#santarosalaguna

Last October 23, me and my family decided to go to Nuvali as a post birthday celebration of our Thatha’s 8th Birthday. We live somewhere in Batangas and Nuvali is in Sta. Rosa Laguna. We want our celebrant to have new experience and as he wanted to ride a boat, Nuvali came to my mind immediately. It’s all our first time visiting except for my mom who went with her friends before. 

From where we live it’s a few hours away from Tanauan, Batangas. We rode the Balibago bound jeep beside Greenwich Tanauan. The fare was less than P50 per person. From Balibago Complex, we rode a jeepney again bound to Tagaytay. Fare was less than P30 per person. It’s quite a ride too from the Balibago Complex (akala ko malapit na from there!)

A bit of info about Nuvali.

NUVALI is the country’s first and largest eco-city development, built on the principles of sustainable design. A project of Ayala Land, NUVALI is a 2,290-hectare mixed-use development that straddles the cities of Sta. Rosa, Cabuyao and Calamba in Laguna. This integrated self-supporting eco-city is home to a vast gathering of residential communities, business spaces including the LEED silver certified NUVALI One Evotech, prestigious schools, shopping centers, and the 150-room Seda Hotel. As a veritable stomping ground for outdoor adventure enthusiasts, NUVALI offers nature amenities such as its 35-kilometer mountain bike trail, a multi-functional lake, hiking paths, a wildlife and bird sanctuary, and Camp N teambuilding and camping grounds.

COPIED FROM THE WEBSITE. 

http://nuvali.ph

We arrived in Nuvali by 12:30pm. We crossed the road coz Nuvali is on the other side of the road. We walked a bit and there we can see the rails by the lake.

Our Thatha was so excited he wanted to feed the fishes immediately. 

That is our Thatha buying fish feeds. Above him are the prices of the feeds and the boat ride.

Rails where you can feed the fishes.

He was jumping up and down with happiness  while feeding the fishes. 

these are the fishes. Consists of Kois, Tilapias and Bangus? Haha not sure. But I thinks they are so crowded especially when there are people feeding them. I encouraged Thatha to throw the feeds far from the rails so they don’t crowd below the dock. You can literally hear their smackings and flapping of fins and tails haha.

After feeding the fishes (we saved the other feed for later feeding before we went home), we rode the boat. It’s P40/person and we are only 5. My mom was in a hurry coz she’s hungry so we paid for 6 persons which is their minimum passenger in the boat. 

The employees are polite. They helped us get on the boat. There are no lines yet but they seemed to be in a hurry coz we are not properly seated yet and some of us are not done putting our life vest but they sped on hahaha.

The ride was amazing, it’s only a 10 minute ride but I’m happy as our Thatha enjoyed it.

And then we are so hungry we decided to eat at Crisostomo’s which is only in a few steps from the boat and lake. 

Their desserts are superb and the names of the food in their menu are unique. Derived from old names and some of them are mentioned in Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. NO wonder since this Restaurant is called Crisostomo’s. The main Charcter in Rizal’s novels. 

Cool huh?

We went to Kidzoona next as I found out the night before they have it in Nuvali, A bit like Kidzania but much smaller and cheaper also. Kidzoona is a bit far from the lake and we got lost as we are directed by the staff of a restaurant in the other side of Nuvali. Guards in Solenade are helpful. Especially the guard of BDO. Mind if I mention he look good too. Hihi. ^_^

Kidzoona is located in Solenade 3. A pain to find if it’s your first time in Nuvali like us hahaha.

After spending almost 2 hours in Kidzoona (will post another review on that soon) we went in the lake side to have our picnic. My mom and others went to Robinsons Supermarket to buy snacks. 

It would be perfect if not for the drizzling rain. And the ‘Hantik/s’ haha. We lay out our mat under a tree coz it’s drizzling already. We are eating our snacks when we are attacked by Red Big Ants. Haha. So we changed location. We moved near the bank of the lake. There are bikers and other people having picnics despite the rain.

A couple under the tree. They are laughing so hard later on.

We went back to the lake to feed the fishes again and to ride the boat (again) but it’s late already so after feeding the Kois we decided to go home.

We had a great time in Nuvali. It’s far from our place yes, but the place is very relaxing and amazing it’s worth it. I wish there is a place like Nuvali near us so we don’t have to travel all the way to Santa Rosa (nakakaubos ng Chakra ang biyahe haha)