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More Tagaytay Classics: Good Shepherd, Bag of Beans, and Ilog Maria

Nothing like a new perspective to shake things up a bit. Skipping out on a company outing somewhere in Batangas, my cohorts and I make a run for Tagaytay (I hope I don’t get anyone in trouble with that little revelation, hehehe). From the Star Tollway, we take the Sambat exit and make our way up the corkscrew that they call a road, connecting Talisay and Tagaytay.

Most of the time I drive this route from the top, and am rewarded with breathtaking views for minimal effort: all I need to do is keep my foot on the brake and stay on my side of the road. It’s not common for cars to overtake and cross over to the opposite lane when they’re coming up. Now I know why. From this side, the road is spectacularly steep, not something a poor 1.3L automatic car is built to handle. Add to that the indignity of being behind a jeepney trailing a dark plume of diesel fumes in his wake. No matter. Soon enough we find ourselves in Tagaytay.

Being less than an hour from where we live (people like to push the envelope on how fast they can get to Tagaytay from Alabang; I guess I’ve been driving long enough (and perhaps am older than I like to think) that it doesn’t really matter how long I take anymore), I find that I tend to treat Tagaytay like the neighborhood mall: I go there when I want to get something from somewhere, and when I get it, I go back. Or I drive there just for the heck of it, do nothing but sniff around (literally; as long as there are no sputtering jeepneys, this place really does have fresh, clean air), and then drive back down. You know how, when you’re on vacation in a foreign country, you want to try anything and everything? It’s not like that for me anymore; in Tagaytay, I see something new and think, “OK, maybe I’ll visit that next week.”

Which is why, to my shame, for the longest time, I haven’t explored Tagaytay that much: not the new places, and not even the old ones. Strangely, as we approach it from the other side, I seem more willing to try out the old standbys that have been there for the longest time, and that I’ve always put off with the promise of “next time” and the reassuring belief that these places will always be there.

The first thing we do upon reaching the ridge (ah! Flat ground!) is head for Good Shepherd to buy the requisite Ube Jam. Now, I’ve never done this before; I’ve always harbored a belief that Ube Jam had to be procured from Baguio, complete with the rationing, the long wait, and the ever-present potential for spoilage (ever tried to close one of those bottles of freshly-cooked Ube Jam?).

This day I discover something that makes me want to knock my head against a pine tree: it’s so much easier to buy Ube Jam here Sure, it may not be freshly cooked, but the jam is stored in small microwable containers (round 550g pack, P100; rectangular 900g pack, P160) and stashed in a chiller, so you don’t have to agonize over whether to close the lid or not. They also have little Ube Dimples and Halo Halo Sweets, perfect for pasalubong at only 60 bucks per pack.

Of course, their repertoire is a bit more limited (no Santol Preserve here, which makes me thankful for the bottle I got in Baguio), but they do have native specialties like Tawilis in Olive Oil (P80), Dilis (P40) and Buko Pie (small, P50; big, P100).

Next we decide to have lunch at another Tagaytay classic, Bag of Beans. This place has been here for quite some time, and it’s grown with its garden to cover much larger ground. The old garden is closed when we arrive, so we settle in at the screened off dining area on the other side.

I’m frankly impressed with the variety of seating they have: from small rustic kubos, they now have large wooden daybeds with crisp white sheets (of course the garden seats are still there; though the monkey’s probably still chained to his tree in the old garden). Unlike the Bag of Beans branch in BF Paranaque, the original location serves rice and pasta meals (from P175 for basic pasta dishes to P320 for grilled salmon); however, nobody’s that hungry, so we order pies instead.

One of our number is feeling adventurous and is hankering for some Coffee Alamid, but we find, to our dismay, that they’ve stopped serving the stuff (I guess not many people found the concept too appetizing). (Those who are brave enough to want to try Coffee Alamid will be pleased to know the BF branch still carries it. Oh, and would you believe, the prices there are cheaper, too?)

After our light lunch, we make the usual stop at the Pink Sisters’ Convent. Feeling earth-mothery, we stop at one of the stalls selling flowers and check out the little blue lollipop-like flowers that line the road. I discover something else: it’s much less stressful to stop here along the road leading to the Pink Sisters’ Convent than by the National Highway. You can inspect flowers (and fruits, and veggies), bargain, and hem and haw to your heart’s delight: no cars whizzing past you at top speed, and no neighboring vendors trying to lure you with promises of better value (of course, no room for negotiating, either, but since I was never one to haggle).

My friend decides to buy an imported Milflores (P150, less twenty or so bucks; the local varieties start at P50 and can go as low as your haggling skills will take you), and we stow that in the car with our Ube, more telltale signs of having been in Tagaytay when we were supposed to be somewhere else.

We make our last stop at Ilog Maria Honey Bee Farms. Again, this is another first for me: my sister tried going here once in bad weather and put me off with stories of muddy one lane roads and potholes galore. Today is as dry and hot as a summer’s day can be, so we have no problem following the tight road to the shop and the bee farm (stopping and backing up only once to let oncoming traffic pass).

Ilog Maria sells various honey-based products, from soaps and shampoos (starting at 60 bucks), to beeswax candles and clay (P80 and above), to mead and propolis-based throat sprays (P75), to pure virgin honey (P210 for 500g). The store is pleasant and airy, and through the windows you can see the rows of honey bee, er, boxed hives outside.

There’s a bee museum in the works next to the store (a bit campy, complete with a hive-topped pavilion; the restroom’s kinda cute, though), and a glass-covered box where you can see the little critters at work close up. While we’re at the store a steady stream of tourists comes to check out their wares. Apparently the road is no longer such a deterrent, and people still see the romance in buying at the source, even when their products are available online (at www.ilogmaria.com).

As we head home with our loot (ube, flowers, and all manner of honey products), I realize that this is the most I’ve done in Tagaytay in a long while. Sometimes it’s nice to act like a tourist in places that you thought were as familiar as your back yard. You never know what pleasant surprises have been hiding under your nose all this time.

Good Shepherd Bahay Pastulan
Maryridge, Iruhin West, Tagaytay City
(046) 413-3590
www.goodshepherdsisters.org.ph

Bag of Beans
3650 Aguinaldo Highway, Mendez Crossing West, Tagaytay City
(046) 413-2724

Ilog Maria Farms
Km. 47, Aguinaldo Highway, Silang, Cavite
(046) 865-0018
www.ilogmaria.com

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