Taal and green: Taking the new Ford Ecosport for a spin

Ford Eco Sport at 26 Sta Maria

THE EPIPHANY hit me just a few meters before reaching the lip of Taal Volcano’s main crater lake—not the often-photographed Binintiang Malaki, the conical mass on the island’s right side if you are viewing one of the world’s smallest volcano from Tagaytay City, which is in Cavite.

After enduring almost half an hour of trekking trailing behind horses’ butts and eating dust courtesy of the horses’ hoofs under the 38-degree Celsius 3 p.m. heat, walk on lahar land peaked into an almost 50-degree slope towards a plight of aging concrete stairs.

Early morning fisherman in Taal Lake

By then, the two one-liter bottled water and assortment of kiddie baons (chips, cookies, candies, chocolates), as well as the two adults’ four mobile phones inside an eco-bag felt like rocks on my rib cage.

In between muffled huffs and puffs—I can never be too careful as dried, molecular horse manure and other microbes may find its way into my nostrils-I cursed myself for scrimping on the P500 horse rental fee.

It’s not so much as trying to bear the macho image-heck, I saw a variety of men—from beautiful Korean boys to this burly 300-pound German tourist riding the ponies all the way up—but I couldn’t bear the thought of an imminent flu. Yup, that’s the hypochondriac in me.

So after about 30 minutes of trying to catch my breath, I could now appreciate the roundabout view of Taal Lake and the province of Batangas and Cavite from a distance—about 12 kilometers to the shore.

Other things were much clearer too. The islet called Vulcan Point beckoned, like its photo, in the middle of the main crater lake, which went viral in the social media because of its peculiar tongue-twisting factoid: an islet within a lake (crater lake) within a volcano (Taal Volcano) within a lake (Taal Lake) within a volcano (Tagaytay Ridge, believed to be the collapsed base of one gigantic prehistoric volcano).

There are lots of hustlers on top, from photographers who egg tourists to buy their framed portrait hastily printed by a generator-powered PC for P300 a piece, to a very bullish boy who tried to collect money from my nephew for using the toilet. Apparently, the fee is P20 for a piss, and P50 for a dump.

From as high as 1,000 to 1,500 foot traffic multiplied by P50 as local tourism fee per head during the peak season (months of November to March) when Koreans come in droves together with returning balikbayans for Christmas, one wonders why there are no decent tourist facilities like a portalet on the edge of the crater lake or along the way, or an air-conditioned lounge between the banca station and horses’ mounting area. Aha! Apparently, there’s no electricity on the island.

Horse back riding toward Taal crater lake

Local politicians may argue that it’s hard to build permanent structures when the whole island is sitting on a time bomb. Point taken. But then again, they are the same breed of politicians who had this brilliant idea of putting the words “B-A-T-A-N-G-A-S” as a sign ala Hollywood on the Taal Volcano to solidify the province’s ownership of this famous landmark in 2011.

The turf proposal, of course, merited both online and offline flak. The strongest argument came from an anonymous online post that theorized that frequent volcanic earthquakes may knock down few letters on the edge—say, the first two and the last—leaving behind the letters “T-A-N-G-A.” End of story.

S-M-A-R-T. The lack of space really brings out the MacGyver in designers. Since the new Ford Eco Sport is virtually a Ford Fiesta on steroids, an urban SUV in a compact platform, chief designer Ehab Kaoud and his team thought a lot about smart space design in its interiors.

Aside from the game “Spot the Difference” of the Ecosport dashboard against Fiesta’s, which you can play with a friend in case he also has seen (or owned) a Fiesta, you can also play “Spot the Ecosport’s Smart Stowage Features.”

On paper, there are about 20 smart stowage features inside the vehicle but the ones we actually used in this sweet summer family trip are the following: a center console with two cup holders; a 12-volt power outlet that has been used to charge intermittently seven smartphones of two adults and three kids; front door bins that can hold 1.5-liter and 600ml bottles; rear door bins that hold 600ml bottles (yup, and pieces of candies in between); a drawer under the front passenger seat that is big enough for my laptop computer and my tickler notebook; the convertible luggage compartment that easily fits two rolling carry-on luggage; random knapsacks; two eco bags consequently filled with dirty clothes, four potted herbal plants; a folded 48-inch oval diffuser/reflector; a tripod; a light stand; and a windproof golf umbrella, just in case it rains.

If we needed more space, we could have folded the 60/40 rear seats completely and fit a standard washing machine—but who brings a washing machine on a weekend drive?

Reaching the Taal Volcano crater lake

The Ecosport’s high stance, svelte monocoque body, burly trapezoidal grille reminiscent of a Ford pick-up (or sssh, an Ashton Martin’s roadster), and the wide, sculpted hood which not only heightens the sporty image but directs the drag away from the windshield—all contribute to hiding domestic schmaltz inside.

