On May 22nd, we were invited, along with a couple of fellow bloggers, to join Ayala Westgrove Heights Mango Festival in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. We were told there’ll be chefs preparing a couple of desserts for us, with Lori of Dessert Comes First hosting the demo. Oh, they already had us at mangoes!
After a not-so-long trip to Laguna, we arrived at Ayala Westgrove Heights. It’s a 400-hectare (yeah, the place is huge!) orchard environment at the heart of the Calabarzon region.
While driving by the houses, we were raving about how most of them were constructed, plus the pretty unique designs, too. And with the foliage everywhere, you can only expect fresh air. Even when the sun was up, the warmth of the air around us was not as scorching as we were expecting. The environment is simply serene.
When we arrived at the sports center of Ayala Westgrove Heights, we were informed that the open house there isn’t like the usual, which is why they called it Mango Festival.
Because they pride on how much they nurture nature, especially the mango trees at the orchard in their neighborhood, they made sure they highlight that through the said event, which is part of their year-long 12th anniversary celebration.
You can even buy fresh mangoes right there. They were grown at their orchard. We were supposed to buy before we went home, but completely forgot. My mom would’ve loved to have a taste of those big, juicy mangoes!
Ken and I were with Ning and Eihdra who are both foodies, too. We were so lucky to be there since, as part of the Mango Festival, they invited two renowned dessert chefs – Buddy Trinidad and Sau del Rosario – for dessert preparation demos. Everyone, including the prospective residents, were welcome to watch and join in.
First up was Chef Buddy Trinidad who prepared Mango Crunch. Lori walked us through what’s happening, asking questions here and there for our benefit.