travel and wellness in this balmy side of the country. And why not? At least an hour and a half leisure drive from Manila, Nurture is a well-kept hideaway in Barangay Maitim II West. Cathy explains, "I have always wanted a place that’s not too far, but where one can seek himself or perhaps his faith without distraction."
True enough, arriving there was like stepping into a private enclave; dusk was settling in and the weather, now approaching its dampest, was taking over like curtains being drawn.
Much of the action is concentrated at the quaint foyer that houses Treasures of the Orient – Asian crafts for sale, from scented candles, herbal soap bars to sarongs. Here, staffers, dressed in ethnic garb, welcome you with the Filipino greeting of old, "Magkasanib tayo! (We are one with you in heart and mind!)" This extends to the restaurant and café atop a slope, where a British couple is engaged in a breezy conversation over brewed coffee. But beyond that is stillness – and subdued voices – as a flight of steps leads you to the rest of Nurture, where rooms forge a kinship with the surroundings. You hear running water, chirping, and bamboo wind chimes mingling with your own breathing so much so it’s no longer someone else’s landscape, resort or garden. It’s your landscape, your resort, your garden.
The landscape, a work of art by architect Willie Requiestas, brings us closer to Nature with the fruit trees left untouched. There’s jackfruit, dalandan and guyabano, among other fruit trees, all of which are harvested to flavor Nurture’s selection of fruit drinks.
There’s a lagoon in the middle, claiming a semblance of mother and child. Reclining wooden chairs and other Asian furnishings accumulated from Cathy’s travels– umbrellas from Shanghai, bamboo mats as interiors from Banaue, Buddha heads from Thailand – spruce up the place. But you can never miss the tables for two, and the mood, other than the pleasant aloneness, that Nurture creates.
The nighttime chill, Andrea Bocelli serenading (courtesy of ingenious rocks with built-in speakers) and charming, hand-painted lamps, peddled at a roadside in Los Baños, that light up the fruit trees – the overall effect does send you looking for something rub down.
Yet, the element of romance is no coincidence. When the look of the pathway leading to the lagoon was being conceptualized, an image of a bride, her hand held by her father, as she walked toward her groom, sprang to mind. This was realized when Nurture’s very first wedding – the bride coming all the way from Bacolod – took place a couple of weeks ago. "It was very romantic," Cathy muses, adding that other weddings are being booked and Catholic nuptials administered by a local priest, are being arranged. Nurture, she shares, brimmed with couples on the Day of Hearts, that extra tables had to be set up. The night even concluded with a marriage proposal. "Nurture is really ideal for couples. The setting, so close to Nature, is charged with a degree of intimacy that you can’t find elsewhere," Cathy says.
And so is privacy. There’s no radio or television. You can entertain yourself with a full view of a luminous moon. Or settle in one meditative nook with an inspiring read available beside tiny containers filled with quote-for-the-day strips of paper. Or nurture the relationship with a special someone, like the married couple from Manila, who went there for a quiet dinner and a soothing massage.
Nurture’s selection of massage, spa and body treatments – from reflexology sessions, professional body scrubs, facials to floral body soaks – would be a perfect prelude to sleep. The rates are actually reasonable, from P500 to P1,800 per treatment. Cathy says, "We are not a luxurious spa, but we try to make sure that our body treatments are luxurious in experience."
Take the simple foot spa, for example. A well-trained staffer dips fatigued feet in scented, warm water in a wooden bowl and brushes off rough skin, interspersing the process with pointers on pampering the sole. Feet are then rubbed with the apple and citrus fragrance of Tranquility, one of Nurture’s specially formulated aromatherapy oils.
Ready to retire, you’ll find the warm bed inside a 100-year-old Ifugao hut. Besides the Royal Gazebo, the largest accommodation with two single mattresses, there are three more huts for rental. Cathy is from Baguio – that much of the culture she’d grown up with, she brought to Nurture.
The Kasunduan hut provides enough space for bonding of four people. The draperies are in ethereal white cast with purple light. The chill still finds its way in, but the staff is quick to provide additional blankets upon request. There’s a bathroom with hot and cold water.
