Tagaytay Trip

Welcome Sign in the Rotonda

This is my first trip to Tagaytay, well actually I once passed by it when i was 11 (I guess??) and literally we did just passed by the place when we're going home from Mindoro (my father's homeland) to Batangas then we took Tagaytay to Cavite and to Manila. Again, this is my first trip to the 2nd Summer Capital City of the Philippines with lablab and it was UNPLANNED. Yes! You read it right it was unplanned, all we know is that we will go to this place and sip a cup of coffee and feel the cool breeze... So we went there knowing only one place we want to go, that is Starbucks Tagaytay because lablab told me that it is cozy and it has a great view of Taal and its lake.

via Google Maps

Our start point is lablab's hometown, Rosario, Cavite. It took us about an hour drive to Tagaytay. We passed by Gen. Trias and took A. Bonifacio highway then right on Governor's Drive and left to Crisanto M. De Los Reyes Avenue and then passed by Amadeo Tagaytay and finally Tagaytay City. This route is parallel with the Emilio Aguinaldo highway in Cavite but less the traffic. Now reaching our location we look for a place to eat.

There are a lot of restos in Tagaytay, we want a place with great food and a good ambiance to celebrate my lablab's birthday and maybe have a little booze after. We ended up at Gerry's Grill  near Robinson's Supermarket. It is just 7pm and the night is young, a lot of cars were parked outside giving us an idea that we are not the only one's that liked the place. We ordered 3 dishes, Sinigang na Baboy, Inihaw na Liempo and Gerry's Chicken. Then have two bottles of San Mig Light and boy I like it when its too cold, hehehe. Next stop is Starbucks but we decided to look for a place to stay first.

We drove through the highway to find a Hotel or an Apartelle, we reached an apartelle called Radiant Star, it is just alongside of the highway. Then we decided to go to Starbucks after an overnight sleep because there are no spotlights to light up Taal at night.

The next day at lunch we want something exotic or not a commercialized place to eat, like a karinderia or a small resto. There is a place along the highway that captured our attention. It is a small canteen but has a lot of travelling customers like us. Out of curiosity we parked our car and took a chance of eating a great meal. They offer home cooked meals and the ever so famous Bulalo. We had an order of Bulalo and Inihaw na Tilapya. The inihaw was just ordinary but the other dish earned it title "Special Bulalo" for it is superb! After eating our dessert, a home made leche plan, and finishing our mango shake we drove to our only planned destination, Starbucks Tagaytay.

On our way I thought of going to Picnic Grove or to check out some other places but we have a limited time and lablab is a bit tired. We parked and went to Starbucks. The top place is full so we went at the back to have a view of Taal while waiting for a vacant seat upstairs. Now I know why that lake is the widest in our country. I have seen lakes that are just the size of ponds but not a body of water surrounded by massive amount of land in the province of Batangas. 

Then lablab told me she thought that the lake is the water inside Taal volcano is the lake but actually the water surrounding it is a much bigger lake. We did some picture taking on the site and after the photo shoot, lablab saw that the best place/table in Starbucks is vacant, so we hurried up and occupied the corner left table facing Taal. We ordered two hot coffee and a slice of cheese cake.



We have a nice conversation while sipping our coffee with the cool breeze of Tagaytay. A little cloudy but it did not rain, a very nice atmosphere to enjoy the place. Having a relaxing moment ovelrooking the beautiful view we went back to the car and drove home. But on our way, we visited the Pink Sisters, a convent for nuns. Pink is their dress so maybe that is why they are called Pink Sisters and lablab told me you cannot touch them and they are separated from visitors by iron fences, almost looking like a prison but maybe that us a sign that they are for God to serve Him and to separate them from sins and impurities. After saying our prayer, we then drive our way back to manila. We took the Emilio Aguinaldo highway this time since it is a shorter route to Manila than going back to our first route.


Tagaytay is a very nice place with a lot of food choices, aside from its breeze the site of Taal is a very relaxing place to converse and to remove stress. There are a lot of activities you can do, horse back riding, picnics, zip line, etc. and you will take roughly about 3 hours to go there, not bad right. Tagaytay, Bulalo, Taal, the sight is worth visiting for! :)