🥄 51th Blog

Cookery & Camaraderie in Splendido:  The Great Tagaytay Cookaway

 

It’s been a while since my last travel blog, and what better way to mark my 51st entry than with a weekend escape with my TESDA-accredited Cookery NCII crew from MCHA? After weeks of chopping, whisking, and gracefully recovering from oil splashes and culinary missteps, we finally swapped our aprons for overnight bags and headed to Tagaytay for a well-earned breather.

 

We stayed at our family condo unit in Splendido, where the view of Taal Lake and Volcano was so stunning it practically said, “Welcome back, chef.” The weather was refreshingly cool—around 22 to 24°C—which felt like nature’s way of air-conditioning our souls.

 

Tagaytay had changed since my last visit (which may have been last year). New cafés had sprouted, while some familiar spots had quietly disappeared. We got mildly lost inside the sprawling country club and golf course, but eventually found our way—thanks to a mix of intuition and stubborn optimism.

 

After settling in, we unpacked our lunches and immediately dove into music, dancing, and laughter. Let’s just say the “prim and proper” classmates from our cookery sessions met a more spirited version of me. Even our chef joined in, proving that culinary skills and dance moves are not mutually exclusive.

 

 

Later that afternoon, we dropped by Kopa Koppi Café, a cozy little nook serving coffee and pastries with a view that deserved its own postcard. Naturally, we took lots and lots of photos at the deckside—because if you didn’t pose with Taal in the background, did you even go?

 

That night, we skipped anything spooky (ghost month, as our chef reminded us) and opted for a wholesome round of bingo instead. It was my first time playing, and I was just starting to get the hang of it when my energy gave out like an overworked rice cooker. I didn’t even finish the game—I went straight to bed, happily exhausted from all the fun.

 

The next morning, after breakfast, we took a quick dip in the club pool—just enough to say we swam. Naturally, there were more pictures and even dancing by the poolside. For lunch, we headed to Mahogany Market and enjoyed Tagaytay’s famous bulalo at a humble kiosk. The broth was rich, the meat tender, and the experience deeply satisfying. We then visited People’s Park, where the view of Taal was so dramatic it deserved its own soundtrack. Our final stop was, of course, a buco pie pilgrimage—picking up boxes from Cecilia’s and The Original Buco Pie store.

 

It was the kind of trip that fills your heart, your belly, and your camera roll. Between the laughter, the late-night bingo, and the bulalo that could cure any existential crisis, we managed to turn a weekend into a highlight reel of joy. The company? Unbeatable. The food? Worth every calorie. The memories? Already marinating.

Next stop: Baguio. I’m packing my sweater, my appetite, and a quiet determination to make the most of every bite, breeze, and beautiful moment that comes our way.