Mabuhay!
Every city has its own heartbeat and pulse, a melting-pot of sights, sounds, smells and experiences unique to its locale. Likewise, Manila and Tagaytay have their charming ways. What was supposed to be a 5-day church retreat was cancelled, leaving 3 people holding pre-booked airtickets with nowhere to go. Undaunted, we decided to push on, determined to have a good holiday, and what a great ( eating ) trip it turned out to be for me, in the company of a lovely couple, KL and KW. Along the way, we were treated with the warm hospitality of our local Filipino friends who met up with us and made sure we were well and truly fed!
Welcome to the Philippines
My adventure began on Philippine Airlines. The moment the seat-belt sign was off, there was a mini exodus of people from their seats lining up to go to the lavatories. The same scenario was repeated after the food trolley rolled off. This was the first time I’ve seen so many people with queuing for the toilet. Before the end of the flight, I had my own bout of incontinence but remained stuck in my seat somewhere in front of the plane with a long line ahead of me. Reminding myself to get a seat at the back during the return trip, I sat uncomfortably with a full bladder until the plane landed in Manila Airport.
Rule No. 1 – be prepared for queues everywhere,wait patiently and keep your cool, no matter what.
We queued to clear immigration, queued to collect our luggage, and wandered around in circles looking for our rented car. Someone told us it is in the next Terminal and to take a taxi there. Another told us to wait for the airport shuttle. We stayed with the free airport shuttle and found the rental car office. Although we were the only ones, it took another 30 minutes for the paperwork to be done, and for someone to drive us to a rather secluded car-park lot to pick up our car. It took all of 2 hours from landing to this. In the meanwhile, I was struggling to get the router working for the data roaming service. It finally worked when we drove away from the airport. I wondered if it had anything to do with the current Asean Summit Meeting held in Manila.
Rule No 2 – stay on the expressway and do not stray away from it even though traffic is bad. ( It always is )
We strayed away from the expressway to buy drinking water and to top up the fuel tank, and did not find our way back. The GPS brought us through very narrow, barely passable one-lane roads in rough terrain and poor lighting. We missed many turns into what did not look like roads at all and had to backtrack. It is left-hand driving in the Philippines. Our designated driver, KL, was resolute and stoic, in the face of serious challenges. The car trundled on, going over bumps, potholes and gravel. Finally, after what seemed like ages, we pulled up in front of our hotel at Tagaytay safe and sound, happy to report that no animals were killed along the way.
TAGAYTAY
This is a resort town about 2 1/2 hours drive from Manila in cool, lush and verdant surroundings, far from the maddening crowd. It is also a foodie haven for the locals. Not many overseas tourists find their way here unless they drive like KL!
Rule No 3 – Ask and you may get ( usually ). Ask not and you won’t get ( always )
The freebie for this rather pleasant hotel is one ( 1 hr ) massage per room per day of booking. The ever resourceful KL bargained for 2 hr massages for me per day since I am a single guest in a double room. It worked after some persistence. I was much more cheerful and relaxed afterwards with 4 hrs of massage despite a rough start. The staff here is extremely obliging and helpful. One even helped me with a jammed TSA lock which failed to open in my luggage. There was some residual damage afterwards but, hey, the suitcase is still functional and fit to travel.
Outide Robinsons Mall, Summit Ridge, there was a stall serving Bibingka slow-cooked in the traditional way. You wait for 15-20 minutes for the custard in banana leaf to cook over a charcoal stove, layered with salted egg and grated cheese, and sprinkled with grated coconut. While waiting, I chanced upon a friend from Singapore who was in Tagaytay to attend a wedding. Her friend, with her, who is local, recommended Balay Dako by Antonio ( Note this down, people! ) as the go-to place for good Filipino fare. Back to the Bibingka, here it is, ready to be served, hot and piping, for 100 pesos ( $3 )
Museo Orlina
I was eager to track down Ramon Orlina ( the glass sculptor who crafted the centrepiece called Quintessence in our very own Singapore Art Museum Chapel ) in his hometown and recently opened museum paying homage to his works. Museo Orlina has four levels, each named after his 4 children, and a sculpture garden. Face to face with the magnificent handicraft of a master craftsman, I am left in awe and gaping with jaw-dropping amazement.
Balay Dako
There was already a big crowd gathering at the reception by the time we arrived for lunch. ” You are number 42 on the list. We are currently serving number 21. The wait will be 30 minutes or more” We milled around, checked out the deli and the toilets, and rechecked our watches. KL charmed his way out by chatting up one of the managers who helpfully led us upstairs whereupon we were introduced to our waiter, who promptly got us our table in no time, ( See Rule No. 3 )
Since it was all about Filipino food and the menu was all very greek to us, we looked around and pointed to whatever looked good on other people’s tables. The piece de resistance was a whopper of a s beef shank slow-cooked to perfection and seared on a hot-plate.
It was also KW’s birthday ; and she got her cake and ate it.
We liked the food so much that we came back for dinner. At the reception, we were told that it would be close to an hour’s wait. We simply made our way upstairs, looked for our favourite waiter and sat down in 5 minutes. Dinner was just as delightful.
