Sonya's Garden 2008

On L's birthday weekend, the KP boys and girls hied off to Canyon Woods again, and all 14 of us managed to fit in Uncle P's house, with the boys sleeping in the living room, on extra mattresses pulled from the basement room. Every time we go here we eat , we drink, we sleep at 4 in the morning and then we do the same thing over again. Last week, though, I dragged L to Sonya's, so he can take some photos and so the girls who have not been there can see the gardens as well.





I first went to Sonya's in the early 2000, when I still had my first digicam, a Fuji Finepix. All my photos were uploaded to webshots, and there was one particular photo I loved, taken of the bed right in the middle of the garden, where the afternoon sun was caught in the seams of the gazebo and captured perfectly on cam. It was ethereal, and one feels like a fairy looking at that shot. You would not think about the many people who lazed in that bed (someone from FHM I think even confessed to doing it right there). Back then that was indeed possible because those who managed to pass by the gardens were free to roam around and the garden was more open and inviting, with shrubs and jars scattered around in a disorderly yet well-designed manner. According to Sonya Garcia, English gardens were like that, and since retiring here, she decided to make her own English garden since she could not found one in the Philippines.





Since then, Sonya's Garden has come a long way. It is now booked for weddings, despedida de soltera, anniversaries, baptisms and other more formal occasion. There had been additional structures- a spa, a panaderya, a country souvenir shop, and a resort cottage for overnight stay. What has remained the same, though is their menu, which is so good the taste, the scent, the visual presentation remains in my memory.
Forget about "blind" eating, which is the rave in other countries, a lunch at Sonya's is a feast for the senses.

















Sonya's Garden
Brgy. Buck Estate, Tagaytay
www.sonyasgarden.com
0917-5329097/09285073301
Meal set at P610/head.