We finally made it to Tagatay! We took a Grey Line Tour, so a driver picked
us up right across the street. We made
one stop in Abalong to pick up one more person, Nora from New Zealand. We could not have asked for a more pleasant
person to have in our tour group. Our
tour guide was Neil and our driver was J.R.
Our first stop was at the last Jeepney factory in the
Philippines. We were told that Jeepneys
can now be made cheaper in a person’s backyard than in the factory. The Jeepney is not only a form of public
transportation, but they are works of art.
One can ride a Jeepney for eight pesos which is 18 cents. We actually got to ride a Jeepney when we
went to Palace in the Sky!...
Our next stop was at a church in Las Pinas that houses the
Bamboo Pipe Organ. It is 197 years old
and is still used in the mass services today.
We had a really nice guide who gave us the history of the church and the
organ. He even had someone play the
organ for us…
We arrived in Tagatay City and had lunch at Max’s. Neil ordered us all a typical Filipino lunch
with a chicken plate and several side dishes.
The food was good, but the view was incredible…
You have to have coffee after a meal, so our next stop was a
coffee plantation which was more like a convenient store. They are the exclusive sellers of Wild Cat
Coffee. This coffee is quite unique. The Civet Cat dwells in the Philippine
jungles and feeds on wild coffee berries, but the cat’s digestive tract cannot
break down the hard shelled beans. Thus,
it excretes those beans completely whole.
The Civet’s digestion alters the coffee in a magical way for its result
in a unique aroma and taste (yeah, I know what you are thinking). A cup will rejuvenate, keep weariness and
sleepiness at bay, and banish bodily aches and pains. It contains three times the antioxidants than other varieties. “They” claim it is
Tagatay’s best coffee and that there is nothing like it. Well, we got to have a cup of this magical
java. It was good, and yes, we bought
some…
After our afternoon coffee, we headed to the Palace in the
Sky. This was the mansion of Marcos,
President of the Philippines at one time.
When the people revolted, they went to the mansion and took
everything. The remains have been turned
in to the People’s Park. We were only
able to go so far, and then had to take a Jeepney to the very top. The views are absolutely gorgeous!...
Back in the van, we headed back to Manila. We dropped off
Nora after exchanging emails – a new friend J
- and then got in heavy traffic getting back to Serendra. We will definitely tour with Grey Line again.
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