I walk down to the dunkin donuts, and have a cup of coffee and a sandwich, and bought some pandesol for the bus trip to Tagaytay. Then I cross the footbridge and walk down a ways, looking for an aircon bus that has destination of Tagaytay. It took about 15 minutes, during which every taxi that went by stopped and tried to get me to get in.
I arrived in Tagaytay at noon, and called Nick's house, reaching his fiance, Vicki. She said Nick wasn't home, but to come on up. She told me to get on a jeepney desitination Alfonso and ride for about 15 minutes, getting off at Sunnybrook Condominiums.
So I am standing alongside th road waiting for a jeepney when a tricycle driver pulls up. He asks me where I am going, and I tell him, and ask him how much to take me there. He says "P300 only." I laughed heartily and tell him he must have me mistaken for someone else. He looks a little puzzled, then just sits ther in my way. Fine, I just picked up my stuff and walked around him and down the street. I walked for a little ways, then found another place in the shade to stand and wait for a jeepney. One thing I noticed right away, it is much cooler here, and windy.
A small goat comes up and nuzzles my hand. He looked hungry, so I fed him the remainder of the pandesol that I had not eaten. He gobbled it down like he hadn't eaten in months. Fianally, I walked on down the street, the goat following close behind. I got some pretty wierd looks, evidently a Kano carrying a large cigarette box being followed by a goat is not an everyday occurence, even in Tagaytay.
At last I flagged down a jeepney with Alfonso as a destination, and I got on. The goat acted as if it was going to get on also. The last I saw of it, he was standing in the middle of the street, looking after the departing jeepney. Everyone on board seemed to think this was hilarious. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to get a picture of him.
The biggest problem I have on jeepneys is that I am to tall to see out. This became a problem on this trip also, because I went right past sunnybrook condos, and finally got off the jeepney after about 25 minutes figuring I had past it. I had.
I called Nick's # again, and tried to explain to Vicki where I was. Having just moved to this area herself, she had no clue either. I handed the phone to a man standing there and asked him if he could explain to her where I was. After several minutes he handed the phone back to me, and Vicki told me to stay put and they would come get me.
About 15 minutes later a car pulls up. It is Nick, Vicki, and Vicki's cousin. We went to a really neat open air restaurant overlooking the Taal volcano and had lunch. The veiw was great, as was the food. A band came to play for us. They were pretty good, but I could have done without it when I was trying to eat.
We then drove down into the canyon to the lake, which surrounds the volcano. This is a very beautifull area, and cool.
