Manila & Tagaytay, Philippines

We woke up today with the sounds of Polynesian dancers and drums outside our door! The boat docked in Manila, where more than 1,000 visitors were coming onto the ship and performing for the passengers, since Manila is the home of most of the crew members. They got to have family reunions. We were greeted again with garlands, this time made entirely of Jasmine, which is the national flower of the Philippines! The scent was so lovely, we hung them in our room afterward!
Here is a close-up view of my jasmine garland.



Our first stop of the day was at a beautiful church with a bamboo organ. Apparently, a Catholic priest built the organ out of bamboo. The Philippines is very unique in Asia in that it is one of the only christian countries, surrounded by countries that practice Islam or Buddhism.
We rode a bus up to the highlands to visit Tagaytay and view the amazing scenery along the way. We passed plantation after plantation of pineapples, coconuts, and coffee. We arrived at an exclusive club for lunch that is set in the highlands. To get in, we had to be escorted by security personnel, and we had to give a code word to enter! We also had police escorts the entire day, in what amounted to a motorcade. The locals all assumed we were VIPs, and kept waving at us enthusiastically along the way. The hotel itself was beautiful, up in the highlands, where it was a bit cooler.


The view of the Taal volcano caldera was spectacular, as was the view of Manila below!

We stopped after lunch for ice cream made of purple yams and served in a coconut. It was soooo yummy!
We stopped to take pictures of some of the "jeepies" along the roadside. The owners actually encourage you to climb inside - they are very proud of them!

We stopped to buy fruit from a fruit stand along the roadside. The pineapples cost about 30 cents each, and are soooo sweet! I bought some tiny mangos like I used to eat in Ecuador. We also ate some of the tiny bananas, about the length of a finger, which are also very sweet.

Here are some pictures of Manila from the boat and on our way back to the harbor. It is a beautiful city with many skyscrapers and a wonderful view of the ocean. We really loved it here and