THE first time I set foot on Cliffhouse Tagaytay some four years ago, I fell in love with the place. Located right along the main highway of Tagaytay, the descending terrain opens up to a full, unobstructed view of scenic Taal Volcano. The stone steps from the spacious parking area lead down to a sprawling garden courtyard adorned with carefully landscaped trees and shrubs, lined on both sides by one-storey restaurants, snack shops and stores. The garden courtyard open up to a stone-paved viewdeck, where beautiful Taal Volcano sits perfectly in front of you. You can simply sit on the bench and enjoy both the view and the cold Tagaytay air, and when you get hungry, all you need to do is take your pick among the restaurants around you, all cozily set up with indoor and outdoor dining – whatever tickles your fancy.
Back then, my husband Raff and I were in the company of Jennifer Dee, whose family owns Cliffhouse Tagaytay, and we had shoots with some of the restaurants in the area. Then it was back to Manila for us, armed with fond memories of Cliffhouse, and whenever we went up to Tagaytay or took a trip to Batangas and passed this way, Raff and I would always smile as our eyes caught sight of the place.
On the first of December this year (2013), Raff and I went back to Cliffhouse Tagaytay, and I fell in love with the place all over again. The place and all the things that endeared it to me had not changed much, and the garden courtyard still opened up to a full, unobstructed view of lovely Taal Volcano. Only this time, there was so much more to fall in love with, as Cliffhouse Tagaytay’s Christmas Pops 2013, a seven-Sunday celebration of light, classical and popular Christmas music, got underway starting at 4:00 p.m. It had started the Sunday prior, November 24, 2013, with David Foster’s Charlie Brown Album and 20th century American composers Gershwin, Bernstein and Cepland, with the Ten-Stringed Lyre on strings, keyboard and vocals.
In the afternoon of December 1, 2013, when Raff and I were there, it was Bach and Baroque day, featuring a flute and violin duet from the Ten-Stringed Lyre. The poignant strains of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music, plus other Christmas songs from the Baroque period, floated in the air from the Garden Courtyard, where Sunday revelers, mostly romantic couples and families, stopped and listened. Diners in the restaurants at Cliffhouse were also treated to live instrumental Christmas music as they dined. So did the people standing by the viewdeck, gazing dreamily into Taal Volcano as they sat on the bench or rocking chairs, feeling the cold winds of December brushing against their cheeks and feeding their souls with the music of Bach.
A little later, we retreated into the reception cum lobby of The Inn at Cliffhouse Tagaytay and had cocktails – with Mimosa (orange juice and Champagne), Bellini (peach nectar and Prosecco) and Pear Apple Prosecco as beverage choices to go with great bites of Smoked Salmon on Crostini, assorted cheeses on the Cheese Platter with Frozen Grapes and nuts, cold cuts, Dukkah (an Egyptian side dish of mixed herbs, nuts and spices, usually served as a dip for toasted crusty bread after dipping in extra virgin olive oil), dark chocolate bars and candied orange peel. The food was prepared by The Inn’s F&B consultant Chef Bel Castro.
If you’re wondering what The Inn at Cliffhouse Tagaytay is, it’s the newest development at Cliffhouse. It’s a very exclusive bed and breakfast place over at Cliffhouse that opened its doors to the public some three years ago. I say it’s very private and exclusive because there are only four rooms, and each room is huge and luxurious. Two of the rooms are 100-square-meter corner suites with two queen beds, a living room complete with sofa and couches, huge flat-screen TV, coffee and tea, an iPod station, 24-hour Wifi and a writing area, a spacious toilet/bath with double sinks, and a private terrace with outdoor jacuzzi that looks out to a private view of Taal Volcano. The two remaining rooms are 75-square-meter suites sans the outdoor Jacuzzi. And while there are only four rooms total, these are further split into two rooms per side, with separate entrances and foyers for each side. The entrances are aligned with the restaurants and snack shops that line both sides of Cliffhouse’s Garden Courtyard, and you’ll hardly notice that the rooms exist because they’re on the lower level, right under the viewdeck. The entrance is just that, an entrance, a door, within which a stairway leads down to the foyer that separates the two suites on each side. And the security is such that it takes only seconds after the room occupants push the door and step inside before the door locks by itself for the ultimate in privacy and security.
The logo of The Inn at Cliffhouse Tagaytay is a lighthouse because, according to Jennifer, “the lighthouse is a safe harbor for ships when they come to shore. So is it with travelers who come to seek solace at The Inn for a little rest and relaxation.”