The Puzzle Museum
This place has a spot in the Guiness World Records in 2012 for having the largest collection of Jigsaw puzzles in the world – a staggering total of about 1,500 complete pieces, as well as the world’s largest completed puzzle of 34,600 pieces. This was the brain-child of Mdm Georgina Gil-Lacuna who converted her rest-house into a museum to house her massive collection. It all began in the 1980s when she bought a 5,000 piece Mickey Mouse jigsaw puzzle from Hong Kong for her then 2-year old son, thinking it was only 500 pieces. She duly completed the Mickey Mouse and went on to tackle over 1,000 puzzles in the next 30 years.
I discovered during this trip that KL and KW shared a common love for jigsaw puzzles, just like GG and I. This visit has reignited the spark and passion once again. I have deep regrets of not retaining the completed puzzles over the years and have instead donated them to thrift shops. Now I need to re-visit the thrift shops to retrieve the puzzles from like-minded silly people who did the same!
Sonya’s Garden
During my last trip to Tagaytay, I was transported to this idyllic haven by my Godson, D, and his lovely family. It was there I had the most memorable lunch which consisted of garden greens, home-made salad dressing, juices, fresh pasta, herbal tea and dessert. I insisted the KL and KW visited this place and eat here. They did not regret coming.
Charitos by Bag of Beans
The Filipinos are big coffee drinkers and they produce good quality beans. We walked into this charming place expecting to pick up and go but had to linger long enough to soak in the lovely ambience and tasteful decor. We were sorely tempted to have lunch here but Sonya won over the tug of war.
People’s Park in the Sky
In the 1980s, during the Marcos era, the First Lady, Imelda Marcos, was known for her excesses in shoes, clothes, and all things beautiful. She had intended to build her Palace in the Sky here. A huge unfinished and delapidated structure stands here, a sad reminder of its former glory. ( Seen in photo below beside the facade of a church with nothing inside ) Now it is a popular haunt of the locals and aptly renamed ” People’s Park in the Sky.” There are jeepneys to take you all the way up here for a fee, or some will chose to walk. We drove up and was thankful to get a parking lot.
MANILA
The drive back to Manila was not a smooth ride. We veered off the expressway AGAIN to avoid the jam, forgetting that all roads lead to Manila, eventually. The GPS navigation took us through the roads least travelled, through steep inclines, more gravel roads, and industrial estates not even familiar to the locals. To make things worse, it rained heavily and visibility was poor. ( See Rule No 2 ) After what seemed like a long, long time, we arrived at the airport to return the rental car.
Seaside Dampa Macapagal Boulevard
We were treated to a sumptuous seafood extravaganza for dinner by our Filipino friends, D and E. At Seaside Dampa Macapagal Boulevard, there are rows of stalls selling all kinds of seafood that you can negotiate and buy, then bring it to one of the numerous restaurants across the road to be cooked, for a fee. Our hosts did all that, and plied us with crabs, prawns, fish, clams and scallops. When we arrived at their preferred restaurant, the manager told us they were fully booked. Our hosts spoke to her for several minutes, then started giving instructions on how the food should be cooked. In the next minute, we got a table and were served drinks. ( See Rules No 1 and No 3 ) For the quality and quantity, it is well worth the wait and haggling when compared to prices back home.
We were so engrossed with the food and the great company that we forgot to take a picture with our hosts. Thank you, D and E, for a truly memorable evening!
More Eating
We realised that eating at a fast food restaurant was not much cheaper than a better restaurant. You still end up queueing.
At Golden Phoenix Hotel
This hotel has a good location near the SM Malls of Asia ( with free shuttle ) and the airport ( with free shuttle but…) I have mixed feelings about this place. The breakfast buffet had a good spread, including a cheese platter which is rather unusual. On day 1 , I asked for the cheese platter to be replenished and received no response. When I checked half an hour later, the platter and food label had vanished, as if it had never existed at all. I spoke to a second waiter who told me they had run out of cheese. By this time, I was warming up to a combative mood. When the manager approached our table to take our last orders, I explained the situation to her and asked for the third time for some cheese. The platter below appeared on my table a short while later. ( see Rule No 3 )
The free airport shuttle provided by the hotel only takes you to Terminal 1, which is not very useful when you are flying off from Terminal 2. After a couple of “no-s” and standing firm, asking the concierge to help us, he came back to us the next day with a “yes” ( See Rule No 3 )
Day-Tripping in Intramuros
Intramuros is the old historic district of Manila and is also called the Walled City. It retains much of its Spanish colonial heritage. How to cover the highlights in under an hour with a plane to catch? On Four Wheels and Four legs.
Flying with Philippine Airlines
I made it to the toilet, with a seat at the back of the plane. The chicken I got for lunch was not great. I asked the steward for a different meal and he told me without hesitation they had run out. ( Why is this beginning to sound so familiar? ) A second stewardess came round and asked why I wanted to return the food. I told her and she promptly handed me the fish replacement. ( See rule no 3 ) Actually, it wasn’t much better but I had the pleasure of seeing Rule no 3 in play.
Back Home
I had a wonderful time in Manila and Tagaytay, in spite of some small hiccups, and I wasn’t the one driving. KL and KW were great travelling and shopping companions. We were treated to such warm hospitality by our Filipino friends and hosts. I overate and over-shopped as usual but this has been another superb holiday!
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