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FEATURE STORY

Starbucks Domicillo Design Hotel

"A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent." While there's a lot of Starbucks out there each offering the same coffee, as far as location and view are concerned, no one offers a view so panoramic, heavenly, dreamy and divine that is Starbucks Domicillo Hotel. Imagine sipping your favorite Chocolate Cream Chip Frappucino overlooking the ethereal Taal Volcano, how dope must that be? Today me and my friend decided to have a quick one-day-only getaway to escape stress in the nearby Tagaytay City. Adulting can be very tiring so we both needed to replenish before we get consumed by exhaustion. A friend of mine recommended this new Starbucks and upon seeing pictures online, I died. The superb view is something poets would draw inspiration! The exterior looks so mundane and quite appalling at some point. Inside is just another Starbucks with tables and chairs and couches and as go further, Taal is already waving at you and i...
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Rediscovering Tanay, Rizal: Parola

       So there, I decided to blog our stop at Parola because I was so inspired by it. After we bathe at Batlag Falls, we decided to drop by at the Parola. It is located at Brgy. San Isidro, on the edge of the Laguna Lake. Parola is "lighthouse" in Spanish.  It serves as a sentinel at night to keep an eye to fishermen sailing through the vastness of Laguna de Bay. At daytime, you can climb up the parola and you'll have a 360-degree view of the lake and the mountains of Rizal. You can even see from here the windfarm from nearby Pillila town.


       It's not the typical lighthouse if you've already seen one, but its unique beauty and its purpose will inspire you. It may look small at first glance but when we climb up to the top, we were as if at 10th floor of a building and were holding the handrails so tight.


       There's no entrance fee but the personnel on duty required us to write our names on their logbook. They are so kind they let us use the bathroom to change clothes.



Barangay San Isidro, Tanay, Rizal
How to get there?
       We've never been to Rizal so let me share how did we get there instead. Ride an FX at Starmall EDSA bound to Tanay, Rizal and drop off at either Jollibee or the Tanay Market. The fare is PHP70.00. Tricycles are all over the place and there are some drivers who will approach you as soon as you get off the van offering their service since they already have an idea where you want to go to. Then tell them to bring you to the Parola and the fare is PHP50.00 each. We are a group of five so this rate may change.
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