Since lighthouses are the main theme, the four rooms of The Inn are named after famous, existing North American lighthouses: Minot’s Ledge, a historic lighthouse which is one of the first in Boston and is nicknamed The Lovers’ Lighthouse; Brant Point, located in Nantucket, Massachussetts; Montauk Point, located in Montauk, Long Island, New York, and is the oldest lighthouse in the New York State; and West Quoddy in Lubec, Maine, which is at the easternmost point of the contiguous United States and the closest point to Europe. “The first sunlight of every day in the United States is seen there,” explains Jennifer.
That night, Raff and I were staying in Minot’s Ledge! Jennifer had made all the arrangements to make sure we had an awesome stay. After cocktails at The Inn’s reception area and then a light dinner of soup and meatballs over spaghetti at the Lunchbox owned by the lovely couple Nowie and Odette Potenciano, we retreated to the room, where I found a cute, beanbag reindeer sitting on my bed. The little fella endeared itself to me instantly that I took it with me everywhere I went. I worked on an article on my laptop as Raff immersed himself with the day’s news on TV. But I couldn’t resist the lure of the nice, warm bed for long. I gave in to the temptation and, in no time at all, I curled up inside the nice, cozy blanket and was sound asleep.
I woke up refreshed and recharged the next morning, looking forward to breakfast prepared by Chef Bel. Bel and I had traveled together to Singapore years ago upon the invitation of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), and we instantly hit it off and became friends. She wrote for the lifestyle page of Manila Bulletin at that time, until there was a changing of the guards, but all these years she has continued to teach at Enderun Colleges, where I frequently covered events of great culinary importance for FLAVORS Magazine. But she has never cooked for me. This time, she was preparing breakfast for us.
And what a breakfast it turned out to be! It started with a choice of Apple Juice, Peach Juice or Orange Juice along with Coffee or Tea. I first had a cup of Cappuccino, after which I slowly sipped and enjoyed my Peach Juice with Triple Berry Yogurt Trifle with Homemade Granola. Turns out that The Inn at Cliffhouse Tagaytay serves exquisite artisanal Arabica coffee from the Cordilleras, where a couple harvests coffee berries only at the right time and roasts them in their garage especially for The Inn.
Jennifer and Bel had Baked Potato Egg, Maple Glazed Sausage Patties, Baked Beans, Roasted Tomato and Buttered Toast for their main meal, but since Raff and I lean more towards fish and seafood than meat, Chef Bel had us served with Eggs Hemingway (which is like Eggs Benedict, with the ham or bacon substituted with smoked salmon, but still on toasted halves of an English muffin, topped with poached eggs and bathed in Hollandaise sauce). Then we all had Butter Fried Banana Bread with Maple Walnuts. At times, Chef Bel said, dessert could be Butter Poached Gala Apple.
The fully satisfying breakfast jumpstarted the day for us. We walked around the Garden Courtyard, which we had almost all to ourselves on a Monday morning, enjoyed the cold climate of Tagaytay and the view of Taal Volcano by sitting on a bench by the viewdeck. I chose to sit on one of the S.I.L.Y.A. rocking chairs that TBPI/Artistshop lovingly provided for the use of the elderly. Well, I certainly am no senior citizen yet and would happily offer my rocking chair to one, but there were plenty of rocking chairs around, so I happily rocked as I stared straight at lovely Taal. Reminded me of my late Dad, who loved to sit on his rocking chair during his lifetime, and I felt warm and happy.
Just before lunch, Raff and I packed our things and got ready to leave. We said good-bye to Jennifer and Chef Bel, who were both getting ready to go back down to Manila, as well, and got underway on our leisurely drive back to Manila, straight to work in Makati. I’ve always loved Tagaytay, and The Inn at Cliffhouse Tagaytay has given me even more good reasons to love it more.
And, oh, if you’d like to catch the rest of the Christmas Pops 2013 schedule, you can still catch Favorite Christmas Classics (trio on strings) on December 22, 2013; Love Songs and Festive Yuletide Music (trio on strings and keyboard) on December 29, 2013; and Wedding Music and Love Songs (double string quartet) on January 6, 2014. The first set of live performance starts at 4:00 p.m.
(For inquiries, reservations or bookings at The Inn at Cliffhouse Tagaytay or the next-door Clear Water House, which is The Inn’s events venue for such special occasions as weddings, call (046) 483-2093.)
