We were just as excited as you were about the long weekend until the holiday was moved to today, Wednesday, i.e.: a randomly placed rest day in the middle of the workweek.
Don’t let the change of pace (and weather) get you down — Saturday and Sunday aren’t going anywhere, so go ahead and make awesome weekend plans anyway!
If it’s a day trip you’re looking to do or it’s a full blown overnight stay you’re dreaming of, here are a few options to make the most of your weekend.
(An ode to love and gratitude called Ernesta’s garden at the Pinto Art Gallery & Museum)
The Pinto Art Gallery and MuseumÂ
Great for:Â Your art and culture fix
When to go:Â Brunch till early afternoon
Who to bring:Â Friends and/or your significant other
High up the hills of Antipolo is a repository of Philippine contemporary art.
Once you walk past the aged iron gate with (perhaps) an older bell above it, your mind starts to ignite, your thoughts begin to meander. You walk past pieces of sculpture in glass, steel and ceramics — but all these are just aperitifs to a bacchanalia of art that awaits your arrival to this verdant 1.2-hectare property. The gallery alone is stupefying, its construction is an artwork in itself.
The original spot where the museum was erected was, and is still, steep and lush. When it was being built, Dr. Joven Cuanang — owner of the museum — only had three instructions to Tony Leaño, the genius behind the museum’s design. “You cannot cut the trees. You have to respect the terrain of the land. You construct an environmentally sound museum.â€
Now, works of the best of the best Filipino contemporary painters can now call Pinto their home. For instance, you have “Karnabal,†the main salon’s mesmerizing centerpiece, an acrylic on canvas measuring 144 x 480 inches.
“Karnabal†is a mural of eight big panels that depicts many socio-political scenes taking place at the same time — a clown confessing to a priest, a monster dog that seems to be loyal to none, an inept Darna, a Superman in a sando shirt (probably doing a reenactment of a scene from the Benevolent Assimilation), a mechanical monster operated by a monkey and more colorfully subversive acts and characters.
Though he had been collecting artworks early on, Doc Cuanang says his eventual foray to opening an art gallery and a museum is an after effect of the EDSA Revolution. “We formed an art group in Antipolo in 1986 to support the transition government of Cory Aquino. We felt we had to do our part after the dictatorship had been dismantled. We did our part through the arts. We had concerts by Hinulugang Taktak among other activities,†says Doc Cuanang.
In jest, he says that the very reason why he built the Pinto Museum “was because my bedroom at home had already been bursting with all kinds of artworks. I just keep on collecting because I keep on believing in the Filipino artist,†he says. (BY BÃœM D. TENORIO JR. | Photography by MAU AGUASIN)Â
(The eclectic artworks at the extension of the new wing of the museum)
(“Karnabal” by Salingpusa is the focal point of the Pinto Museum main gallery)
(“Choir of Angels” in terra cotta by Bacolod-based artist Mark Valenzuela)
(Pinto Art Gallery and Museum owner Dr. Joven Cuanang)
The Hammam at the Terazi SpaÂ
Great for:Â A different spin take on a day of pampering
When to go:Â Late afternoon till the early evening
Who to bring:Â Friends
If a simple warm shower can do wonders to your weary body by the end of the day, then imagine what a bath as luxurious as this can do.
The experience begins with a 10-minute steam, where one can meditate. Since the first step involves sweating, you may hydrate with icy cold honey water given to you at the start of the process. The attendant also gives you an ice bag and dipper, which can be used to douse yourself to avoid developing headaches due to the increase in temperature.
With the skin moist from the steaming, you are then ushered to the nearby heated marble bed for the second part of the bath. There, Terazi’s therapist initiates a deep body exfoliation using the traditional ‘kese’ mitt and castile soap to cleanse every inch of your body. The attendants are meticulous in their methods — from the time they scrub you, to the time they lather you with foam. The steam-heated room also gives a certain veil of privacy that makes the entire scrubbing and washing of your body a little less intrusive, and all the more relaxing.
Lying on the heated marble bed, as steam fills up the room, you feel the gentle trickle of foamy warm water on your back. You will find it impossible to not sigh with contentment. Before you know it, you are buried in a cloud of bubbles. Indeed, it is a bath unlike any other.
The scrub ends with a rinse of cold water that brings a refreshing jolt of energy to your body, signaling that it’s time to end the bath. You are then ushered into a nearby shower, where you clean yourself up once and for all. Your treatment is completed with a refreshing drink, served in The Terazi Tea Lounge. (By JOSE PAOLO S. DELA CRUZ)
(Earthy tones surround you to ensure all senses are subdued and soothed)
(A cleansing experience for both the mind and body)
Rustic MorningsÂ
Great for:Â Classic breakfasts and all-day comfort food
When to go:Â Any time of the day! (The restaurant’s charms change depending on when you visit).
Who to bring:Â Your significant other
This story started — as many others do — with a burned-out advertising executive who managed her own design studio in Ortigas. Work was plentiful and money was good, but the pull of a stronger passion was too hard to ignore.
When Portia Dee-Baluyut finally decided to leave the corporate life for her new venture, she was only armed with a stack of hand-me-down recipe books and the wisdom of her staunchest supporter, biggest critic — her mom — and her only resource, the Internet.
Portia may have inherited her passion for food from her family, but her culinary skills were the hard-earned product of weeks of research and self-schooling. “I actually graduated from Google University,†laughs Portia, as she looks back on how she taught herself how to cook.
