Lovely Tagaytay, an Extension of “Home”

Tagaytay post updated January 18, 2020 in relation to the Taal Volcanic eruption. :/ Taal volcano refers to a complex of volcanoes in Talisay, Batangas. It is within a lake which is most likely a big caldera, and there are several calderas on what appears to be the tip protruding from the volcano.

The Taal volcano is one of the spots I often get to see and take pictures of, even back when I was a high school student. Why? It’s so close to home. The town proper is 20 minutes away from where we live so it’s always a very convenient trip. The recent news of it spewing out smoke more than the usual and later on ash, saddened me. The area has been placed on Alert level 1 since last year, but not everyone heed the advice soon enough to evacuate.  Thus, I’m reviving this post for some beautiful memories.  (original post -2011- starts on first subtopic until 2nd to the last subtopic)

Postcard Perfect

I received a postcard from Gene! It reads something to this line “I know you mentioned that you live near Tagaytay, so I sent this to you…you must miss it as I do…” (sorry Gene, my daughter took the card and secured it in her postbox – where she keeps all the postcards we receive. 😀

Anyhow, what Gene said is true, I miss Tagaytay because we grew up with it as an extension of what we call “home.” Sure, the place is totally different from how it was when we were small. It was colder, much greener – less buildings and with certainly a lot of fruit stands. I can’t say which is the better, then or now, but I’m glad that the development included restaurants that serve really good food!

There’s the original Mushroomburger (which is supposed to be my post, I just can’t find my photos), established in 1978. They sold the first Mushroomburger on November 1, 1980 – a few months after I was born! There are well-loved restaurants that only Tagaytay can boast of such as Pamana, Bag of Beans, Antonio’s and Ladera. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.)

Reasons we were up in Tagaytay would either be a concert, a wedding to attend, some free days off school, and just to feel the cold breeze, buy buko pie or espasol, ride on horseback, or just have a photo with the volcano complex as the background. So let’s include those as things to do when in Tagaytay.

New Foodie Places

There are also relatively new established food joints which have already gained fame in downtown Manila such as Dencio’s, Carlo’s Pizza, Teriyaki Boy, Leslie’s and a lot more. With restaurant chains sprouting, Tagaytay has definitely become one of the Philippines top travel destinations!

So I will show you food from Leslie’s which I already posted on my food blog (old photos and stories). Leslie’s offer traditional Filipino food, for individual or group menu. I can’t remember which did we order but we have Sugpo sa Aligue (lobster in crab fat), Nilagang Bulalo (beef marrow stew), Laing (taro leaves in coconut milk), Chicken Barbeque, Pinaputok na Tilapia (tilapia fried in foil) and Leche Flan for dessert (rice is of course, included).

We were with my sister and her family (2 kasambahays included) but we didn’t finish everything. We went home with a lot of leftovers which is good since my mom has to be at the office then (payday), we brought her whole tilapia, chicken pieces and bulalo too.

While eating we were serenaded by the resident singers. The kids happily sang along. I won’t show much of the restaurant’s interior, please check Gene’s entry for that. 😉

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Carlos Pizza is one for spontaneous get togethers. It’s located at One Destination, 15 minutes or so from where we live and where a handful more of restaurants are located. You can actually pick one when you get there….like we did, we can’t decide on where to dine so we ended up there as they serve pizza.

Who says no to pizza? I’d say the food is reasonably priced if not cheap. There were a dozen of us and I paid less than what I actually expected…

We ordered diverse pizza and pasta, buffalo wings with beer and other drinks. It was summer so the winds weren’t as strong. We dined al fresco sans the jacket. 🙂 Back in the days, we always tuck our jackets when visiting Tagaytay.

I don’t normally post photos of myself for fear that my readers would scurry away but let me take this chance to congratulate my bestfriend for her pregnancy (she’s in yellow). After we finished eating, I taught her bits and pieces about her new camera. 🙂

2020, I guess there are a handful more food joins that opened, but are nowadays closed because of the volcanic activities.

Tagaytay is Perfect for Wedding Venues and Photo shoots

As mentioned, one reason we are often up in Tagaytay even as kids would be weddings. The Taal Vista Lodge is a famous wedding venue. (My older brother and sister-in-law picked it out for their venue.) The perfectly painted clouds over the lake make for a beautiful backdrop to every photo.

We did a photo shoot with my older brother and his fiancee in Tagaytay. We went on a number of stops, and would sip iced tea if the kids fancy.

Buko Pies

Tagaytay is easily reachable through three provinces namely Cavite, Batangas, and Laguna. These three are major producers of coconut and its by-products. One famous delicacy that Tagaytay is known for is buko pie. It’s a young-coconut custard pie, layers of young coconut strips sweetened with condensed milk and other ingredients. There are variations to choose from: as Filipinos love ube (purple yam) in everything, you can buy buko-ube pie for example.

Other notable Filipino goodies to try when in Tagaytay or take back home: espasol (rice cake in coconut milk),mini-tarts, pure honey, fish in oil bottles ( a lot to choose from), and fresh fruits from the side stands.

Horseback riding

There’s a small range beside the Taal Vista Lodge given for horseback riding. This is one of the kids’ favorite activities, so they would gladly go on given the chance. And they find it amusing that the horses are smaller than what they’re used to seeing or riding when in Vienna or Nuremberg.

I couldn’t find information on the rates, and I’ve also forgotten how much a ride would cost, but be assured that it’s not a lot. There are also horse guides to help you mount and lead the horses as you ride around.

This is also a beautiful memory for me, having rode horses in the same area as a child. Seeing the kids as happy as we were was quite nostalgic.

Taal Volcano January 12, 2020 Eruption

The last time I experienced a volcanic eruption upclose was in 1991 (I was almost 11). It was the Mt.Pinatubo in Zambales, which was a 4-hour drive away from our residence. The ashfall was hard on ut even when we were that far, I could only imagine how it is now that the Taal volcano is just 20 minutes away. 🙁

The first warning posted by Phivolcs ( Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology) of phreatic explosion on January 12 was at 7:53 in the morning. There were several IP cameras displaced all around the volcano to monitor its activities. Earthquakes have been felt throughout in lower magnitudes as well. People within a certain radius have been evacuated to other cities/towns. Here’s hoping for stability soon.

If you would like to help, you can send donations to The Philippine Red Cross.