Nuvali Transport Terminal

Yes you can take a bus non-stop from the Nuvali Transport Terminal (next to Robinson's supermarket in Solenad 2), to Makati-Manila and Bonifacio Global City.

According to a security guard:

No, the bus is not the Nuvali-branded nice big tourist bus parked there.

There are 2 buses, either from Jam or Star?

One goes to the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) , stops at bus stops within the BGC, and ultimately at the Market!Market!. The other goes to the LRT Taft Buendia Station.

The LRT Bus sometimes reaches SRO. (Standing room only), and although supposed to leave at 6:30, often leaves before that time.

The BGC Bus is less full, with empty seats sometimes, is supposed to leave at 7:00 a.m. but leaves before then sometimes, sometimes as early as 6:30.

Here is what we saw and experienced:

1. The Jam bus going to LRT Taft Buendia was already filled.  I drove my husband to the terminal...at 6:15 all he could take was an aisle seat.

2.  It left at exactly 6:22 a.m. 

3.  It stopped at the Paseo de Santa Rosa bus stop, very briefly. Presumably to pick up a passenger.

4.  It was at Osmena highway by around 7:30 a.m.

5.  The screen on-board showed that the LRT Buendia station was crowded.

6.  Meanwhile the BGC bus was from Worthy Transport.

7.  The BGC bus was less than half filled by 6:20 a.m.

8.  There were other vehicles (wives, presumably, and personal drivers) dropping passengers off for both buses.

So there you have it.  I THINK the fare is Php 90. 

A friend from Taguig right at the BGC wanted to come to Nuvali via this bus...but the trip from BGC is at 6:30 pm.  

The alternative is the "complex" in Balibago, Sta. Rosa.  The car wash owner at the Caltex station on Laguna blvd. told me he takes buses from there, but boards it outside the Waltermart Sta. Rosa.  SRO by the time the bus gets to that point though.  At the "complex" there are also UV Express vans. 
Outside South Supermarket there are vans as well. But all these are destined only for the Alabang terminal.


Let me know how your trip goes? Anybody out there? Yoohoo?


  

Happily Rural

     It is nice that my child was able to witness a calf's birth while on our way to her piano lesson in a hilly village here with awesome views of the Laguna bay (whooog..breathe..breathe! sorry..I am in such a hurry again)...

   The view is the reason most of few homes there, and the ones currently being constructed, are adding roofdecks.  My friend was the first to include a deck, and they've got this 360 view, lovely at sunset.  Plus really cool breezes. Back to the cows...

     Well..we were a few minutes late, the calf was already on the ground..

     I took care to black out the mother's behind for you....as I said, the calf had just come out.  Again, another of those times I wish I had my real camera.  The kid took the first photo for me.

     The second photo was forty minutes after, taken from the other side of the road.  I wish I included a shot of the beaming owner man. His grin was really wide, his eyes so bright, proud and happy!  Like a new father!

      Another thing you don't see is that to the immediate right is a new commercial building, and across it on this side of the road, is another commercial building. Both took ages to complete, and have been vacant for more than a year already.  On the day we passed though, a furniture store was setting up shop on the building closest to these cows.

      All these right across the Adventist University of the Philippines, Puting Kahoy, Silang.

      I will be sad to see the trees and livestock disappear and in its place, more such buildings as those new retail ones.

Sky Ranch.

A shot from the train I couldn't even see on the screen. Turns out to be an interesting metal landscape.

  I'd never wanted to enter the Sky Ranch.  Having seen the crowds within, and having gotten stuck in traffic outside it, I swore I would not have to set foot in it.

  I did want my daughter to experience riding the horses there...horseback rides existed next to the Taal Vista Lodge from as far back as the seventies.  At least some things remain.

     Well, as it was an ordinary weekday--not so ordinary--it was a holiday in Calamba, which might have accounted for at least a quarter of the visitors that day...I agreed to let the kid at experience the place at least once, with conditions. After I pointed out that the ferris wheel's cars were enclosed, everyone agreed we were not to ride it.  I will stick to Enchanted Kingdom's, thank you.  The horseys were the highlight and the best for her.  

    These are just snapshots taken while riding on the train.  If they look familiar, it's because they're the same trains as in SM malls.  Sky Ranch is SM-owned after all.  

     I have to say, the staff is very warm, welcoming and attentive.

     Some young adults going on the zip line provided entertainment.

     As for food...it was still down to the usual fast-food joints.

I Have Chalk Paint

I love chalk paint. Why? Because I do not like having to sand pieces of furniture first, and the chalky look can be distressed for a vintage, shabby appearance.

I've mixed up some of the lime and powdery blue colors I used on a child's table and chair (table leg pictured at bottom)...and I am selling them in these boxes that are actually decorative box frames (with loops at the corners for hanging).  

FOR SALE!

"Sun Sea Cottage"

Chalk Paint sampler size decor box kit

Php 365.00

Here are parts of what I've painted with chalk paint...

note I did not bother to distress, and I waxed only the first piece. I've largely been unable to take proper photos and log on to my blog the past month, so took detailed photos from a phone camera instead:

Concha's Garden Cafe

     Maybe last year...I cannot recall exactly when, I posted photos of Mother Earth's Garden.  I may have fantasized aloud about the location being perfect for a cafe...

     This has been the story of my life for the past decade...witnessing others fulfill some "crazy" idea of mine which I could not have implemented myself.

       However, I would have capitalized on this view of Mt. Makiling and built a second level with big picture windows, or just an open balcony.  (Unless that is in their expansion plans).  Sniff, sob, I guess I am still reeling from the loss of King Bee's Makiling view...

  Here is where Concha's is located.  Next to the Petron in Puting Kahoy, Silang. For Manilenos and other non-Silang/Sta. Rosa residents, this is on your way to Tagaytay.  Right across the Adventist University's (AUP) fence and grassy field.

   Now I don't know the owners, though the owner/chef was there the times I dined.  She is not one to introduce herself to customers, or even smile at us I think.  The man, while also being discreet in a corner, is the more welcoming one.  

   Finally and the most important detail: her food is good. It's a full-blown restaurant, to my mind, not just a cafe.  Everything we've ever order was...yummy...lovely presentation, flavorful, and matches the cozy Spanish-influenced Filipino home ambience, and of course, the garden.  The last dish my taste buds still recall is...the Sinampalukang Manok.  Go and try it.