It seems that I haven’t been to the Philippines in ages. Much has changed since I was last here, and it was only a year ago! Much has been written about the economic revival of the country and indeed, there is a lot of economic activity going on. In Manila, the best evidence of this is the presence of innumerable construction cranes throughout the city. Streets are packed as usual but there seems to be a lot more new stores here. Up in the mountain top city of Tagaytay, development is also on going as well. The main highway which is basically on top of the ridge is lined with numerous restaurants some of which I have never heard of.
One of these shops was Bag of Beans, as the name implies, this is a coffee place. It is one of a few locally grown cafés which have sprung up recently. It is set in a quiet side of the main highway away from all the other restaurants. I was surprised they managed to get this place at all. There is no Taal Lake view from here but the café is nicely done. It is done al fresco style, something which isn’t very common in the Philippines, but perfectly suited for Tagaytay’s cool weather. You might think that you have having coffee in a garden setting. I’m no coffee person so I had some hot chocolate, perfect for the cool weather. They also have dishes like sandwiches and hotcakes but I was content to sipping my hot chocolate. I really liked that place, it is too bad I had to travel so far just to get here.
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