Tagaytay, Philippines 

I slept from about 7 pm until 2 this morning, then was wide awake for the rest of the day. There were 3 guys and me in the room but one left with a girl about 2 am.  The other 2 were very quiet - I’m sure I disturbed them with my rustling.  

I decided to go to Tagaytay to see the Taal volcano-

I took a Grab (Philippine Uber) to PIXT, the main bus station, then prepared for a 3 hour trip to go 67 km.  I was first on the bus as the last was leaving when I got to gate 2.  This meant I got the front seat but I qualify anyway because it’s for seniors!  Annoyingly, a woman named Carolina, asked to sit beside me even though there were many open seats.  Fine.  I started quizzing her and we had a very good visit.  Along the way-

I love that sellers hop on the bus selling food such as corn on the cob-

and bibingka rice cake-

Traffic-

Because of traffic, or lack of, I got to Starbucks, the apparent place to go for a great view, in just 2 hours.  There were lots of big and fancy cars (for the Philippines) in the parking lot-

What a view-

There are many islands with a small volcano in the middle. 

After Starbucks I caught a jeepney, Philippines version of a collectivo, to the Mahogany Meat Market.  Some jeepneys are pretty customized with ornaments on the hood and wings on the roof!  I got to sit in the front too!  

At the market there are numerous booths of freshly butchered beef-

Not only are the hind quarters hanging-

but also the hooves-

and skinned tails-

The only part missing was the head.  Upstairs are the restaurants where one can have bulalo, the local specialty.  Of course I wanted to try it but was disappointed to see it was a soup of Chinese cabbage - the crinkly kind, and chunks of beef-

You could add juice from a lime/orange and fish sauce which I did but all I could taste and smell was the butchered meat I had just seen.  I ended up eating the cabbage and a bit of meat but found it rather disgusting!  After, I walked around the small market with booths selling different rices-

dried fish-

salted eggs that have been kept in mud-

fruit and vegetables.  There was even Jack fruit-

I returned to the main road to catch a bus back to Manila and just as I was 30 yards away, a bus went by.  I was thinking I’d have a fair wait until the next one showed so I started walking.  Soon another came but drove right by, probably because it was full.  I kept walking and 15 minutes later another came.  It stopped and guess who was sitting in “her” seat - Carolina!  She’d gone on to the next place, paid her taxes and was on her way back to Manila.  We talked all the way back and she helped me get back to the hostel via the metro and a jeepney for less than $1, a far cry from the $10 it cost to get to PIXT.  Once again, there was a reason I missed those first two buses and if you think about it, with all the buses and our different timetables, what are the chances we would end up together again?

Once back close to the hostel I stopped in at the meat bbq we saw last night on our walking tour and had a pork only skewer  but the chef snuck in a big chunk of fat that I promptly spit out.  I also had a piece of flan from the bakery across the street which was average.  I returned to the hostel and had my free cocktail which tasted like sweet.  I wasn’t tired so walked down the street to Makati’s Red Light District where there were quite a few young, thin, scantily dressed women hanging around.  I found the midget wrestling-

then headed back to the hostel.  I procrastinated long enough that there are no seats left to go to Sagada tomorrow night so I’m going to have to think about my next plan of attack.  I’m hoping for a good night.