What comes to your mind when someone invited you to dine in total darkness? Will it be easy to eat your food and end your meal without knocking the utensils? Will there be any difference on how the food will taste like?
Dark Dining. Been reading about this since some of my friends had the chance to go through this experience recently. Last Saturday, November 21st I had the privilege to attend this unusual dining event at the Residence Inn Tagaytay. Thanks to Ms. Grace Bondad Nicolas of TAG Media and Public Relations for inviting me and to Zoomanity Group, one of the leading companies in the park industry and host to series of "Dinner in the Dark", for the benefit of the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines. The event is to also create awareness for everyone on what it's like to lose our sense of sight.
Upon arrival at the Residence Inn Tagaytay, orientation has been given to the diners before being led into the dining room.
- Phones and other gadgets must be turned off
- Watches and jewelries should be removed
- There's an area where you can leave your bags
- Guests will wear blindfold before going inside the dining area
- Menus are kept secret so guests can explore their sense of taste too
We were ushered into the dining area by one of the guides. Both hands on top of the shoulder of the co-diners in front of us until we form a line. Slowly and carefully going down the stairs until we were inside this dark room and finally seated with the help of the guide assigned for our group.
When all the guests were seated, we were then asked to remove our blindfolds and when we did, all we saw was total darkness. At first I thought somehow I'll get to see even a glimpse of light but I was totally wrong. Guide for each table introduced themselves one by one. The moderator told us that our meal and dining utensils are placed in front of us using the 12-hour clock position as guide.
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| How it looks without the blindfold |
When we were asked to start, I sense that all of us are excited. I can clearly hear everyone searching for their spoon and fork in complete darkness. I was too careful not to spill any of my food that it took me some time before I finished the entire meal. All food served were good including the dessert. Live entertainment was provided too. I remember someone singing while playing the guitar and even asked the guests for any song request.
After dinner, the lights were turned on, a representative from the Eye Bank Foundation asked at least two guests to share their experience. They were given gifts for participating and another two gifts for two diners with the cleanest plate and to my surprise, I got one (yeepee!).
We proceed at the Show Area afterwards for the Magic Show. Since it's still the month of November, the theme was Halloween. All the performers are in their scary Halloween costumes. They were dancing, doing magic tricks, and some even used the Zipline ride for their aerial act. I definitely wouldn't forget the animals (cats, dog, and a python) who also participated in the show to make it more interesting and the audience scarier than they already were. The flame breathing vampire failed to do his act since the wind was blowing his way badly which resulted for him to skip his act. Overall, the show was still good.
It was indeed a unique dining encounter and I will definitely going to recommend this experience to friends. I even met new friends so that's another plus and learned to appreciate my sense of sight that made me realized how blessed I am for still having all my human senses working perfectly.
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It was indeed a unique dining encounter and I will definitely going to recommend this experience to friends. I even met new friends so that's another plus and learned to appreciate my sense of sight that made me realized how blessed I am for still having all my human senses working perfectly.
