Trip to Tagaytay - 07/2010

With a very short notice that Saida would be visiting Manila, we were not able to file a vacation leave to go out of town for a couple of days. So we decided to just spend a night in Tagaytay City since we haven’t been there.

Tagaytay is the alternate place to Baguio when Manileños want to escape the heat of the metro without the need to travel for 7 hours. For commuters, it can be reached by bus or vans within an hour or two of travel. There is a van terminal in Star Mall in Mandaluyong. Take the route going to Lemery.

We left Mandaluyong by van at around 1pm and reached Tagaytay by 2:30pm. We immediately looked for a place to stay at night. We got a room for Php 1,500.00. It was not the best room – just had 1 queen sized bed, an air conditioning unit and a bathroom - but good enough for us to rest at night.

 Welcome to the People’s Park in the Sky!

After checking in, we explored the city right away. Our first stop was the People’s Park in the Sky. It would give you a view of the city and the Taal Lake - the smallest volcano in the country. It has an old structure made of stone, some picnic tables, and the other regular things you would see in a park. Although I was not so impressed as it was an ordinary view for me who came from a rural area – except of course for the Taal Lake.

The view of the Taal Lake from the park.

We then went to another park (forgive me for forgetting the name). I would say this one was better than the park in the sky. It was more taken care of and organized. It also had some picnic tables, a wide ground for children, campers and activities, souvenir shops and a zip line. Our stay here was very relaxing. Ahhh… the taste of the Tagaytay air.

The wide ground for outdoor activities.

Since it’s already around 6pm, we headed to their Mahogany market to get a taste of their famous Bulalo. Hmmm… the hot soup of the Bulalo perfectly complements the cool weather of the city. Bottoms up to our bowl of hot Bulalo. We would surely remember Tagaytay every time we think of Bulalo.

Our bowls of Bulalo.

And it’s time to experience the city’s night life - we sang our hearts out thru a videoke room. Trying to stay awake, we had a cup of Starbucks coffee and their oreo cheesecake. Yum! Our minds were willing but our flesh was weak. We ended the night with a sound sleep back at the inn.

Since Saida’s flight to Davao was around 1pm, we woke up early in the morning and went to the Good Shepherd house to buy some pasalubong. We then had our breakfast at Cecille’s restaurant and had some pictures taken with the Taal Lake as the background before heading back to Makati.

Bulalo again for breakfast!

Our Tagaytay experience was short, but fun!