Oasis in Babatngon

A rowboat ride by the pond, anyone?

In a spur of the moment's fancy my friends and I decided to take a visit to Rafael's Farm, a mere 25 minutes drive from the city. I've already heard about this place from friends and have seen pictures of it in their Friendster accounts. They had but wonderful words and my curiosity was piqued. So that night, at a moment's notice off we went to Babatngon, the immediate neighboring town of Tacloban to the south, just short of the San Juanico Bridge. A few minutes after we left the outskirts of the city and the last barangay, we slowed to a stop in front of a wooden gate. We were just in time as the place closed at 8:30 p.m., so we were told by an ebbulient guard who opened its entrance. We went down a winding wooden path traversing over a large man made pond. Uhhmm. So far, everything was just as it looked in the pictures, even better.

The tree house

All twelve hectares of this estate is landscaped with lily ponds and artifial springs strewn all over. The largest pond has small rowboats which you could rent for the small price of P50.00, unlimited hours a delight for the kids which makes it an ideal place for a family outing

I am not much of an expert on architecture much more on landscaping,but I venture my two centavos worth of opinion on Rafael's and what makes it worth visiting. My over-all assessment is that it is the perfect millionaire's getaway. It is what my ideal rest house would look like if I had millions of bucks to spare. It is clear that the owner loving had his hand in the final look for it maintains that homey touch that must come only from the non-expert. But make no mistake, the whole place shows the stamp of a professional interior designer, one can see it in the symmetry and put-together finish of the design.



The restaurant as viewed from the entrance

For the millionaire (could be) that is Rafael's owner, he just was generous enough to share to the public his perfect sanctuary.

The focal point of the farm is the restaurant, which is not quite large but we were told that it is big enough to accomodate 100 persons. Antique chairs and wooden furniture dominates the interiors. Diaphanous curtains serve as soft dividers between the main dining hall and the side lanais. It is usually tied so as to let the fresh air in. Surrounding the building are mini wading pools with urns spouting water from pressurized pumps underneath. The design is an eclectic mix of native Filipino and old European touches. I do love the old kerosene lamps, a reminder of my childhood when emergency lights was then unheard of. It came in handy too as a brown out occurred a good ten minutes after we arrived.

Scatterred a few meters from the restaurant are small cottages you could rent for the day where you could bring in your own food plus corkage. There is also a tree house which, unfortunaltely could not be seen in nightime. All in all, Rafael's Farm provides the perfect ambiance for the weary soul tired of the usual city fare of smog and concrete. The food was reasonably priced for a restaurant of this caliber (settings-wise). We ordered crispy enough fries and cheesecake that, while unremarkable, is pleasing enough to the palate. But that is not always the lure of place. Just being there and savoring the sights is enough. Enough reason to return and bring along a friend.

(photos courtesy of Atty. M.N.A.)