An early rise puts you at the right frame of mind to understand Nature best. A gazebo is located at the back of Kasunduan where you can, just for a second, set your mind free of trivial anxieties like things you forgot to do and calls you failed to make, and simply sit and wait.
Embrace sunshine and enjoy breakfast outdoors. The restaurant, manned by Chef August Gomez, serves Filipino breakfast, in addition to Asian-Continental cuisine. (For lunch, try Cathy’s stuffed chicken, a fillet of chicken breast stuffed with peach and cheese, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried to golden finesse, for P275).
Progress with a soul treatment. "I believe that achieving complete wellness is a body and soul journey. You may start dealing with your needs on the surface, but there are some that run deep, so you nurture the soul," Cathy intimates. Travel through Nature with the 30-minute to an hour adventure trail. Gear up ruggedly but not without good rubber shoes, as you’ll hike down the side of a ravine to a creek bed, and wander through a mini-forest that yawns to coffee tree orchards and pineapple plantations.
Experience soul workshops with their healing and wellness sessions that include the two-hour Hatha yoga retreats with Jessy Perez, which provide insights on the origin of stress and curative techniques through yoga postures or asanas. Other sessions scheduled in the next couple of months are the Angel Within, Nature Movement and Vibrant Health. Part of the workshops’ proceeds goes to the special friends of Nurture – the Smokey Mountain children and the Special People of Antipolo. Nurture also has a directory of counseling centers if the need arises.
Which goes to say that Nurture is more than just an oasis in the cool ridges of Tagaytay. There’s a wellspring of discovery that awaits you. You’ll just have to make time, seize the moment, and find out.
For information on Nurture’s overnight, day and wedding packages and how to get there, among other things, call 830-0876, 830-0877 or 0917-3521168, or e-mail at nurturespa@edsamail.com.ph.
For Cathy Brilliantes-Palma, a frequent traveler, there’s a positive power one experiences when hitting the road. It doesn’t have to be a long, exhausting travel, but just enough to make us pause and ponder, and liberate and refresh ourselves. And that’s how Nurture Tropical Spa and Café in Tagaytay City came about.
Since opening its doors to guests last December, Nurture has seemed to be the "it" destination when seeking travel and wellness in this balmy side of the country. And why not? At least an hour and a half leisure drive from Manila, Nurture is a well-kept hideaway in Barangay Maitim II West. Cathy explains, "I have always wanted a place that’s not too far, but where one can seek himself or perhaps his faith without distraction."
True enough, arriving there was like stepping into a private enclave; dusk was settling in and the weather, now approaching its dampest, was taking over like curtains being drawn.
Much of the action is concentrated at the quaint foyer that houses Treasures of the Orient – Asian crafts for sale, from scented candles, herbal soap bars to sarongs. Here, staffers, dressed in ethnic garb, welcome you with the Filipino greeting of old, "Magkasanib tayo! (We are one with you in heart and mind!)" This extends to the restaurant and café atop a slope, where a British couple is engaged in a breezy conversation over brewed coffee. But beyond that is stillness – and subdued voices – as a flight of steps leads you to the rest of Nurture, where rooms forge a kinship with the surroundings. You hear running water, chirping, and bamboo wind chimes mingling with your own breathing so much so it’s no longer someone else’s landscape, resort or garden. It’s your landscape, your resort, your garden.
The landscape, a work of art by architect Willie Requiestas, brings us closer to Nature with the fruit trees left untouched. There’s jackfruit, dalandan and guyabano, among other fruit trees, all of which are harvested to flavor Nurture’s selection of fruit drinks.
There’s a lagoon in the middle, claiming a semblance of mother and child. Reclining wooden chairs and other Asian furnishings accumulated from Cathy’s travels– umbrellas from Shanghai, bamboo mats as interiors from Banaue, Buddha heads from Thailand – spruce up the place. But you can never miss the tables for two, and the mood, other than the pleasant aloneness, that Nurture creates.
