Tagaytay and Eagle Point

Yesterday we went to a town called Tagaytay ("Tuh, guy, tie").  We rented a car again and prayed very hard that we could navigate this place a little better than the last time, which we did.  Also, we were pulled over ZERO times, which is a huge improvement.  Most of the "good" roads here are toll roads, and cost anywhere between 50 cents and 5 dollars to use, but when you are on them you can almost convince yourself that this IS a country with functioning infrastructure.  Then you realize that JAPAN built the roads, maintains the roads, and runs the toll booths, and its actually JAPAN that has the functioning infrastructure. 

We had fun setting out on the road trip though.  Bruce drove, I navigated, and the girls ate treats and watched movies.  We even listened to the radio when I wasn't insisting on absolute silence while I decoded the maps.  Filipinos LOVE easy listening- even the rap here has violins going in the background.  They remake a lot of American songs to make them "easier," and many times I've heard songs on the radio and thought, "That sounds familiar..." and then realized at the chorus I was listening to a slower version of an American pop song.  Yesterday, I even heard a remake of a Chicago song...'cause, you know, regular Chicago is not quite easy enough. 

We made it Tagaytay without incident.  Our destination was the People's Park in the Sky, which was a palace that Ferdinand Marcos started to build and never finished.  After he was ousted, it was still never finished, but was instead opened to the public for a small admission price, filled with souvenir shops, and then descended upon by random local vendors and stray cats.  However, it did have amazing views and was totally worth going to.

It was a steep walk up to the palace, thankfully it was a little cloudy.  Tagaytay is much higher in elevation than Manila, so we actually needed our jackets!

Stopping for a rest.

Budget Cuts. 
Maybe fill in the blanks yourself.

Tagaytay had signs bragging about their 20,000 pine trees, but they were all about this size.  I was a little disappointed.  It's no Dixie National Forest, that's for sure. 

I was not kidding about the stray cats.  I didn't even dare get out my "cat cheese" that I keep in my purse because I was scared they would overwhelm me.

I know...MORE SNAKES!
They just love a python though, and have you ever seen that Kiki so happy?

The view from the palace.  It was cloudy, which was disappointing, because Tagaytay is home to Lake Taal, which has a lake inside a volcano inside a lake that's inside a volcano.

Thank goodness we had this giant poster available!

Jesus watched over us.

Just to the left of the telephone pole is the volcano with the lake in it.

Looking at the island in the lake, the second volcano/lake combo is to the right.  Pretty fascinating stuff.

Welcome to the Philippines.  This is totally typical- you have yourself this palace with statues and views, and someone thinks to themselves, "This is just the right spot for a couple dozen satellite dishes."

We had lunch at a Greek restaurant- it was built into the mountainside, which are the rocks you see behind Bruce and the girls.  It was also delicious food-maybe even worth a trip back.  Kiki ordered "Only meatballs," and they delivered just that.  

I took this picture twice thinking I was holding the camera crooked...then I realized the swing was crooked.  TIP.

Another random thing...We were driving along some country road full of shanties and little stores and jeepneys, and all of a sudden this giant castle appeared.  Then it was right back to shanties, stores, and jeepneys.  So mysterious!

We stayed last night at a place called Eagle Point.  It was a great resort- the girls walked into our room and said, "This room is huge!!"  What was funny is that it was a regular sized double room, they've just become accustomed to very tiny hotel accommodations. 

The views were incredible.  This overlooked the Luzon Sea.  It was a rocky beach- great for scuba diving, which Bruce did, but not great for hanging out on.

Fortunately there were a couple of pools connected by a slide.  The girls made a friend the instant we arrived at the pool, which made for a fun couple of days.  Her name is Myealis, and then we made friends with her parents and her brother and sister, and now we have new friends.  New FRENCH friends.  Ooh la la!  They live here though, so we can hang out again.

The hotel had a seawater pool that had fish, starfish, and baby sharks.  This one heard the words, "Baby Sharks" and was off like a shot looking for them.  The pool was 10 or so feet deep and she swam it like a champ. 

What can I say about my Kiki?
She's a total badass.

Kate strikes a supermodel pose.
My favorite thing in this picture is that the guy in the background with the cage is in the process of shaking a bunch of sea urchins to death.

Kate, Bruce, and Myaelis explore the sea pool.

New friends are pretty awesome.

We drove home this afternoon and are ready for another busy week.  That's sarcasm.  Bruce brought home a day planner from work and asked me if I wanted it.  It was a nice thought, but probably wasted on me.  Every day would just say, "Breakfast. School.  Lunch.  Sit by pool and read.  Go to the mall. Dinner.  Bed."  I'm not complaining (or bragging), it's just the facts.