weathering another storm

While a storm threatened to wreak havoc on EDSA's numerous billboards, Aldo and I were on our way to Tagaytay. For reasons still unknown to us, every trip we have made together has been with rain/storm/ice/snow by our side... so it wasn't out of the ordinary to make another one while a storm was making its way to Manila.

We got to Nurture Spa at 9am - 2 hours too early for our appointment.. but since we were the only crazy people around, we were able to get our massages and facials earlier. I had high expectations of Nurture Spa, moreso because a lot of people have been raving about it. I figured that if a lot of people went home happy, then it must be worth the trip. Sadly, in a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest, it only hits 6 in my book.

The treatment hut itself wasn't impressive - you hear the next room's door opening and closing, and people walking in and out. The sheets are also not crisp, and they're printed with an Indonesian mahlong-like design. There isn't any lingering scent in the room too - except maybe for the smell of rain on a thatched roof. On the brighter side though, the massage was good and relaxing, not at all rough.

And as part of our package, we had a 4-hour stay in an ifugao hut. Those things are optical illusions - they look really small but they're pretty much like igloos - spacious and airy. At first, Aldo was doubting if he could fit into the door since you have to pretty much crawl into it... but he did, and it was a perfect afternoon nap after a massage. After 4 hours, we woke up to a deserted place.. even the reception area was covered with sheets of plastic - talk about not knowing where everyone is. The lone soul in sight was the guard who told us that everyone had been sent home because of the coming storm. Hehehe.

Unfazed by that, we still went to Sonya's Bed & Breakfast... if we were going to be stranded anyway, it might as well be in Sonya's! After literally driving through patches of fog, we found the place and drove right into the cottages (which, we later learned, was not a parking spot but a walking path). Of course we were the only ones there so the staff gave us the biggest room - which fits 4-6 people, and had 3 huge beds. See, being stranded was a good thing.



The place was awesome... it seemed like Martha Stewart had secretly stayed there for a few days and fixed up the rooms. Talk about details - from the ribbons on the towels, to the books on the coffee table - it felt like a real bed & breakfast. This is definitely worth the price, and is a must-try for couples or even barkadas and big families. Of course it goes without saying that the food was perfect. The only downside is that after meals, there isn't much to do except talk, talk, and talk... or in our case, play scrabble.

The next day, we went back to reality amidst a still beautiful garden despite the uprooted plants... there's nothing like walking around with the smell of wet grass around you. We had a big breakfast with matching authentic hot chocolate - after another round of Scrabble and some pictures, we were off to Manila.

So who says the weather can dampen a holiday?