Tagaytay Accommodations: Mar Ermino's

Unplanned overnight trips can be challenging and our excursion to Tagaytay was definitely a challenge. Just imagine looking for a place at 8pm in a strange touristy city... hmm, good thing the much vaunted Filipino hospitality and friendliness to lost strangers worked for us.

It was dark when we left Picnic Grove and after our dinner at Andok's, we retraced our steps and walked down Kaykulot Road (right across Tagaytay Picnic Grove) and found Kuya Mar Ermino's hostel/rooms for rent. An a/c room to accommodate all five of us for ₱1200 was a good deal so we plunked down the money, was handed the key for room 4 and got ready for bed.

The house is in a quiet neighborhood, the mattresses were firm, the bathroom clean (no hot water though). The store in front of the house is also very convenient, we bought coffee and bread there for our breakfast and Kuya Mar was kind enough to give us hot water.

Ermino's is a no-frills, value for money place. A good night's sleep was had by all and we were grateful to have this place to stay in Tagaytay City when we needed it. If you ever find yourself stuck at the Picnic Grove at night--you're not the picky type and don't mind cold showers--then Ermino's is for you.

Update: Mar Ermino's has improved! They have free wi-fi now, cable TV and hot shower. ₱1800 for 24 hours, good for 2-4 pax. You can actually haggle for a discount down to ₱1500 with breakfast. :)

Mar Ermino's Rooms
Kaykulot Road, Sungay East
4120 Tagaytay City
(across Picnic Grove Exit Gate)
Tel.: +639172483189

Peoples Park in the Sky, Tagaytay

no apostrophe here

Our Taal Lake jaunt done, we rode our rented trike up to Mount Gonzales where the People's Park in the Sky is located. It was called "Palace in the Sky" in the time of the high-flying, lavish-living Marcoses and was made specifically for Ronald Reagan's eventually scuttled State Visit.

The view atop this half-finished mountain retreat is marvelous. The highest point in Tagaytay City, what makes it even more special is you get to see four different bodies of water in one place. Hello there Taal Lake, Balayan Bay, Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay, it's nice to meet you. Ha!

You can also see the posh Tagaytay Highlands--a golf and country club development--from up here. Famished, we immediately looked for a picnic table where we ate the Jollibee meals we bought in the city proper.

After lunch, we walked around the park. The girls had fun in the giant pineapple structure. I remember having my picture taken as a kid in that thing!

The view is gorgeous of course, but I wish this place is better maintained. The buildings are falling apart, the railings rusty. I'm happy that there are new toilets constructed though. My visit a year before was marred by a nasty encounter with a dirty toilet, so I'm glad that problem has been addressed.

clean toilets, at last!

more fun in the Philippines...

This place could be much nicer and lots of people come for the awesome view anyway, but improvement is clearly needed if we're serious about our ambitious tourism goals. The Philippines is truly beautiful, the infrastructure should keep up accordingly.

People's Park in the Sky
Mt. Gonzales
Tagaytay City

Entrance fee: ₱15
Parking fee: bus ₱40
                   car/jeep/motorcycle: ₱20

Horseback Riding @ Picnic Grove, Tagaytay

Tagaytay has always been a go-to place for me and was next on my nieces' list of places to visit after our beach-bumming Boracay adventure. Its proximity to my place in Manila is a big plus and it's where I usually take my visiting family, so we planned a day trip, but fate had other plans.

The original plan was our good friend Ate Alma was supposed to meet us at Gil Puyat (aka Buendia) LRT station and drive us to Tagaytay but some clueless guy at a Petron gas station pumped the wrong fuel into her car so it would not start anymore. Bummer.

Anyway, we were already there so decided to just commute to Tagaytay from Gil Puyat and since my numerous visits to the place have all been via private car, I was absolutely clueless. We saw a JAM Transit bus station, asked the dispatcher if it will get us to Tagaytay and hopped onto the first bus that was ready to leave.

Big mistake. The bus was bound for Batangas and just let us off at Balibago bus station in Sta. Rosa, Laguna so we had to take a jeepney ride to Tagaytay. But it was all good. People were nice enough to give us directions and reassure us that the jeep will surely drop us off to where we should be.

Long story short, we alighted at the city terminal and took a tricycle to the Picnic Grove. Whew! It was 5:30pm so I decided to do the horseback riding because having a picnic in the grass and kite flying like what I did with my sister's family the week before, was not an option anymore.

We were quickly losing daylight so we hurriedly paid off the  ₱50/person entrance fee and walked to the riding trail on the left side of the picnic grounds and haggled with the touts for the horse rental.

A ₱200/horse fee was agreed upon for an hour of galloping around the trail. Girlie was apprehensive at first, but rapidly gained confidence once her horse started cantering around.

Cousin Dit got a smaller horse more suited for a kid and we laughed at the size difference. Horseback riding is my favorite thing to do in Tagaytay so it was a nice feeling to share the fun with my nieces, nephews and siblings.

The view at the ridge atop the horse was breathtaking and the fact that it was sunset and we were the only ones left riding, made it seem more special somehow.

The guides took us way down the rocky hill and back to the main horseback riding trail. It was quite exhilarating (though a bit scary) riding a horse down a hilly slope! It was worth the 2-hour commute from Manila just for that.

Everyone had fun and swiftly gained a lot of confidence on horseback, that at the end of the hour-long ride, nobody needed the guides anymore. Alyssa, Girlie and Dit were riding and guiding their horses themselves! My sis-in-law Manay Ella wasn't as daring, though.

It was a thrilling few hours of commuting and riding... but as we got off our horses we realized we had nowhere to stay in for the night and no change of clothes!

We looked around the souvenir shops and found matching shirts for the next day. Walking down Aguinaldo Highway, we found an Andok's Lechon Manok restaurant and had dinner there. After which we proceeded to look for a hostel where we can rest for the full sightseeing day ahead. What fun!

Tagaytay Picnic Grove
Brgy. Sungay East, Tagaytay City

Entrance fee: ₱50/head for 4 years old and above
Parking fee: car: ₱35
                   van/coaster/jeep: ₱50
                   bus: ₱100