Alert Level 2 Adventure: Family Bonding in Nuvali Park (Santa Rosa, Laguna)

Now that the COVID restrictions are slowly being removed by the government, the Ahab Family finally got the chance to have the long-awaited family bonding outside of the house. Unfortunately, beach resorts in Nasugbu still have some restrictions and Tagaytay is too crowded during weekends.

So, we decided to have our family bonding (and birthday celebration of My Beloved Wife) in Nuvali Park of Santa Rosa, Laguna.

It has been ages since we last visited Nuvali. Then pandemonium pandemic came and we were not able to visit the place for almost three years.

And so we grabbed the chance and went to Nuvali when Laguna was placed under Alert Level 2.

This is the first time Samien, our bunso, visited Nuvali. He was very delighted by the wide open space!

Samuel, our eldest, and Samantha, our only princess, enjoyed running on the grass and then climbing up the "hill".

I envy these little ones who found happiness in simple things such as the wide open space of Nuvali.

The kids are famished after running under the sun. So for lunch, we brought them to Ramen Nagi, which is one of our favorite Nuvali restaurants.

The kids' favorite place in Nuvali is the playground. Sadly, the place was cordoned off in the name "health and safety protocols".

Our kids are persistent so they still tried the slide, monkey bars, spring horse despite the cordon.

The lockdowns shut down many shops in Nuvali. The store of expensive ice cream near the playground is gone. Other shops on the second floor are empty and were invaded by stray cats.

A few hours before dusk, our family went to the grassland for a picnic. We were not the only ones who set up a picnic in the area. There were families sitting on the grass or doing some stroll. Dog-owners were also there to walk their dogs.

Finally, before going home, we went to Nuvali Lake to look at koi fishes.

Feeding the koi fishes is the most popular activity in Nuvali. Our little ones enjoyed watching scores of kois fighting over the feed thrown at them.

This is the first time that our Bunso saw these fishes and he was delighted in watching them.

Our visit to Nuvali Park was a truly fun experience for all of us. The kids were finally freed from the lockdowns and the many restrictions. I do hope that the situation improves so that we can visit other places this summer vacation.

Read about our previous visit to Nuvali Park in 2016.

Nothing Special at Uncle Cheffy Nuvali Park

I mentioned in the previous post that we celebrated our Second Wedding Anniversary at Nuvali Park in the city of Sta. Rosa, Laguna. It was a simple event. We just went on a stroll and took Little Ahab to his very first boat ride.

We also had a simple lunch date at Uncle Cheffy.

It was our first time in Uncle Cheffy so we didn’t know what to expect. What we did know was that they have rice and we entered their restaurant because we wanted to have a heavy lunch.

We ordered the Surf and Turf Platter, which is composed of chicken leg, lamb breast, beef and pork ribs, cream dory, and another fish meat – all of them roasted. The platter is accompanied with a bowl of rice at the price tag of 795 pesos.

My Beloved Wife Lei got curious when she saw the Tessie Tomas Salad in the menu. Tessie Tomas is a local comedian who is touted as the “Original Queen of Daytime TV”.

The waiter told us that Tessie Tomas is a friend of the restaurant owner that’s why he lent her name to Uncle Cheffy.

Curiosity got the better of us so we ordered a bowl of Tessie Tomas Salad at the price tag of 250 pesos.

The serving is more than enough for me, Lei, and Little Ahab. In fact, we brought home some leftovers from the platter.

Lei enjoyed Tessie’s salad. As for the platter, Lei wanted the sauce used for the roasted beef and pork ribs. As for me, I am OK with what we had from Uncle Cheffy since I’m not a picky eater unless it’s ampalaya or one of those very smelly fish dishes.

We had a good dining experience. The food is good – actually better than some of the casual dining restaurants that we’ve been. Lei’s only negative comment is that she didn’t taste anything special that will convince her to go back to Uncle Cheffy in the future.

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