Fun things to do in Tagaytay City

The smallest volcano in the world, the Taal Volcano is located in the center of Taal Lake. The best way to view the volcano is from the ridge high above in Tagaytay City. The best way to get to Tagaytay is to travel using the South Luzon Expressway and exiting at Sta. Rosa, Laguna. There are a number of restaurants along the ridge where you can view the volcano while having a nice meal. It is also possible to hire a boat which will take you to the Taal Volcano island.

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Like many Catholics, we go to the Pink Sisters of the Adoration Convent of Divine Mercy to ask for their intercession for varied prayer intentions... No, they don;t have rosy pink cheeks; they wear pink robes, hence the nickname "pink Sisters". They are said to be powerful prayer warriors and intercessors because they devote their life in sacrifice and meditative prayers. I can personally say they have greatly helped me and my family in our most difficult times.

In the chapel, you will have a quiet place to pray and meditate; you'll find pieces of paper & ballpens which you can use for writing your prayer intentions. Then, there are envelopes where you put the paper with your prayer intentions, plus ANY amount that you'd like to give as donation. If you'd like an acknowledgement of your donation or would simply want to be included in the mailing list of the Pink Sisters, write your full name & address. In my case, I received not only newsletters and letter of thanks, but I also received stampitas with prayers that were very relevant to my situation.

If you badly need to talk to a Pink Sister for counseling, you can go to the cloister, ring the buzzer and place your paper with prayer intention through an opening. After a while, a contemplative nun will talk to you through the opening and give you some advise or words of consolation.

You can climb up the Meditation Hill or go have an outdoor Stations of the Cross.

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The last time we went there, we witnessed motorcycle riders stopped by policemen. Tagaytay is strictly a "No helmet, No Travel" zone. Ignorance of the city ordinance is not an excuse, so be forewarned. It is for your own safety. And please wear the proper helmets. We saw some riders accosted for wearing basebal helmets.

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Tierra de Maria is also known as Haven Of Meditation and Enrichment or HOME. Situated in a serene garden within Nature’s Park in Tagaytay City, it is the HOME of a majestic 50-foot image of Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth. Mama Mary's Movement represented by its servant leader Bro. Jiggers G. Alejandrino and the City Council of Tagaytay represented by Mayor Francis Tolentino are the proponents of this pilgrim and tourist landmark aimed to remind people to pray.

As you enter the compound, you will notice the beautifully landscaped flower garden, impressive paintings on the new stations of the cross, a symbolic “Wedding at Cana” wishing well, and a religious store. Beside the 50-ft image is the chapel where there are images of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Manaoag, and a life-size crucified Christ as focus of the “Inner Peace Healing Center”. The atmosphere inside is very solemn, with piped in charismatic music that makes it all the more conducive for soul searching, meditation and prayers.

There is a meditation deck on the 3rd floor overlooking a breathtaking landscape including the Taal Volcano.

A visit to this scenic place of worship and prayers wouldn't be complete without going to the Rosary Garden which is the proponents' fitting tribute to Mama Mary.

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Caleruega is a church on top of a hill. It has several other facilities that includes camping. The camp ground looks more like a park. they have showers and toilets for the campers to use. Since it is on a high place, it gets pretty cold at night. They charge 150 per person and you need to reserve. If you intend to have meals there (yes, they serve meals) you'll have to let them know ahead of time too.

they can arrange a bonfire for their guests, and yes, you'll have to let them know ahead. Why, because there will be noone else to assist you after 5 but the guards who can just check on how you're doing and switch on the lights.

Check in time is at 3 pm. Guests are adviced to pay before then. Curfew is at 10 pm.

In case you're not into roughing it out, Caleruega has some cottages that they rent out.

A place of healing. It features the 50-foot tall sculpture of the Virgin Mary. There are also healing stories surrounding this haven. It would be a nice place to stop by if you want to get away from it all.

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Some restaurants and picnic groves offer Taal Volcano view & picture-taking for a fee, and Hotels & Country Clubs have nice views,too. However, you can still find good views of it from the roadside. Even when there is some fog in Tagaytay, you can still see how beautiful it is. I shot these pictures with some fog partially covering the view. You'll have better shots on summer days.

It is a fact that the juice of young coconut (locally known as "buko") is rich in electrolytes like potassium, making it a good rehydration drink if you're on a roadtrip. The juice is also good for detox/cleansing, and often used to treat urinary tract infection, and kidney ailment.

Whenever we go to Tagaytay, we always have our big Coleman jug, straws, plastic spoons and tupperware tumblers ready so we can drink some fresh juice and eat the soft coconut meat, then have the rest for home. We choose the really young coconuts ("malauhog") so the juice is sweeter.

The BUKO vendor can be requested to open the top of the coconut so you can drink from a straw, or have the juice poured into your tupperware tumbler. We don't normally use the vendor's straw, as we can't be sure if it is new or recycled.

Since it is very difficult to halve the coconut to get its meat, we always request our "suki" (choice vendor) to halve all our coconuts, scoop out the meat with our spoon into our big Coleman jug. Juice mixed with the soft coco meat produces a terrific taste. At home, we drink it cold either pure or mixed with evaporated milk & sugar, or freeze some and osterize later as sherbet.

If you forget to bring plastic spoons, the vendor can make an improvised spoon out of carved coconut husk...That's an added country experience for you.