Hello dear Hiveians, here I'm back again to share another short trip we made with our new family friends here in Tagaytay, Philippines.
This friends are a singaporean couple who also decided to retire early and migrate to Philippine, fleeing from a hectic life with a high pressure so that they can spend more time with their children.
Yeah...that's really a sad fact. Many singaporean children are indeed closer to their nanny than their biological parent because they barely have time to have fun and enjoy quality time with their children.
So, it's very understandable that they both decided to leave Singapore for the sake of giving more happiness to their children and...honestly, it definitely also do good to their own mental health :).
Their children are now becoming our daughter's playmate, so we often travel together to have fun.
Asians always start early cos they want to see as many places as possible.
Their vacation style is different than most eurepean style, or to be precise...completely different from our style :-D.
For us holiday means relaxation and for them it's experience/adventure.
However I decide to join most of the time for the sake of our little mouse :).
However, @jaki01 is not always joining us, because for him it's too exhausting LOL.
This time we went to "Crosswind"-area, which is always promoted as Switzerland of Southeast-Asia.
The estate is located at a highland in the middle of a pine forest, so it's cool there.
This compound is guarded strictly and you have to pay 500 peso/car or 200 peso/person (means you have to leave your car before the main gate and continue on foot to reach the housing complex.)
The reason why there's a charge is to prevent people from stopping by just for the sake of making pictures for their social medias 😁.
Especially since uncontrolled tourists like this would definitely destroy the beauty of the place as they tend to litter everywhere.
That would be very regretful, right?!
I must say that Crosswind is indeed the cleanest and quietest place I've seen in the Tagaytay. But then again...it's a luxurious compound afterall LOL.
Only filthy rich people could live there.
Their price range is not even comparable to Germany. I think their rate is really close to Switzerland level 😀.
Just take a look at the menu card of this cafe:
Can you imagine that a simple ice tea would cost you about 4,65€ and Capuccino would cost you about 4,40€?!
Huh forget it... we went out again straight away LOL. Especially because Sister C's discount coupon from her last trip is no longer valid 😅.
But hey...we're having a little vacation here, so we did have lunch at the restaurant. Not inside the compound though, but right outside the gate.
The restaurant is called "Voila" and the food taste quite good with a price that is still rather acceptable although it's still quite expensive for Philippine standard I would say.
Below you can see few pictures from the restaurant:
Next I would show you some pictures from the inside part of Crosswind so that you could see whether it really gives out the vibe and atmosphere of Switzerland ^_^.
Here in this shop called "Andersen's" we can buy some western products like cheese, wine, pastry, bread, decoration articles etc.
These are some of houses that are still available for purchase ^_^. The design does look like those in eurepean villages, but I'm quite sure that it's not made of solid wood but concrete instead. They're just painted so that it looks like wood houses 😁.
This is the picnic area with some little pavillions where visitors can enjoy the beautiful view of the sun setting in the green valley while having some snacks or whatever they brought with them.
From this viewing point we were told that we could see Manila, the capital from Philippine.
If it's true then it must be those furthest small figures under the beautiful cloud.
It's quite plausible though, cos Manila is only about 54 Km away from Tagaytay.
The last picture would show you that there are some people here who enjoy riding bicycle too, so that the property management think installing some bicycle parking stand is necessary, unless... it's only for a show to make it look even more realistic as in Eurepe ;-D.
But whatever reason it is, I'd still like to show it here just in case there are some people who want to go there riding bicycle instead of driving a car or booking a tricycle.
Ok, that's it for today dear friends. I'll try to come back soon with another stories and nice pictures from Philippine.
Thank you for stopping by and giving some upvotes.
See ya!
So schön grün. Sieht herrlich warm aus. ;-)
Yup...sehr grün. Sehr schön um dort spazieren zu gehen oder Urlaub zu machen. Aber ich würde nicht dort wohnen, selbst wenn wir es leisten können 😅.
Wir haben kein Auto, das wäre viel zu problematisch mit dem Transport zur Schule und zum Einkaufen 🫣.
