We Had A Great Time At El Jardin De Zaida

Last weekend, we enjoyed a 2 Day 1 Night stay at El Jardin de Zaida.

I booked this way back in March. Because of the lock down and restrictions, we had to move our stay several times.

Buti natuloy na kami last weekend. As expected, it rained when we were there. Sanay na kami na umuulan during our out of town trips. Dahil yan sa balat ko.

Anyway, El Jardin de Zaida is located in San Juan, Batangas. There are no check points there but the resort requires an onsite negative antigen swab test for 13 years old and above. We did a home saliva antigen test the night before we left para hindi sayang ang biyahe. Thank God, negative both tests.

We were super excited for this trip. This is the first time in a very long time (years) that we had a vacation na kaming 3 lang ang magkasama.

It took us 2 and a half hours from Paranaque to get to the resort. We arrived at around 10:45 am. I love this big tree that greets you when you enter their 11 hectare property.

We were told to proceed to the reception area. It’s an open space where a very professional masked receptionist greeted us. We were served cold calamansi juice and cold towels. They were very refreshing.

This is how their reception area looks like.

That is also where we had our Antigen Swab test. Never talaga ako masasanay sa swab test. It hurts!

We went to their small chapel to pray while waiting for the results to come out.

Thankfully Alvin and I both tested negative. Nakahinga din ng maluwag. Nakakaloka yung suspense of waiting for the results. Pero still, nakapag-OOTD pa din ako while waiting. Sabi ko sayang ang outfit in case magpositive at pauwiin kami. Lelz.

I wore coordinates from Koko and Van and earrings from Por Rocio by Dew.

A few days before our scheduled trip, someone from El Jardine messaged us to tell us that check in was at 3pm and asked what time we will be arriving. I asked if we can do early check in. They said it was okay daw as long as the room is available na. I told them that we will be arriving at 11am just in time for lunch. Okay naman daw sa kanila.

After the swab test, our room wasn’t ready yet. They were disinfecting pa daw (which was totally fine for us) so we decided to have early lunch at their restaurant, Rodolfo’s.

Rodolfo’s is located near the pool. It’s an airconditioned glass walled structure na ang bango bango sa loob. The waiters are super nice and they all wear masks and are very conscious of social distancing themselves from you. Their food are so delicious, promise! I’ll tell you more about their food later.

After lunch, we went back to our pick-up truck and drove to the parking lot. I noticed in El Jardin, lush na lush ang mga plants. Everything is well maintained and alaga. Ang sarap sa mata to look at all the greens. The parking lot was this huge space of greenery that was near to our suite.

Someone greeted us at the parking lot and helped us with our things to our room. We stayed at the Ameila suites.

The resort manager told me that the rooms and suites are named after the grandchildren of the owners of the resort. By the way, the resort is owned by the Mago family. When I first heard about it, napaisip ako. Bakit kako familiar yung surname. Yun pala, that’s the family Pia Guanio (the celebrity) married to. The resort was named after the matriarch, Zaida. The restaurant was named after the patriarch, Rodolfo. Nice di ba?

Anyway, this is our suite.

We had a small patio in front where there was an alcohol dispenser, a towel rack, a bench and a gadget to ward off mosquitos.

Before I continue, I want to say that I appreciated the design of their one bedroom suite. Pinagisipan ang materials that they used. Ang sosyal din talaga ng datingan.

This is how it looks like when you enter the suite. Sorry for the blurry photos. The LCD of my camera broke last March so I cannot actually see anything in the viewer when I use it. Chamba chamba lang ang mga kuha. Hahaha!

The suite has a kitchen and dining area. I don’t think you can cook there because there’s no stove and cooking utensils.

This was perfect because we had our snacks and dinner served here. We didn’t have to go to the restaurant. We felt a lot more comfortable and safer that way.

This is their super comfy living room. They had TV with cable and Netflix.

The suite had a hallway where you can find the closets and the safe.

This is the bedroom with the king sized bed.

The room had a huge window overlooking the greenery. Alvin, Anika and I fit in the bed. The room had a TV too. Grabe the pillows. Sobrang soft and by just thinking of them now, inaantok ako hahaha!

Our favorite part of the room is the huge outdoor bathroom! It has a spa bathtub which was good for 2.

After we had lunch, it rained. So Anika and I stayed in the jacuzzi which was super relaxing. The water was warm which was perfect. Alvin was in the dining table working. Para hindi maingay, dito kami ni Anika tumambay sa bathroom. We had so much fun!

The suite also had a balcony. It was nice staying there. After spending a lot of time in the bathroom, Anika and I stayed here naman while Alvin continued to work.

We ordered desserts and ate it there at the balcony. It was raining kaya naman kulang na lang, diyan na kami makatulog mag-ina.

