daytrip to sonya's garden

I've been wanting to go to Sonya's Garden for a long time, and I finally got to do it last week with the Hubby's family. On our way to Batangas, we stopped by Sonya's for lunch and it was utter bliss. Here are some of my favorite captures from that daytrip.

I love the lush, natural greenery nestling the entire site. It provides a relaxing atmosphere that distracts you from the stressors of day-to-day existece.

I love the scent of herbs, flowers and honey and the sound of birds that waft through the air.


I love that there are fresh flowers all around, some of them oversized. Some of them I don't see in the city anymore.


I love the architecture and interior of the bed and breakfast.

I love the 19th-century Fil-Spanish style combined with early 20th-century Art Nouveau. It gives off a romantic, slightly surreal ambience.


I love the oversized windows that let the sunlight and scented air in, even the diaphanous white curtains they are trimmed with. I love the crisp, white linens, the fresh flower arrangements, the glass chandeliers and the knicknacks and reading materials purposely choreographed to create a place like a home.

I love how things were cleverly repurposed - wineglass bases in the stained glass windows, old wood beams that have survived termite attacks and have been reincarnated as flooring or paneling, antique calesa chasis as benches, colored perfume bottles as windchimes, authentic capis latticework panels as sliding windows.


I love how everything is shabby-chic yet pristine and uncluttered.

I love the bathrooms and washrooms with the beach-mimic baths, charmigly furnished with organic soap and rosewater. Not a single inch of mildew or stains anywhere.


I love the restaurant snuggled in the middle of the greenery.

I love the menu. The dalandan juice with mint leaves. The bread and kesong puti. The salad with fresh-picked greens from the very garden, including rose petals. The make-your-own-sauce pasta. The tarragon tea (I never knew tarragon could be made into tea)


I love the serene feeling it left in me.