It seems that you all had a great vacation among the nice atmosphere and beautiful landscape. Your little princess and her Singaporean friends enjoyed playing freely in the playground and everywhere. The greenery looks relaxing indeed.
This resort has good management; providing a playground for children, providing pavilions for visitors to enjoy the beautiful sunset, providing a garden with interesting decorations, and a nice swimming pool, etc.
All of you look happy to stay there and I can imagine how happy I would be if I travel there, too. Thanks so much for sharing.
Yes, the kids had lots of fun playing there. There were more than enough free space to run around without worries.
Perhaps you can really visit one day in the future. Philippine is not very far from Bangkok, and these days there are plenty of cheap flights.
Citizen of ASEAN countries don't need visa to visit each others 😁.
Ah! I agree that Philippine is not very far from Bangkok, there are plenty of cheap flights, and no need for a visa that I would love to travel to, but one of the important problems for me is that I am now afraid of planes..... 😂 Anyway, let's see whether I can defeat my fear in the future or not.... Haha! 😆
Hmmm...now that's really trouble 😂. Hopefully you'd overcome that one day 😊
I do really hope so! 😅
This place looks so green and like being surrounded by forest. It looks somewhat like Khao Yai in Thailand.
Crazy prices for coffee and drinks in the first coffee shop! I guess the rent must be very high.
The area is about 100 hectare big and surrounded by ca 20000 pine trees (that's what I got from Ads ). And Yes, it's expensive. The hotel/ressort rate is between 200-250 € per-night (single bedroom).
For the condo with similar size of ours (ca 76 SQM) but only has 1 bathroom, the monthly rate is ca 300000 peso (5000€) fully furnished, the one 45 SQM size it's 135000 php. Maybe there are some cheaper one, the studio type.
I got that from ads LOL.
The place is amazing and wonderful. While looking at it, it's like you are in another country because of the tall trees and different kinds views. I went to Tagaytay before but only on the place about the rides and I only went there once. Someday, I will visit to Tagaytay again and I will go to this place.
Yes, it does look like in Eurepe somehow. It's actually very nice to have a stroll, biking, hiking or even picnic. Just need to pay attention that we maintain the cleanliness of the area.
safe space, to put it in some way.Hi @kobold-djawa! This is @ninaeatshere, It's interesting that there is a small European refuge in the Philippines, although it is sad that it is a luxury complex and not an area of free cultural exchange, although is understandable that those who can and want to afford it have a
Touring with people from different cultures is very enriching, I find it a great learning experience to put yourself in the place of others and see how they live the experience, in the end the beauty of traveling is to learn and understand how diverse people can be. I liked how you narrated this expedition in the company of your new friends, you express yourself in such a friendly way that it is a joy reading you.
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Cheers!
Hi nice to know you. Thank you for stopping by and I would check on the links for sure.
Well, I got your point as I'd also tend to say that there's no point in migrating nor travelling in another countries if all you want is to see and get exactly the same things in your homeland.
However to occasionally craving for things from home and to try bring influence to the locals when it comes to a real good thing and have universal value from home would be fine, I guess.
For example...how to take care of the environment, to not litter 😊.
Anyway I think most owners in such compound don't buy the property to live in but to use it as an investment plus weekend sanctuary while the main domicile would be in the capital as they need to earn the money there...or...they would rent it out as a staycation.
Living in there would make you too far from everywhere and if you have children, they might be happy with the abundant of free space and fresh air, good security too, but it would be difficult for them to find friends 😅 because the houses are far away from each others and secluded. Grocery Shopping will be a hassle too.
Most rich foreigners who wants to enjoy life might rather choose BGC in Manila, if they want to live like in the west.
We try our best to find the balance between quality of life and cultural assimilation, that's how we chose our home. The Singaporeans are our neighbour, that's how we got to know them.
We met them in the park and they were the one inviting us to join their gathering.
I must say we're really lucky, so far I haven't experienced bad things and always meet good people here.