The nighttime chill, Andrea Bocelli serenading (courtesy of ingenious rocks with built-in speakers) and charming, hand-painted lamps, peddled at a roadside in Los Baños, that light up the fruit trees – the overall effect does send you looking for something rub down.
Yet, the element of romance is no coincidence. When the look of the pathway leading to the lagoon was being conceptualized, an image of a bride, her hand held by her father, as she walked toward her groom, sprang to mind. This was realized when Nurture’s very first wedding – the bride coming all the way from Bacolod – took place a couple of weeks ago. "It was very romantic," Cathy muses, adding that other weddings are being booked and Catholic nuptials administered by a local priest, are being arranged. Nurture, she shares, brimmed with couples on the Day of Hearts, that extra tables had to be set up. The night even concluded with a marriage proposal. "Nurture is really ideal for couples. The setting, so close to Nature, is charged with a degree of intimacy that you can’t find elsewhere," Cathy says.
And so is privacy. There’s no radio or television. You can entertain yourself with a full view of a luminous moon. Or settle in one meditative nook with an inspiring read available beside tiny containers filled with quote-for-the-day strips of paper. Or nurture the relationship with a special someone, like the married couple from Manila, who went there for a quiet dinner and a soothing massage.
Nurture’s selection of massage, spa and body treatments – from reflexology sessions, professional body scrubs, facials to floral body soaks – would be a perfect prelude to sleep. The rates are actually reasonable, from P500 to P1,800 per treatment. Cathy says, "We are not a luxurious spa, but we try to make sure that our body treatments are luxurious in experience."
Take the simple foot spa, for example. A well-trained staffer dips fatigued feet in scented, warm water in a wooden bowl and brushes off rough skin, interspersing the process with pointers on pampering the sole. Feet are then rubbed with the apple and citrus fragrance of Tranquility, one of Nurture’s specially formulated aromatherapy oils.
Ready to retire, you’ll find the warm bed inside a 100-year-old Ifugao hut. Besides the Royal Gazebo, the largest accommodation with two single mattresses, there are three more huts for rental. Cathy is from Baguio – that much of the culture she’d grown up with, she brought to Nurture.
The Kasunduan hut provides enough space for bonding of four people. The draperies are in ethereal white cast with purple light. The chill still finds its way in, but the staff is quick to provide additional blankets upon request. There’s a bathroom with hot and cold water.
An early rise puts you at the right frame of mind to understand Nature best. A gazebo is located at the back of Kasunduan where you can, just for a second, set your mind free of trivial anxieties like things you forgot to do and calls you failed to make, and simply sit and wait.
Embrace sunshine and enjoy breakfast outdoors. The restaurant, manned by Chef August Gomez, serves Filipino breakfast, in addition to Asian-Continental cuisine. (For lunch, try Cathy’s stuffed chicken, a fillet of chicken breast stuffed with peach and cheese, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried to golden finesse, for P275).
Progress with a soul treatment. "I believe that achieving complete wellness is a body and soul journey. You may start dealing with your needs on the surface, but there are some that run deep, so you nurture the soul," Cathy intimates. Travel through Nature with the 30-minute to an hour adventure trail. Gear up ruggedly but not without good rubber shoes, as you’ll hike down the side of a ravine to a creek bed, and wander through a mini-forest that yawns to coffee tree orchards and pineapple plantations.
Experience soul workshops with their healing and wellness sessions that include the two-hour Hatha yoga retreats with Jessy Perez, which provide insights on the origin of stress and curative techniques through yoga postures or asanas. Other sessions scheduled in the next couple of months are the Angel Within, Nature Movement and Vibrant Health. Part of the workshops’ proceeds goes to the special friends of Nurture – the Smokey Mountain children and the Special People of Antipolo. Nurture also has a directory of counseling centers if the need arises.
Which goes to say that Nurture is more than just an oasis in the cool ridges of Tagaytay. There’s a wellspring of discovery that awaits you. You’ll just have to make time, seize the moment, and find out.
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