Thais in Tagaytay

Thai visitors 

On a recent assignment with Jeepney Tours, I was sent to guide a group of 14 Thai nationals visiting the country on a M.I.C.E. trip. MICE is an acronym for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions... not the rodents or the cartoon character from Disney. We picked them up from Manila Hotel and were given the perfunctory Archives visit of the historic hotel prior to their nine a.m. departure. 

Museo Orlina

First stop was Orlina Museum. The swanky new gallery is  run by Ramon Orlina, multi-awarded visual artist and glass sculptor (more on that on my next post). I got in touch with him to ask if he will be in Tagaytay on the day of the visit. What do you know? He was personally there to welcome the guests! Thank God!!

They were so engrossed with our stop at the Orlina Museum and had a heyday going around the multi-storied galleries and the ampitheater cum garden that they pored over each and every artwork. Mr Orlina was the perfect host telling small anecdotes regarding some of his masterpieces and recopunting how he found a factory in Thailand for the execution of his designs. The Thais had a lot of fun taking selfies and pictures of the artworks... even hamming it up with to of the resin chairs that had male and female derrier for its backrest.

taking shots of the artwork

No one kept track of the time of our visit in the Museum since they were enjoying every bit of visual treat they laid their eyes on. Mr Orlina even welcomed the guests to his private sanctum where he spend his time creating works in his studio that had a fantastic view of the volcano. The Thai guests enjoyed Mr. Orlina's private collection in his art/studio as well as seeing the Murphy bed concealed behind the display case. We had exceeded our stay in the museum so by the time we left for lunch it was half past twelve.

near Mr Orlina's inner sanctum

Then it was lunch at Sonya's Garden. The guests had a great time over the buffet lunch that is standard Sonya's fare. fresh greens with edible flowers, their secret dressing with mango, the pastas and the dips and of course some delectable desserts. Being Thai, they hiked up the meal with some of their very own spices which they brought with them from Thailand. I personally love Thai food, having visited many years ago. I told them that, and of course they knew from my little Thai standard phrases.

This photo shows how Sonya's Garden treats guests after a hearty lunch.

Final stop would have been Taal Vista Lodge. Unfortunately, It was undergoing repairs after Glenda had destroyed parts of the roof. So that stop was definitely out of the itinerary. Quick thinking led me to bring the guests to the Picnic Grove where the guests enjoyed the view of the Taal Volcano for photo ops and of the souvenir buying. They actually enjoyed shopping amongst the stalls in the grove using up all their available Philippine currency. Before we knew it, it was already four p.m. Time to get to the airport so they don't miss their flight to Indonesia.

Taal Volcano

That was a fun trip. So we exchanged pleasantries after setting the luggage in carts and they told me to come back to Thailand. I just might take them up on their offer... I do know where to find them...