No pun intended and no joking whatsoever.
I'm talking about Ten Cents to Heaven, the name of the resthouse where me and my law school classmates have been a few weeks ago for a brief out-of-town experience (or should I call stay-cation? hehe).
Can you read the sign?
The house in the highlands of Tanay, Rizal is designed and managed by my classmate's mother. She is more popularly known as Tita Lani, as we call her during our stay there, though her son (my classmate) would fondly call her in her initials, LQ. She was once a city hall employee in Pasig, and is known for her good PR skills and many contacts back then.
True enough, the house have accepted many visitors. In fact (fact #1), during our stay there, we happened to meet the congressman of Pasig who dropped by to visit Tita Lani.
Fact #2: the house has been used as sets for different TV shows, the most recent is 'Kahit Isang Saglit' with Jericho Rosales and Carmen Soo. Actually, the whole area in Tanay where the house was situated is a popular place for out-of-town shootings, tapings and pictorials.
Fact #3: Fifteen minutes away from the house is the rest house where former Pres. Joseph Estrada underwent house arrest for a few years. Too bad we were not able to visit the house, because we were all in a hurry to get home.
About the House
Ten Cents to Heaven is a house situated atop one of the high areas in Tanay. For that reason, the whole house is designed with walkways either going upwards or going downwards. For example, a V-shaped stairway from the receiving area would lead to one of the cottages, with a large living room, four bedrooms (two of which are in the loft), dining room and a modern kitchen.
See that big red roof? That's the main house.
Another cottage is where some of the family members and household staff stay. It feels like one of the middle-class houses in the province, with almost everything made from wood and bamboo.
The room where we stayed is a separate bedroom from a stairway beside the receiving area. It was actually Tita Lani's room, but she was gracious enough for us to use it. It was like a hotel room in Baguio, with almost everything in the house made of wood.
Views from the room where we stayed in.
One distinct feature of the whole place is its many patios. There were four, according to those that I've seen. One is a circular patio with wooden furniture, another is a small square one with swing seats, another still is situated up above, with a view of the house and of Rizal, including Laguna de Bay, and the last is below our room, which serves as an outdoor dining area.
An unfinished patio (or is it? baka naman pinagtambakan lang)
The patio-slash-outdoor dining area
The big veranda. All of the benches here are actually swings.
Two more patios. These are separated from the house itself, as in you have to go a few steps of stairs upwards to get in here.
But then wait till you see the areas around the house. It has a really vast garden, a playground (with a playhouse), a chapel, a plant nursery and a sunken swimming pool. And according to boyfie, the basement of the house even has a function room which can be used to host parties.
Chapel - outside view
Chapel - inside view
Kung ganito kaganda ang likod bahay mo, 'di ba? Why not?! Hahaha!
The view of the whole house. Ang ganda, devah?
Best of all, what we enjoyed the most in this place is the cool, crisp air of the mountains, reminiscent of that in Baguio. In fact, there are plans that if we ever go out of town again, we'll definitely go back here.
This is life! Woohoo!
And at ten cents? Not bad at all, 'cause that's all you need to get a piece of heaven on earth.
*photos taken with Samsung Star, courtesy of Don Ballesteros (oo, si boyfie mismo)
(apologies for the long hiatus. naghanap pa ang lola niyo ng magandang inspiration para sa isang malupet na blog post. hehehe.)