When the rain stopped, Anika and I decided to explore the place. We walked around. We found a huge kubo where people can stay and relax. There also was a koi pond.

Every where we looked, the plants were lush and immaculately maintained. Alagang alaga talaga. There were bikes that you can use for free to go around the property. Sayang nga, mountain bikes kasi sila. They were too big for Anika. We wished we brought Anika’s bike. Sarap magbike around. Ganda din kasi ng weather. It wasn’t that hot when we were there.

Anika and I found a big bahay kubo in the middle of the property. The resort manager said that this was the original structure in the property before they opened it to the public. Ang cute ng bahay kubo. Parang bahay talaga ni Lola. You can go in and make tambay as well. There are chairs and dining tables.

In front of the bahay kubo is a huge lawn. I noticed that I keep on using the word huge in this blog post. Ang lalawak naman kasi ng mga area in this resort. Anyway, on the lawn, madaming nakakalat na sports equipment like a badminton net, shuttle cocks, badminton rackets, football, soccer ball, soccer goals, volleyball and a lot more. They’re free to be used by the guests.

Alvin followed us there and we played badminton, soccer and the giant wooden jengga.

Now lemme talk about their food. All the dishes that we ordered were delicious. Promise. They’re all flavorful. For Alvin and I, medyo may pagka-pricey yung food but we agreed that it was sulit naman. Masasarap talaga.

Here are some of the dishes that we ordered. I included the description and price that was in their menu.

Sizzling Pork Sisig (Php 430)
Pork with chicken liver, onion, chill pepper, and slices of calamansi served in a sizzling platter

Alvin and I liked the sisig. Hindi siya tinipid. For me, sulit siya for the price.

Anika had this Spaghetti Bolognese (Php 270).
Spaghetti served with sauce made from tomatoes, minced beef, garlic, wine and herbs

This one for me is kinda normal. I just like that the sauce is thick. The kids would like this pasta dish.

Brownie ala Mode (Php 250)

This dessert is so good! The brownie was thick and chewy. It went really well with the creamy vanilla ice cream and chocolate syryup.

Deep Fried Ice Cream (Php 205)
Served with fresh fruits and vanilla ice cream

Anika was raving about the fried ice cream the whole time! It was super crunchy on the outside then when you slice it, you get to enjoy the vanila ice cream inside too. Ang sarap niya with the sliced grapes! Ang daming feelings sa mouth when you eat it.

Surf & Turf (Php 680)
Combination of prawns Thermidor and grilled US steak served with potato wedges and vegetables

This  steak and prawns combination was my favorite dish during our stay. Anika and I shared this. The steak was cooked perfectly and was super tender. Ang sarap din ng pagkatimpla nung prawns thermidor. There were carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and potatoes. The sauce also was so good!

Grilled Marinated Blue Marlin Steak (Php 450)
Topped with roasted tomato confit served with garlic rice and side salad

This was what I ordered for Alvin. Masarap naman. I never knew tomatoes go with grilled fish. This comes with rice already.

Lumpiang Sariwa (Php 215)
Smoked fish, salted egg, mustard leaves, tomato, onion, and cucumber wrapped in rice paper

This is one of my favorite dishes at El Jardine too. Kakaibang lumpiang sariwa! It was so delicious. The combination of the smoked fish, salted eggs, mustasa dipped in suka is sooo good! Makagawa nga din nito sa bahay.

For breakfast, you get a set meal for adults or kids. This is already included in the room rate. No breakfast buffet because Covid sucks. Anyway, for the kids it was pancakes and hotdogs.

Medyo kulang siya for Anika kasi she eats a lot so I shared my breakfast with her too.

For adults, you get Tapa, crunchy salted fish, egg, 2pc pandesal with cheese and banana.

The Tapa was sooooo good! Ganda ng combination with the fish. They also served us coffee and water. We had our breakfast by the pool. We requested and they allowed it. There were only 2 families when we went swimming in the morning so they set up the breakfast tables on both ends of the pool. Social distancing talaga.

Now, lemme tell you about the Rocio Spa.

The Rocio Spa was named after the youngest grand daughter of the family.

Here’s the price list of their spa services:

I got their Alaga massage while Alvin got the Hulay massage.

I scheduled our massage earlier that day. We arrived on the dot and they made us fill out forms. They got our temperature and blood pressure readings. They also served us this super refreshing pandan drink.

The ambience of the Rocio Spa is very relaxing.

Honestly, I had the best massage I have ever had. For the duration of our stay at El Jardin, the massage was my favorite talaga. The masseuse knew what she was doing. They were all wearing masks by the way. Hindi ko namalayan ang 90 minutes. I wanted more, hahaha! It was that relaxing!

