Tagaytay Weekend

Last weekend, my officemates and I had an impromptu day trip tour to Tagaytay. It has been a while since the last time I went there. I think it was back in 2014 when The Apat na Sikat had a family trip to Tagaytay. It was prolly the last food trip/vacay I had before I got preggers. It was a happy day. Only if Tapioca joined us, it could have been double the fun.
 
We were there for two things - bulalo and cheesecake. Yes, my colleagues and I share the love for cheesecake. Just don't ask where's the best cheesecake. We have our own opinions.

For bulalo, Mahogany market it was because we were cheapskates hahaha! And true enough you get what you pay for.

. . . at the mahogany market

me and my colleagues . . .

We also had crispy Tawilis. Yummy! I also ordered extra to take home. They were still good and crispy after 2 days.

. . . bulalo, crispy tawilis and rice galore!!!

Sorry about the photo. Such a shame that the focus was more on the rice than the bulalo (harhar!). I accidentally deleted all the photos from my new phone. I was trying to transfer them over to my PC only to realize I deleted them without a backup. Sigh. So all I got are the pictures I posted over on Instagram and a few from Benj.

To be honest, it felt weird eating bulalo in Tagaytay without the view. And to be really, totally and absolutely honest, Leslie's bulalo might not be the best in Tagaytay but somehow it made all the difference because of the view they offer. I know I'm being biased but come on, just look at the header of this blog! Yeah, that was taken at Leslie's eons ago. So there you go my memories hahaha!

After filling up ourselves with bulalo, tawilis and more extra rice, we burned off the calories by strolling at Picnic Grove. Since it was the weekend, there were so many people, mostly families with little kids. I hope to bring Munchkin here soon. She will definitely love the horsey back ride. She is now at a point where she loves learning about animals.

Also, at one point while we were walking, my bag broke. It was asking for a replacement. My Liz Claiborne bag. So I bought whatever was available at the souvenir shops.

Lastly, time for the cheesecake. I remember Tapioca and I got lost looking for Bag of Beans, the main branch in Tagaytay. Now they have three branches and they offer breakfast and lunch buffet! On this visit, we were determined to get to the original branch. So glad we made it happen and we didn't get lost looking for it.

bag o' beans here we go!!!

The place was still charming. But the food prices have skyrocketed! Lol! Remember, we're being cheapskates on this trip? But we completely forgot because of course, the cheesecake! Lucky us, we got to sit in the cabana!!! Picture, picture!

. . . us in one of the cabanas

and here you can see my new bag . . .

. . . and the cheesecake of our dreams!!!

It was a tiring day but nevertheless we had fun. We've been working hard and long hours and this was our reward. We absolutely deserved this quick break.

Read more...

Cheesecake Factory

This was my very first cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory all the way from the US of A. So happy that TOSH (The Old Spaghetti House) carried them. I would love to buy an entire cake but part of me wants to justify the price tag.

. . . unboxing the precious cake

Since it's imported, the cake was frozen.

Since we brought it home, it had a good time thawing out.

You can also opt to have strawberry or blueberry toppings for the cake but I already knew what strawberry and blueberry tasted like so I declined. I wanted the pure goodness of the cheesecake.

Eeek! CD-R king is peeping out from the photo . It's like saying my cake is a hoax. Lol!

Is it the real deal? Does it taste good?

Hell ya! And that glossy red sauce complemented the cheesecake well. It was cheesy, creamy with a note of citrus (prolly from lemon/lime), not crumbly, not too sweet, not too much gelatin, very smooth indeed. Yummy! I'm craving for this right now. Unfortunately, TOSH has removed this on their new menu :-(

But I've read somewhere that S&R carry these cakes. Sino member ng S&R? Pahiram naman ng card, please? Or better yet, will have to talk to Tapioca about getting a membership. Gosh, I'm so craving cheesecake. Must be PMS.

Read more...