Taal Volcano, Malls, and Saying Goodbye

Being back in Manila was rough after coming back from Boracay. There was so much heat and humidity but no ocean to jump into. The city was suffocating at times.

Taal Volcano

We decided to get out of the city and go to Tagaytay where it was much cooler. Tagaytay is about an hour and a half outside Manila. The city is on some hills and mountains. When making your way up, the street is lined with little shops: some sell fruit, many sell handmade furniture.

When we were up pretty high we went to a restaurant called Josephine’s for lunch. The restaurant had a great view of the most famous thing in Tagaytay: Taal Volcano. There is a lake and in the middle of the lake is an island and a volcano. Inside of the volcano is another lake. Taal is an active volcano that hasn’t erupted in a really long time. I had never seen anything like it before. The scenery was beautiful.

Something less beautiful, that I saw a lot of on this trip, were malls. All of them were way bigger than the Fox River Mall. Many were bigger than the Mall of America. I saw the SM City North EDSA, which is the third largest mall in Asia. I saw the Mall of Asia, Greenbelt, TriNoma, SM Aura, and the Rockwell PowerPlant. Don’t worry! I didn’t see all these malls on the same day. I saw them throughout the week.

My favorite mall was Greenbelt. It is a bunch of different buildings called Greenbelt 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The higher the number, the more expensive the clothes and items there are. I liked the way this mall was laid out. It had a really nice garden in the middle, and the mall was pleasing to the eye.

The malls that I didn’t like were the ones by SM. They all looked the same and seemed very out of place. The newest mall, the SM Aura, is supposed to be a high-end mall but is placed right by a very poor part of Manila. The traffic surrounding it is all traffic jams. It’s like they didn’t think about how the surrounding area would be affected by placing a mall here.

SM Mall of Asia

I also got to see some outdoor malls. They are like big strip malls. Some shops are on the top floors of some of the big malls. These places were cool to go to at night when it was a bit cooler.

I saw so much during my 9 days in the Philippines. I think I really got a feel for the country. I was able to see the drastic difference in being upper class and being lower class. I was able to eat an insane amount of food. I sweat in the crazy humidity, relaxed on the greatest beaches, and met some really great people.

The last night there Justin and I met some of his friends out. They were all so welcoming. Many of them were finishing up their schooling to become doctors. I also got to see David again; and this time I was able to meet his lovely girlfriend. This was a great way to say goodbye to the Philippines.

I am so glad I decided to come. It was so great to see Justin again and I feel so lucky to be able to experience all that I did. Traveling there alone would’ve been so different. I feel like my blog posts on the Philippines does not do it justice. I saw so much, ate so much, and made so many memories. If you want to hear more about all the little details, the amazing peach-mango pies at Jolli-bee, getting a sandwich delivered to me by a helper, getting poked by a crab in the ocean, being stared at everywhere I went, please just ask. These are the kind of happy memories that I would love to tell. I will always think back to my time in the Philippines and smile.