Not An Ordinary Trip to Tagaytay

June 09, 2012

Not an ordinary trip to Tagaytay, at least for us!

For most us, going to Tagaytay is the easiest way to cool down and escape from the hustle and bustle of the city life. Some of us, when we were kids, used to play and have fun. The places that we usually visit in Tagaytay were Picnic Grove and People's Park in the Sky a.k.a Palace in the Sky.

My team and I (at work) decided have a team building activity. At first, we were thinking of having a team outing somewhere in Pansol, Laguna or in Antipolo. But after so much discussion, meetings and huddles we ended up choosing Tagaytay as place for our team building since most of us wanted to do the activity for one day and it is the most accessible place for all of us.

And now we have decided the date, June 09, 2012 as our team's Tagaytay Day. We met up and rode the bus going to Olivares at the bus station at the back of Mc Donalds Taft. Fare is Php 75.00. It was a full one-hour trip and up to that hour we still haven't decided the first place to visit. Haha!

After another discussion, we decided to start our trip by going to Paradizoo. Since we were a group of 14 persons, we decided to hire a jeepney. Fare is Php 40.00 each (I don't know if this is quite pricey, but at least we reached the place in no time). On our way to the zoo, we also asked the locals which one is better to visit, Paradizoo or Residence Inn. The driver and his companion cannot decide which one but they told us that Residence Inn has the most of the animals than Paradizoo so we ended up choosing Residence Inn instead. We also planned to visit a flower farm but unfortunately one of the biggest flower farm in Tagaytay was closed and they usually accept those visitors who have initially booked for a reserved tour. I can't remember the name of the place but I think it is also named as Flower Farm (not so sure :)).

Jeepney ride going to Residence Inn (Photo credit to the owner)

First Stop: Residence Inn
We arrived at Residence Inn at around 09:30 am and we bought tickets at the entrance. The ticket costs us Php 245.00, this is an All-Day Regular Pass to Residence Inn Zoo & Paradizoo Theme Park including the roundtrip transportation going to Paradizoo.

We never really expected that we will be experiencing to be like kids again. Our trip turned out as if we were on a fieldtrip! Personally, it was last year since the last time I visited a zoo. It was really fun and a nice experience to stroll around the zoo with kids! Even the not-so-young friends enjoyed it! Haha. The zoo doesn't have so many animals but nevertheless, for a place like this, its just fine. The place was not that crowded when we visited so its not that stressful. We really enjoyed seeing the animals and the breathtaking view of Taal Volcano.

Entrance to the Zoo

This photo, credit to the owner

After seeing the animals, we rested for a while at the back side of the zoo and we saw the zipline ride being offered by the theme park. We were so thrilled so we immediately rode the zipline. The ride cost Php 150.00, zipline and cable car ride, roundtrip. It was really a fun, fun experience. Riding a zipline never failed to give joy to me, I will never get tired of riding one. I manage to get all the copies of my zipline ride, I decided to get the CD which cost Php 250.00. You can also choose to have a printed copy which cost Php 150.00 each.

There is also a mini-play about the animals for the kids to watch that is being held by the theme park. After the thrilling zipline, we were advised by the theme park's guide to rush to the mini-bus as it is about to leave for our next destination, which is the.....

Second Spot: Paradizoo
Unlike Residence Inn Zoo that holds some kinds of wildlife animals, Paradizoo holds some of the domestic animals that are used for breeding and livestocks like goats, cows, horses and the likes. It is more like of a farm than zoo as the place also holds sort a flower farm and a vegetable farm were they grow some of vegetables and flowers that can be eaten. They also have butterfly and bee sanctuary. Its very hot when we arrived as it already noon but all in all our experience in Paradizoo was somewhat different in someway as we do not do this from time to time. We, the not-so-young, and the youngsters enjoyed the trip.

After the one hour or so farm tour, its about time to go back to Residence Inn as the end of our day tour. We were already feeling hungry and we decided to go somewhere to eat. We rode on a jeepney and we paid Php 8.00 each. We have decided to at eat and take a rest Max's before going to our next stop.

Third and Last Stop: People's Park in the Sky a.k.a Palace in the Sky
We rode another jeepney from Max's going to People's Park. And since we were a big group we decided to ask the driver to rent the jeepney so we can go to the Park at once. The ride costs Php 35.00 each but nevertheless we were at the gate of the park in no time. We planned to go to Picnic grove afterwards but we were time constrained and it is already late in the afternoon, so we decided that this will the last place for us to visit. Its been a hot day for us and this time we already felt the cool winds of Tagaytay since we were already at the highest peak. We roamed around, took some photos, rested for a while and ended the day with a smile on our faces.

This time, my camera was doomed so most of the photos above for this place came from different resources. I only grabbed some of the photos from my FB account. Haha. Credits to the owners.

We rode back to Olivares, fare is Php 10.00. We had one of the best moments, sharing stories and laughter while we were on our way back to Olivares. And once were in the bus going back to Manila, we were knocked down, sleeping the rest of the trip.

The day has just ended for us. Tiring and in someway exhausting but at least we had an interesting day, giving us the chance to get to know each other well. Looking forward to another trip with my team, friends.

I just love my team, OMB/Crossed Meter! :)

Ciao!