After the massage, we had dinner at our suite. I pre-ordered our dinner at Rodolfo’s. The cut-off of orders daw kasi is at 7pm.

After dinner, we watched Awake in Netflix on the living room TV. It was a relaxing and a great bonding activity for the 3 of us. After that we went na to the room and when my head touched the pillow, borlogs na ako agad.

The next day, Alvin and I woke up early to have coffee at the balcony while we let Anika sleep in a bit more.

After that, I woke Anika up so that we can go swimming. The pool opens ata at 8am kasi they clean it everyday. This is the infinity pool of El Jardin de Zaida.

Ang ganda di ba? I have a little trivia for you. You all know Bing, right? She’s one of my bffs. Her husband’s family’s business is pool construction. It’s called NSF Swimming Pool Construction Corp. by Alpha Pools. They were the ones who made the pool of El Jardin de Zaida (and the one in Aquatico too!). Ang ganda because the pool has a parang lap pool and they incorporated a kiddie pool sa side and a wading pool for kids also. It’s very kids friendly because as you can see in the photo, ang laki ng shallow area. When you go into the pool, until shins lang ang level. It will go deeper once you go to the middle or down the pool stairs.

The water was maligamgam. You know I don’t like cold water that’s why I don’t go swimming. But here, the water was perfect. Tuwang tuwa si Anika that I was able to swim with her. That doesn’t happen often.

My bathing suit is new. Wala na kasing kasya na bathing suit sa akin because I gained a lot of weight. I got this swimsuit from Shein for only Php 455. It’s forgiving sa figure, in fairness. Given sa laki ng katawan ko ngayon, malaki-laking pagpapatawad ang kailangan ko. Lelz.

While we were swimming, Alvin saw this structure at the back of the pool. We decided to explore it.

This pala is called Casa Molave. From the El Jardin de Zaida’s website:

“This antique two-storey ancestral home, relocated and completely refurbished in 2015, is the perfect venue for intimate gatherings. With its own outdoor dining space, sprawling private garden and living area, you can host private breakfasts, lunches, or dinners for anywhere from 20 to 100 guests.“

We thought you can rent this and sleep there. Hindi pala. It’s only for events.

The house was so pretty and presko. This is the house that Alvin has been telling me that he wanted to build for the longest time. Yung may ilalim. This was how Lolo Papa’s family house looked like in Naga. Sayang pala, sana na-preserve.

The house was made of wood. There was a sink, dining table, bathroom and lounge area at the ground floor.

I forgot what this was called but they said that this kept the drinking water cold nung unang panahon.

When you go up to the main house, it has a small living and dining area, a bedroom, toilet and bath and a balcony.

Ang lakas maka-throwback, right? That is the dream house of my husband.

After exploring Casa Molave, we went back to our suite to pack our things and get ready to leave for Manila.

Overall, despite the rain, I can say that we had a wonderful time at El Jardin de Zaida. I have to commend all the staff because everyone was so nice, courteous and helpful. The place was very relaxing and kid friendly. There were a lot of open spaces that they could run around and play. There are few rooms lang so the place was not jampacked with guests. I was told that the staff were all stay in and they have maintained the place to be Covid-19 free.

You can also do calamansi picking in the morning. You get to bring home daw your pickings. Hehe, so adorable. You just have to inform lang the front desk. There’s ATV too. The rent daw is Php 500 for 30 minutes. You can use it to drive around the 11 hectare property. Like I said, there are bikes there that you can use for free. The staff are pretty accommodating with the requests. This is the reason why despite being a bit on the pricey side, for me, sulit our stay at El Jardin de Zaida. After not being able to have a decent vacation for more than a year, this was one for the books.

I forgot to mention that they have wifi in the rooms, restaurant and at the SPA. I have a disclaimer also pala. We were upgraded to the one bedroom suite. May technical problems yata the deluxe room that they were supposed to give us so they gave us the next available room which was the one bedroom suite.

To wrap up, kids and seniors are allowed at El Jardin de Zaida. Onsite antigen swab test is required for guests 13 years old and above. The cost is Php 1,500 per person. Okay ang social distancing at this place. Masarap ang food. Masarap ang masahe. The pool is beautiful. It’s very relaxing and peaceful. The staff are accommodating and are very friendly. They take time to disinfect and sanitize the rooms before they give it to you. The towels are fluffy. The bed is super comfortable. The pillows are the same like those sa hotel. Kids have plenty of space to run around. There are available sports equipment that guests can use for free.

That’s it, pancit! Thanks El Jardin de Zaida for a good time!

 

EL JARDIN DE ZAIDA
Sitio Lagkit, Brgy. Abung San Juan, Batangas, Philippines
https://www.eljardindezaida.com.ph/
Contact number: +63917-676-7737
Email: info@eljardindezaida.com