Lunch in Josephine’s

I was there in Josehine’s restaurant last week for a luncheon meeting. This time, I got there at exactly 12 noon. Not late but my ka-meeting beat me by five minutes. Well, they live in the area. I left Manila at 10 am, there’s no traffic, but I made the mistake of exiting in Sta. Rosa instead of in Eaton. It took away a good twenty minutes due to slow moving vehicles. Plus when we reached the Sta. Rosa / Tagaytay Road, Silang side, there were a convoy of turtle-paced trucks.

There was a time when real estate brokers were scouting for potential buyers of the Josephine restaurant in Tagaytay. I didn’t believe that it was a valid or accurate information. Sometimes brokers offer properties that are not really for sale. Why would it be sold by the owners? It’s famous and successful. The location is fantastic. The view is majestic. It’s synonymous to Filipino food / tourist dining / balikbayan feast in Tagaytay.

I ordered tawilis, and I was the only one who finished this whole plate.

Nida ordered kare-kare. I ordered manggang hilaw and alamang. Nene chose sinigang na hipon.

Annette brought home most of this relyenong bangus which she ordered.

We all shared in this fresh buko in buko shell. I think they’re watching their diet.

I ate all he mango slices and scraped the coconut meat.

I paid a little over 2,150 plus tip.

Our topic last week was about some restaurant owners in Tagaytay who made it big. There’s this hardworking and enterprising couple who borrowed P20,000 to start their Bulalo carinderia and now they’ve grown so big. They own several espensive vehicles, employs 100 people, buys properties here and there, in cash, built a three story house, etc. Masipag, magaling, at swerte rin.

This week naman, our topics were
#1 About the locals losing all they have to gambling in the Casino Filipino. #2 Brokers who ask for photo copy of the owner’s title and eventually producing a new fake title and selling the property.
#3 Dying husbands leaving real estate properties to children who do not have the capacity to pay for the large estate taxes.
#4 Two cars stolen in front of the mayor’s gate, during his party. The criminals covered the CCTV camera at the gate. The mayor daw is furious, naturally.
#5 Kuh Ledesma’s Hacienda Isabella in Indang, Cavite has expanded to five hectares. She bought her first hectare from a broker @ 100 per square meter. Now the prices are around a thousand.
#6 Unscrupulous property brokers victimizing foreigners and Filipino retirees as well.