Grace arrived in an SUV with one of her pharmacists, a 23-year-old woman child also named Grace, and the driver, a young man named Joy.
We headed south again, past Santa Rosa, to Tagaytay, Cavite, which is apparently becoming the new vacation favorite. It's cooler than Manila and it overlooks Taal Volcano, a small volcano in the middle of Taal Lake. Actually, the volcano isn't really small, it's just submerged so you only see the upper part. If memory serves me right, there is also a lake in the crater of the volcano. Actually, the Tagaytay area is cooler than Manila because it is higher in elevation. So it's an elevated area, inside of which is a lake, inside of which is a volcano, inside of which is another lake. Cool, huh?
Taal volcano in the distance. more pics
On the way there, I saw several familiar sights -- sari-sari stores (very small convenience stores, about two square meters in size; sari-sari means variety), fruit stands, and an ox pulling a covered wagon of native handicraft.
We had lunch at RSM Lutong Bahay (Home Cooking), a top-notch restaurant that had covered patios patterned after a native nipa hut on a ridge overlooking the lake and the volcano. While we were waiting for our food, a quintet came around to serenade us. They were decent but not as good as the quartet in Kamayan and the woman looked bored as though she'd rather be somewhere else. They sang two songs for PhP100.
The food was very good. We had Marlin steak (steak strips in a brown sauce), sinigang na maya-maya (maya-maya is a kind of fish; sinigang means cooked in tamarind broth), pinakbet (vegetables cooked with salted brine), lechon kawali (pork roasted in the pan), steamed rice wrapped in banana leaves, and ripe mango shakes. Cost: PhP1335 plus a 10% tip, for a total of almost PhP1500 ($30).
Afterwards, we went to the public park that overlooks the lake. We were immediately accosted by the horseride vendors. They stayed with us as we walked from the car, trying to sell us a ride. We saw an artist stand, displaying drawings of people and posters in pencil of stylized scenes, somewhat reminiscent of Escher. Little Grace and I decided to get henna tattoos. I had a lotus painted at the base of my neck, and little Grace had some Chinese characters painted on her right ankle.
When we headed towards the ridge, the horseride vendors followed us again. A food vendor joined the ranks. Eventually, we bought three packs of a sticky-rice-and-coconut treat called ispasol for PhP100.
There was a path (mostly steps) that goes down the ridge, over a bridge and back up. There were covered patios for picnicking on either side of the steps as we went down. Lots of flowers and beautiful trees. An old woman sitting on one of the benches offered her services as oracle; we declined. We followed the path down and back up and took lots of pictures. At the top, the horseride vendors found us again. We finally conceded, but only little Grace and I rode. Cost: PhP200 per horse to walk around a small area for one hour, plus PhP150 to go down the trail, but we haggled for a discount, so we paid a total of PhP500.
I got a mare named Morgana; I made sure I got the biggest horse in the lot. Little Grace got a smaller male horse. And the trainers walked the horses down the trail, which turned out to be a small loop. Then we did one turn around the small area at the top, then we got off. We were on the horses for only about 20 minutes.
On our way back to Manila, we passed by one of the fruit stands. While the Graces were shopping for fruits, I took pictures of the adjoining stand. There were bananas and some dark red fruits hanging in strings from the ceiling. The vendor cracked open one of the dark red fruits and offered me a taste. She said they're mangosteens. I tasted a section and it was velvety and sweet. She quoted me "one-fifty" a kilo. Being late in the day, I was thinking $1.50/lb, which sounded cheap enough. I asked how many kilos in a string. She weighed one which amounted to four kilos, then she bagged them before I even said okay. I noticed that the vendors would bag things even before you agree to buy it, so you begin to think that you already agreed to buy it, even if you really hadn't. I also found a purple-colored fruit (I forget the name) and she said they were good for high-blood pressure among other things. Two went in the bag. In the end, I spent PhP700. Grace later said that I paid about two or three times more than I should have. She got her bananas for PhP80/kilo.
Strings of mangosteen, hanging in a fruit stand. more pics
Lessons re-learned:
1. As soon as you're quoted a price, immediately say that it's too expensive before you even think about it. Then start the negotiations at half the asking price.
2. Mention everything bad about the merchandise, real or imagined, to get them to lower the price.
3. Pretend that you're buying as little as possible but that you're considering buying more if they would give a volume discount.
4. Even if it's already in the bag, you can still walk away.
We had one more stop -- one of Grace's favorite stores that sells Collette's buko pie. Buko is a young coconut. I learned that Collette's buko pie is the best kind. (I had a couple of slices for dinner and it really is good.)
When we dropped little Grace off, she gave me a pack of frozen battered calamari produced by her brother's seafood business.
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