Family excursion

As I had predicted, we started the day quite late. I mean packing alone took an hour. We must've packed enough stuff for a two-day outing including four pillows!

And then there was the rain. We have had such a relatively dry December that the rains were actually welcome but not at the intensity and volume of that day. It poured unceasisingly throughout the trip.

Funny but one of the best parts of the trip was the sleep. It's good that we have all been trained to sleep whenever we get into a comfortable position wherever we are. I dozed off on southbound C-5, between Bicutan and Calamba exits, the length of the STAR tollway, along the old highway to Tanauan, and from Tagaytay through Sta. Rosa till the C-5 exit on SLEX. I must've slept a third of the day-trip. I had recovered much of the sleep lost over the Christmas season.

Then there was food. We were all looking forward to lunch in Tagaytay: I mean it can't get any better than a hot lunch after a long road trip at a resto overlooking the famous lake within a volcano within a lake within a volcano with the whole family. Too bad that the rains stirred up pea soup thick fog that obscured the view though. But the food at Antonio's Grill made up for it in a big way. We were so hungry that we over-ordered: bowls of batchoy big enough for two, chicken inasal plates again for two, the famous tawilis then a humongous grilled bangus. We then cleared the palate with their awesome turon filled with tikoy and sweetened banana, ube and langka. We intended to walk down to Starbucks but the rains made a mess of everything. We moved coffee to the Starbucks in the Shell station near the San Pedro exit.

We haven't had a family excursion for some time so the trip was extra-special. Using a rental service with driver ensured that everyone remained in good spirits and was rested over the entire trip. It was money well spent