Spicy Rabasera : Hacienda Isabella: A Place for Nirvana Chasers

What a paradise-like getaway for deep meditation and relaxation!

I thought to myself upon seeing this location in one of the locally-produced films way back in 2006. Curiosity made me focus on the end credits of the movie to find out its name and address. Got the biggest surprise of my life when I saw that this ideal escape is in Indang, Cavite. Being very familiar with the municipality of Indang, I made it a personal homework to gather other specific details about the site.

I first planned coming here in 2016 with my post-millennial sons, but it didn't push through due to their little fascination of this type of destination. In 2019 I suggested this to my friends/colleagues, yet we failed to complete the required number of guests for a day tour which was an existing policy back then. Now celebrating the debut year of my planning, I had finally stepped into this elusive paradiso.

Hacienda Isabella (HI) was my only choice of venue for an annual get-together with my inner circle from the tertiary school where I'm affiliated with. Appointing myself as the "convenor" since two friends were no longer teaching in the private sector, I took care of everything before informing them. I felt relieved and grateful that they unanimously agreed! With Ms. Karen Tenorio's efficiency and professionalism in handling all my queries, the preparation was fast and smooth.

So, July 6 was the booking date for this mini-reunion. I didn't encounter any problem with Waze, thus we reached Hacienda Isabella safely at the estimated time of arrival. Upon entering the large wooden driveway gate before 9:30 am, we became veritably thrilled as if we're grade schoolers on our first trip. Hahaha.

Our tour guide/one-woman service crew, Miss Anne, witnessed our escalating happiness when we found out that we're the only booked guests that Saturday. July isn't peak season for Hacienda Isabella. Lucky for us since we would have HI all to ourselves. Whoa! Miss Anne's cheerfulness and natural charm added more to our animation.

As per schedule in Hacienda Isabella, we would be served our morning snack at 10:00 am; however, we decided to have our tour right away since Miss Karen informed me that it wouldn't take long. Besides, the sight of the trees and mini-garden antecedently whet our appetite on walking through this dreamland in the south of Manila.

Were we put under a spell as we strolled along the uniquely designed walkways and lawns? If the endless gushing over their gorgeous garden landscaping and hangout areas is one clear proof that we were enchanted, the answer is an emphatic YES!

Moreover, walking and sightseeing provided us a good form of exercise that morning. One could tell that we burned calories since we began perspiring. After sometime, Miss Anne informed us that we could proceed to the main house where we'd eat our snack. I think she saw that we already needed the refreshment.

What met our eyes upon entering this house with its exterior clad in glass, elicited wow's, oh's and ah's in unison. Inside the main reception area were opulent furnishings, priceless artifacts, vintage knick knacks, and paintings. If there were CCTV cameras in that area, I'm definite that they recorded when my jaw dropped! *blushes* Unhurriedly, I admired each piece on display. The interior design is a work of an artistic genius! Everything is aesthetically pleasing.

While we're still exploring the ground floor, Miss Anne finished setting the table. Then, we partook of the sandwich, topped with scrambled eggs, lettuce and sliced onion leeks. Yummy! Our additional baon went perfectly too with the bottomless lemonade juice, and it completed the simple but burp-inducing merienda. After an hour we resumed the tour. She brought us to the second floor after asking her where the female lead's bedroom in that movie was. There awaited fresh visually appealing objects and arrangements.

Lunch would be at 12:00 pm but we asked Miss Anne to ready it around 1:00 pm since we were still full from our morning snack. As a result, she proposed that we relaxed in one of the bungalows where a couple of their accommodations are situated. She showed them to us. We found out that HI has big rooms that can lodge even up to ten guests each.

Waiting in that quaint area was the sofa-bed-looking set which turned out to be conducive for lounging and continuing our juicy stories and updates aka Maritessan (gossiping). Hahahaha... This is where one of my friends was able to take forty winks which I wished I could do as well.

And while we're all fighting the lure of an early nap, a heavy downpour came at 12:37 pm. It added more to a good sleeping atmosphere. I lay on the comfy sofa and quietly enjoyed the pitter patter of the rain.

At 1:05 pm the rain stopped and we headed for the main house. We met our guide on her way to fetch us.

Reentering the "glass house" we saw two lighted candles on the long dining table. Miss Anne explained that there's power outage due to the lightning but it's already being fixed. Having no electricity at that time was no big deal for us since it's still daytime. I wonder whether the reaction would be the same if it were late evening at HI. Me and my imagination! *eye rolls*

You know we felt like real hacienderas as we were served each course by a well-trained staff. Pumpkin soup, garden salad, fried fish fillet, pasta, roasted chicken, fried camote sticks, and lemonade comprised our meal. Call it a super heavy mouthwatering lunch! HI's plated meal gratified our taste buds.

It is in this long rustic dining table where we stayed the longest. It appeared that we didn't run out of stories. Typical of teachers, eh? *laughs* After lunch and storytelling session, I resorted to additional documentations. I continued to be mesmerized by HI's striking character.

Checking our time, we still had around 30 mins before our outing ended at 5:00 pm. Aside from this, our afternoon merienda had not been plated up. Obviously, our tummies had no more space for the pansit bihon guisado, so we opted to have it as our take out.

With Miss Daisy, the serious-looking dog of HI puzzlingly watching us, we had our last batch of photos.

Hey, waiiiiiiiiiiitttt!!!! I just can't leave Hacienda Isabella without entering the shop inside this seven-hectare estate! *pants*

Oh, my! Oh, my! Oh, my! I was drooling over this treasure trove almost literally! *chuckles*

This high-end store sells the well-acclaimed creations of Constantino "Tito" Ledesma. He is the brother of Maria Socorro "Kuh" Hashim Ledesma. It didn't anymore surprise me why Kuh, herself, is a renowned versatile artist -- diva singer, fashion designer, painter, and actress. Incontestably, being an artist par excellence runs in the family.

My readers, HI is owned, named after her daughter Isabella, creatively built, and artistically designed by Kuh. She is Hacienda Isabella incarnate. You got to see this heavenly haven for yourself!