Luckily for Portia, her mother was an artist, gardener and designer all rolled into one, and with her help, they were able to transform an abandoned and overgrown lot in Marikina into the lovely oasis that it is today.
The concept of Rustic Mornings by Isabelo is refreshingly simple — hearty servings of yummy comfort food, lovingly and personally prepared by Portia for her guests. Thanks to her Lola Chit, who was famous in Marikina City for her home-cooked meals and warm hospitality, she understood early on that food didn’t always need to be expensive or complicated to make for a happy tummy.
A brunch session at Rustic Mornings should always start with a cup or two of their specially blended coffee. Breakfast fare never goes out of style here so old-time favorites like the creamy country omelette and the bacon and herbed hash browns plate, served with melt-in-your-mouth butter are always winning choices. If you’re in the mood for something heavier, lunch options like the gourmet hotdog sandwich with chili con carne and sunny side up egg or the sinfully tasty pulled pork sandwich will do the trick.
If there is one thing, however, that would be a crime not to order at Rustic Mornings, it would be the crispy waffle with homemade syrup. (By DIANE CARLA SIBAL | Photography by RAMON JOSEPH J. RUIZ)
(Homemade creamy omelette)
(Pancakes that remind us why breakfast food is great any time of the day)
(Homey and familiar — the ambience of Rustic Mornings)
(How can you not keep coming back for more?)
T House, Tagaytay
Great for:Â A home away from home that’s only two hours away from the Metro
When to go:Â Sleep over from Saturday till Sunday
Who to bring:Â Friends and/or your significant other
Upon entering the tree-lined gardens of T House in Tagaytay City, one is greeted with the natural trimmings that only hotels in this part of Luzon can offer: a cool breeze, the lush, hypnotic swaying of leaves on the trees, birds whose chirps betray their bashful invisibility.
The bed and breakfast’s lobby is a small but open dome that gives guests a 270-degree view of the beautifully landscaped garden. It is a fitting introduction to what the rest of T House has to offer. In a conversation back in 2013 with the hotel’s resident manager, William Barquin, so eloquently puts it, “T stands for tranquility, and every element here was placed to help guests achieve just that.â€
The neatly tucked retreat doesn’t disappoint in terms of accommodations. The spacious rooms of T House are presented in clusters and from the mini courtyard they share, one would see the interesting arrangement of the rectangular walls of the rooms, some of which are more elevated than the others. The modern architecture is tempered by the trees, around which they were built.
Inside, each room depicts an element of nature. “We divided the rooms according to classical elements like earth, fire and water, designing the interiors to reflect their distinct characteristics,†explains William.
Understandably, management is very meticulous about their cooking, that they have imposed strict catering rules for events inside T House. “We work hard on our food and we believe that it is part of the T House experience, that’s why we only serve dishes from the restaurant for all our events,†William states with pride. Based on the way we relished their dishes, we agree that they do have an impeccable reputation to not just preserve, but fiercely protect, if need be.
With good food on your plate and after a satisfying nap in your Zen-inspired room, it’s time to explore the rest of what T House has to offer. This includes a modest yet relaxing pool, an indoor and outdoor spa, a huge business center called the T Lounge and a function room that can accommodate up to 300 guests. Put these together and it is therefore no surprise that T House boasts of a hundred percent occupancy rate on weekends, and 50 percent on weekdays.
All in all, a quick weekender in T House is a modest escape from reality, the kind that relaxes you without completely shutting out the callings of daily life. (By JOSE PAOLO S. DELA CRUZ)Â
(The T House’s pool swimming with tranquil blues)
(Manmade landscapes blend in with natural elements)
(Banana spring roll)
The Blind Pig
Great for:Â A (tastefully) boozy weekend
When to go:Â Dinner and afterwards
Who to bring:Â Friends (and potentially those who can be more than)
Finding the discreetly hidden door is the start of The Blind Pig experience. (Writer’s note: Blind Pig is another term for “speakeasy,†a place where illegal alcohol is served.) A peephole that reveals only the eyes of the person behind it opens to ask who we were and if we had reservations. And since we did, we were led inside.
Our Wednesday night began as we took a cozy corner table and settled down into what seemed to be a secret den with bare minimum lighting. Only the soft glow of candlelight on the table and the cellphone will aid in reading the menu, which is simply typed on white stiff cardboard.
The place mimicked the Prohibition Era of the 1920s with the solid voices of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald playing jazz and blues in the background. Our hyperactive imagination pictured a far corridor where the actual music could have emanated, perhaps from a skinny African-American singer wearing a long pearl necklace over a flapper dress, swaying in rhythm to the piano beside her.
This place is for the sophisticated hard drinker, those who are big on scotch, gin, whiskey, dark rum and absinthe and can afford a steep bill. It’s for the ones who like their drinks hard and nasty but don’t want to be pushing elbows against a tight crowd while shouting through loud music and smoke. Even when talking amongst ourselves, we had to be mindful of our decibels as we chatted over our delectable Arancinis with Chorizo and Mozzarella and our Shepherd’s Pie.
In lieu of roasted peanuts, their Rosemary Popcorn gives just the right crunch. The Blind Pig is the perfect not so noisy post-dinner nightcap where one can get comfortably intimate with a date. Its privacy is for clandestine affairs. Here you can forget your name and not worry about others remembering what you did last night. (By DENISE ROCO)
(A modern interpretation of what the Prohibition Era of the 1920s might have looked like)