Hello over there! Thank you for considering our invitation 🤗
It's a very interesting reflection what you say about the convenience, security and longing for customs when you develop your life abroad. Emigration brings with it many peculiarities that, if you have the possibility to remedy, lead us to look for safe spots.
It's great to read that you managed to find a place to live with the right balance and that allows you to meet nice people, what more could you ask for? hahaha cheers!
Schöne Bilder ...
... "Can you imagine that a simple ice tea would cost you about 4,65€ "
If it is a pitcher of ice tea yes. lol
Well Udo...wir sind im Asien, und nicht mal in Singapur oder Japan..also... Ich finde es trotzdem viel zu teuer.
Ich würde niemals so viel für Eistee ausgeben, selbst in Deutschland kriegt man dafür wenigsten ein Smoothie mit Bio-Früchten. Eine Tasse Cappuccino in Deutschland ist sicher günstiger als in diesem Cafe.
Klar, dort sind alle teuer weil die Wert des Grundstück in dem Gebiet auch sehr hoch ist.
Aber du selbst hast doch gemeint, dass unser Subdivision schon zu teuer ist, also...Crosswind ist definitiv viel teuerer als unser Gebiet.
Ja ich weiß. Ich habe sagen wollen, dass man für diesen Preis (oder weniger) woanders einen Pitcher Icetea bekommt, d.h. für einen Pitcher wäre es noch akzeptable, aber nicht für ein einfaches Glas.
Ansonsten ist es natürlich so, dass sich die Preise stark unterscheiden, je nachdem wo man ist.
Wenn ich daran denke, dass eine Massage am Alona Beach 2023 800 PHP pro Stunde gekostet hat (und bestimmt nicht billiger geworden ist) während diese am Stadtrand von Penglao und auch auf Coron und Palawan bereits für 500 PHP pro Stunde (bzw. am Nacpan Beach 498 PHP als günstigste von mir gefundene Option in Palawan) kostet, diese dann aber z.B. in Pampanga problemlos für 350 PHP incl. einer Tasse Tee nach der Massage zu finden ist, dann ist es klar, dass sich die Preise je nach Region unterscheiden.
Was Eure Subdivision angeht finde ich die Preise für die Grundstücke mit 37.000 PHP pro Quadratmeter für die günstigsten Grundstücke in der Subdivision schon sehr hoch und bei den Condos stört mich mehr die fehlende Flexibilität als der Preis, wenn man selbst bei einem Condo wo gerade erst das Gebäude hochgezogen wird nichts mehr verändern kann, sondern es heißt, dass das so hingestellt wird wie es laut Plan gebaut werden soll und man danach selbst verändern kann.
Wenn ich ein zugegebenermaßen nicht billiges Condo kaufe, dann würde ich auch gerne Einfluß darauf nehmen und z.B. statt 3 kleinen Bädern + 1 zusätzliche Toilette 1 großes + 1 kleines Bad + 1 zusätzliche Toilette bekommen. Das später zu ändern ist mit einem Haufen Aufwand verbunden und m.E. könnte da die Firma etwas flexibler sein.
Was sonst noch unbefriedigend ist habe ich euch ja persönlich gesagt.
Greetings @kobold-djawa ,
What an enjoyable post....sounds like a lovely place to visit.
The photographs are splendid ...appreciated seeing the little one. ^__^
Kind Regards,
Bleujay
Thank you
Yes, it's very nice to visit and spend holidays..but I wouldn't like to live there especially because it will be difficult for our daughter to find playmates 😅 and difficult for grocery shopping LOL cos We don't have a car 😅.
Tolle Bilder, vielleicht hätte ich doch mitkommen sollen! :)
Für einen kurzen Urlaub mit Übernachtung wahrscheinlich, aber ich glaube du würdest nicht gerne nur einen kleinen Ausflug dort machen. Nur mit Übernachtung kann man wirklich den Urlaub mehr genießen.
Kannst es ja noch nachholen, es läuft ja nicht weg...
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