Tagaytay City

TRAVEL DATE: October 31, 2011

Well a day before, we went to Lemery, Batangas and on our way back to Metro Manila, we had a detour trip in Tagaytay City! Tagaytay City is located in the Province of Cavite and overlooking the majestic Taal Volcano. 

The Famous Taal Volcano

Taal Volcano is one of its kind because this volcano's visible tuff cone is only small since it can be found in the middle of the lake. Its last eruption was way back 1977 and it might erupt one of these days! *Kidding*

A View of Taal Lake

From Lemery, Batangas to Tagaytay City took us about 2 hours travel time and we rode from one jeepney to another since jeepneys can only travel up to their province's borders. Tagaytay's cold weather is just right for tourists who want to escape Manila's heat. 

Upon arriving Tagaytay City, we dropped by Starbucks Coffee to chill out and relax, and have some ice cold frappucinos. It must have been our luckiest day since we won the customer of the day! *Applause* We won another frappucino drink free of charge. 

We also took the time to make fun of ourselves by taking "alien warp" pictures. Cheers to us 20 years after: 
 

"Alien-ated"

Tagaytay's night life is very active in the sense that you can find a lot of hang-out places everywhere and a lot of acoustic bands playing which made the ambiance smooth-sailing. We had our dinner at a not-so-famous and not-so-big restaurant named "Handa Ni Erminda" which literally meant "Feast of Erminda". Honestly speaking, you will not be enticed by its facade but once you get inside the restaurant, you will be overwhelmed!

 "Handa Ni Erminda"

Foods served were very reasonably priced and delicious and they offered us their "KTV Room" which is only an isolated air-conditioned room with videoke machine. We got a good deal again since there were not much customers that time and they allowed us to stay overtime. If my memory is still intact, it was only around PHP 300 for 2 hours (non-consumable).

 Here comes the food part!

It was purely just a great night of singing and dancing and laughing at each other's jokes. A night to cherish and definitely a night to treasure!

We went home at around 10 PM I guess and we rode a bus bound for Manila and the travel time was around 1-2 hours. With our sleepy eyes and tired body, we surely enjoyed the experience.

'Till we meet again Tagaytay... :)

Lemery, Batangas

TRAVEL DATE: October 30 - 31, 2011

Part I: "The Unplanned Trip" Escapade

This is how it all started.

"The loooong vacation is coming"... and a day before the 30th of October, we decided to meet and  plan our travel outing to treat ourselves with a worthy relaxation day. Batangas was the place we instantly had in mind because it's near Metro Manila and the fare was cheap.

We searched the internet and found the place Lemery in Batangas. All of us didn't know where the hell this place was located but all we know was that its van terminal was located in Starmall Edsa. We looked for some places to stay and saved the places' contact details. And there we go, all set for the unplanned trip!

Call Time was 2PM but since we have the Filipino habit, we all arrived at 3PM! We then boarded the van to Lemery, Batangas and it took us about 3 hours going there. Well, we had fun moments and chit-chats inside the van and at the same time, we we're still contacting various resorts for a place to stay good for 6 persons. Text message sent, call here, call there!

We arrived Lemery Public Market at around 6:30PM and it was already dark. We rode the Tricycle going to "Villa Leonor", the place we all chose. Villa Leonor is a 15-minute tricycle ride from the Lemery market and the fare is around PHP 30 each.

TRAVEL TIP: Don't expect much from Villa Leonor since it's only an ordinary outing place for families and friends but it's not that bad though. :)

Pictures!

We stayed in a single non-airconditioned room with electric fan and a double-deck that can accommodate 4 persons and we asked for additional 2 mattresses with pillows and linens. The resort staff was very accommodating and very kind to us and that's a plus factor.

Room Accommodation

It was my colleague's 23rd Birthday so we also brought some cakes and drinks to celebrate it. Our purpose of getting here was to only relax and unwind, and escape from the busy Manila life, and the place was just perfectly right.

The next morning, we woke up kinda late and well, since it's an unplanned trip, we basically did not have any plans.

Since the place was just beside the seashore, we talked to some local fishermen and asked them if we could rent their boats and have a boat ride. Well, we had a good deal because we only paid PHP 50 per person for 30-minute tour. It's pretty cheap!

 

 After the short boat-trip, we joined a volleyball game together with other guests, and we also grabbed the chance to swim in the swimming pool and played water charades! (Please comment on this post if you want to know the mechanics of Water Charade!)

The experience was fun and carefree. On our way home, we passed by the famous Mang Inasal Restaurant along Lemery Public Market and we had lunch first. For everybody's information, Mang Inasal first popularized the "Kanin-all-you-can" promo or the rice-all-you-can promo in the Philippines.
 

We chose another route going home by the way. We rode the jeepney going to Tagaytay, where the famous Taal Volcano is located, and there we continued our journey...with our tired faces... :)

Travel Budget: PHP 1,100.00 all in!