Tagaytay Weekend: Ilog Maria, Yoki's Treasure and The Truly Pink Sisters of the Not-So-Pink-Sisters Chapel

So we thought we knew Tagaytay.

Wanting to go beyond the typical Tagaytay weekend itinerary, we decided to go on a little adventure (and waste a lot of gas) to visit a couple of your not-so-popular-spots-in-the-area. This is still part of my friend Juli's and my soul searching/eat-pray-love weekend.

Thanks to my travel hero Ivan Henares and (still) Anton Diaz' Awesome Tagaytay map, for the suggestions and directions. :)

First stop was Ilog Maria. The place didn't exactly have much to do with a river, it's a bee farm!:)

Welcome to Ilog Maria Bee Farm. 

The farm is owned by Joel Magsaysay. We spotted him in the farm but he was quite busy and didn't get to have a chat with him (spell s-a-y-a-n-g). I read several articles about him and his bee farm and thought he's a pretty awesome guy. And when I read his own story about how he put up his farm from scratch, it almost brought me to tears. :| Now the farm produces over 64 different products. He's got several offers to sell his products in Manila, but he refuses to saying he doesn't want the prices of his products to go up, nor lose the novelty of his store. Talk about principle, huh? *thumbs up*

For more "weow" moments, I can't believe how much stuff you can make out of honey! Aside from virgin honey (yum!), Ilog Maria has a wide selection of organic honey products from candles to bar and liquid soaps, hand sanitizers, lotions.

We got a glimpse of the factory. This is where all the magic of turning beeswax into wonderful, wonderful items happens. :)

Each soap has its own special feature/use. From anti acne to rejuvenating soaps. 

These would actually make perfect Christmas gifts or giveaways. All organic, all Pinoy. :)

They also have a lot of health products like throat spray, ointments, and bee propolis extract which they say is a really good anti-oxidant.

I got myself their honey, variants of lavender, sandalwood, cinnamon and rosemary soaps. And my now-favorite, their honey mint beeswax lip balm. :)

Beats Burt's Bees Beeswax (wattatonguetwister). 

You can view their entire product list on their website. If ever you're in Tagaytay, Ilog Maria is a really neat place to drop by and shop (read: Christmas shopping hihi). The place just spells relaxation and good vibes all over. And it smells really good too. :)

Aside from solar power, Mr. Magsaysay also generates power from bee hive husk. Can you spell genius?

Ilog Maria's bee colonies.  

A rundown hut. One of the things that give the farm a very laid-back, rural feel. 

Geese run freely in Ilog Maria Bee Farm. 

Heading back to the rotunda ('coz we still have to look for a place to stay overnight), we thought of visiting the Pink Sisters Chapel 'cause our map says it's just along the way. True enough, you'd see a sign along Aguinaldo Highway that says "Pink Sisters Chapel this way".

It leads you to a narrow dirt road that leads to an iron gate that DOESN'T say Pink Sisters Chapel. We got a little confused, I guess we were expecting the chapel to be pink? Haha. And then we saw nuns walking around who were also not wearing pink. Parang gumuho yung mundo namin. 

Convinced that the Pink Sisters were a bluff, we decided to go on praying. When we stepped inside- ta-dah! We saw them. The Pink Sisters! Shining in pink glory. They are separated from the rest of the people by iron gates, like the ones in Santa Clara Church. These are women who really devoted their lives to God and praying for other people.

The chapel and the entire compound is really simple, your typical adoration chapel. It's really solemn and you can say your prayers in peace (while watching them pink sisters go around). Cameras and cellphones are not allowed inside, so I only managed to take this snapshot of chapel exterior.

Holy Spirit Adoration Chapel a.k.a The Pink Sisters Chapel.

Come face to face to with a 30-ft Buddha in the Part II of this post. :)

Roanni