Precious Garden

Saturday, December 3, 2011

IT WAS one of those days off when nothing has been planned, sleeping didn’t sound enticing, and there wasn’t laundry to do… and then up popped in the chat, long-time buddy Edith C., just as restless but just as clueless on what to do. That’s how it is with buddies…

We were soon on our way to the Samal barge to see what else we haven’t explored… and that was the day when I finally found where that darn foreigner-owned restaurant and bar that have long been mentioned but which no one could give real directions to. The name, Precious Garden and it’s in Babak, Island Garden City of Samal.

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It has been there for four years now, although development of the property continues, the seaside bar attendant told us. I have heard about it two years ago but never had a chance to look for it since all I can fnid out is it’s in Babak.

This time, I had another informant, a new Samal habitué and near-resident who has a more specific idea of where this garden is: along the road going to the Bat Cave.

To the bat cave!

Where?

Okay… if you’re riding the barge on your own vehicle, get out of the ferry landing pay the ten peso road user’s fee, turn left, and head for Babak. When you reach Babak junction, just go straight (don’t turn right as most vehicles would) until the cemented road turns to an uncemented one all the time keeping a keen eye on the road signs. You’ll soon see a big one that says, Precious Garden. Turn left, where the arrow points, and just follow the arrow.

We followed the arrow and there it was, a really precious garden, a beach property with trees and plants all over.

The place has rooms too (P2,100 for aircon, P1,700 for the ones with just a fan), they don’t have rate cards, and the attendant is not so sure how much a meeting room costs. But we were there to eat so we didn’t miss information.

Pepperoni pizza (Italian style meaning thin crust; the American style is the thick crust, according to the menu) and the most unusual sounding sausage – currywurst. I wanted to get alterwasser as my drink, simply because I don’t know what that was. But when the waitress said it’s beer with Sprite (shandy), I opted for carrot juice instead.

The sausage was really good. The pizza too I would say.

Or was it just the ambience?

Being in a bum mood, we chose the garden tables where trees give natural shade instead of the quaint earth-toned bar. We then walked to the seaside bar, just to check out the place, and ended up lounging around a hut that had beach pillows.

We would have wanted to stay longer, but that was it for the day. Edith’s customers were already calling, asking for deliveries of these and that stuff. Bum time was over.

The few hours we lolled around there, however, was already enough to sweep away cobwebs in the brain and the soul, I can just imagine how much more had we had the time to hang out until the evening or even stay overnight.

This is a must-visit, and it’s just a very short ride from the barge. The best part is you can even ride the Babak ‘lantsa’ and just take the tricycle. Just tell the driver, Precious Garden and in less than ten minutes, you’re there.

The place was quiet on that day, although there were several Caucasians around. We arrived to see a young beach-bum looking one surfing the net at the restaurant bar, we met a couple on our way back from the seaside bar, and found an older gentleman at the restaurant bar, the young man nowhere to be found by then.

Word of mouth among the white visitors cum residents had apparently brought them to the garden.