On the way, plans were changed so that we headed for Tagaytay first. We had Rex and his nanny with us and Kit felt that it would be best if we did things in a different order. I hadn’t realized that Tagaytay has a mini-zoo and we needed to be there in daylight to get the best advantage.
Tagaytay is set on a ridge overlooking Calamba on one side and Lake Taal on the other. In Lake Taal is an active volcano. The climate of Tagaytay is much cooler than down on the plain so they are able to grow a better range of vegetables and they have a thriving fresh flower industry. Tourism is also a big part of their economy. The first stop was the Tagaytay Market which is well-known for its beef.
The pictures don’t do the scene justice. The beef is laid out on wooden shelves, in the open. People are shuffling around, raising dust and there are flies everywhere. The chopping blocks are simply tree trunks. One table was covered with tripe and customers helped themselves to the bits they liked. Our health inspectors would have a fit. Kit sent Alejo (her driver) off to buy a foam box and she bought a heap of steak to take home.
She also wanted to buy fresh-ground coffee for her forthcoming reunion weekend at her resort. The coffee is grown locally and ground while you wait. It left a wonderful smell in the car on the way home. While she was negotiating all these purchases the rest of us went off to buy pineapples (15 for 100 pesos), mangosteens, oranges (look great but very dry) bok choy and cos lettuce, which we don’t see on the plain.
I also found time to buy a few DVDs.
Then off to the zoo. The proprietors make no bones about the fact that this is not a major wildlife experience. However, they do have tiger cubs which you can cuddle and feed with a bottle, an ostrich, an alpaca (a long way from home), and some beautiful birds. The salmon-crested cockatoo from Indonesia is stunning, as is the Golden Pheasant, and the Hornbill is something to behold. They also have a twelve-foot boa constrictor which sits on the mantelpiece eying off the passers-by.
Some of the animals looked a bit surly and the cages were pretty primitive but, all-in-all, it was worth the visit. `
It was starting to get a bit late so we gave afternoon tea a miss and set off back down the valley stopping once so that Marilyn could buy some bananas from a roadside stall. Tagaytay bananas are called senoritas and are tiny, thin-skinned and sweet. We bought two full bunches, one ripe and one green for 250 pesos.
Nuvali is extraordinary. It is only one of many residential developments which are transforming the lifestyle of Filipinos. Government regulations insist that every development has to have 20% of low-cost housing. As you would expect, these are built in enclaves separate from the estates for he middle-class and the more wealthy. They’re not like Australian estates. All communities are gated with 24-hour security guards. Blocks of land, or lots, can be as small as 40 square metres, and only the most wealthy would expect 500 square metres.
On a 40 m block, the developer will build a 2-storey home with a total size of 35 sq metres. It will have 2 bedrooms and the house and land package will cost about $20000. Closer to the other end of the scale we saw an estate where the land is sold separately with a covenant that homes must be built above a minimum cost ($50000). The residents have access to a community complex of gymnasium, play facilities, pools, conference and party rooms.
The beauty of one of the pools was marred by 2 cane toads swimming around.As it was getting darker, we didn’t see inside any homes but hope we can do so soon.
The day finished with dinner at a very nice restaurant.
No comments:
Post a Comment