I think the heart of the Ford Ecosport experience—and it does say it in its name—is its green-driving facet. While the proprietary voice-command  Ford SYNC entertainment and communication console never fails to draw a laugh from the kids every time I try to confuse it with a mixed or garbled command, the pimped-out trip computer which shows real-time fuel consumption, distance-to-empty, and average fuel economy on top of standard displays really makes being a gas miser techno-chic.

For this trip, I plan to take my wife and kid and two of her out-of-towner cousins from Tarlac to a weekend trip around Taal Lake, skirting three provinces (Laguna, Cavite and Batangas) for a distance of approximately 350 kilometers of flat highways, rolling and zigzag rural roads, making worthwhile stopovers to rest weary heads and meet old friends, and try to get lost discovering new things in life, culture, adventure, and motoring.

Mind you, this is no eco-run as I plan to photograph this weekend loaner, a Lunar Sky-colored Ford Ecosport 1.5L Titanium AT Powershift 6-speed automatic, and that entails running an idle engine just to keep the batteries fully charged when I leave the headlights, front and rear fog lights powered on.

And just like that, the winds die down, as if turned off irrevocably by a heavenly switch. We just dock Potato Corner’s Spudster, a hobie catamaran 16, on the shore when Taal Lake turns all glassy. I worry about the kids who watch us intently during the test run, awaiting their turn to sail for the first time.

After more than 10 years of shooting my first hobie race, I meet Peter Capotosto once again, an avid sailor and sailing advocate and owner of Taal Lake Yacht Club (www.tlyc.com).

Unknown to many, TLYC is open to the public and probably the best place in the Philippines to learn how to sail—and camp out.

Taal Lake Yacht Club Peter Capotosto sailing Hobie 16

With a reasonable boat rental rate (starts from P1,800 for a dinghy called a Topper), TLYC offers guests an intimate and meditative way to get to know the enigmatic Taal Lake, home of the endemic tawilis or fresh-water sardines, legendary sunken towns, and about a 150 years ago, sharks.

Sailing (a dinghy at least) is pretty easy. I took a crash course over lunch with Peter years back, and I and a friend were riding the wind after an hour and sailed till sundown. It was one of my most exhilarating experiences as travel magazine editor—the freedom, the speed, the water, the wind.

There’s nothing much you can do in TLYC here but sail and explore Taal Volcano via the TLYC banca-taxi and guides. But for a family looking for weekend adventure, that’s probably the only thing you will ever need. Just a word of warning though: the road to Taal Volcano is filled with scammers. I recommend that you pre-book  your adventure with a reputable outfit like TLYC.

If you are planning to spend the night in TLYC, please take note it doesn’t have overnight facilities. Camping is optional and in fact recommended; however, if the wife has migraine after a scorching afternoon of trekking, it will be best to book a room at the nearby 26 Santa Maria (phone: (043) 773-0286, mobile: (0999) 580-7348), a private rest house-turned-vacation apartments.

Accommodation is cheap (starts at P1,200 for a couple’s room; and P2,400 for a flat-type with kitchen), clean, decent, air-conditioned with cable TV and hot shower. Inside, it has the Malate Pension House feel that expatriates and foreigners adore; outside, it has the campy feel of Camp John Hay, especially with a dominant pine tree close to the surrender.

26 Santa Maria’s grass-covered grounds are perfect for picnics, barbecues, banquets, or in our case, a photo op of Ecosport, which has a decent power (110ps@6300 rpm) and torque (142Nm@4,500 rpm) to tow a boat uphill.

At Sonyas Garden Driveway

26 Santa Maria doesn’t have any sailboat or catamaran for rent as TLYC does, so you have to bring your own paddle board, wakeboard, windsurf, jetski, and kayaks and so on, of course at no additional fees.

Float. There seems nothing to do in Sonya’s Garden Bed and Breakfast and Spa (www.sonyasgarden.com) but drift aimlessly in the garden, admiring the explosion of blooms—sunflowers, daisies, impatiens, morning glory, begonias, butterbush and the biggest bougainvillea bush which I have ever seen, covering the entire roof of a souvenir shop.

From TLYC in Talisay, it’s just a 30-minute to one-hour drive southwest, depending on the traffic in Tagaytay, which usually peaks during mealtimes.

It’s been almost five years since I last visited Sonya Garcia, the former banker-turned-restaurateur who pioneered the bed-and-breakfast concept in Alfonso, Cavite in the late ’90s—which slowly caught on in neighboring Tagaytay City, and soon to other parts of the country.

So much has changed since five years ago: the Panaderia, which sells the plumpest Spanish bread and tastiest cheese hopia I have ever tasted, has been moved to a bigger cottage in the expanded parking lot. In its old place, near the brick pathway leading to the renovated spa, rises The Apothecary that sells Sonya’s memorable scent sprays and massage and essential oils.

There’s Favorite Finds, a showroom of Sonya’s renowned flair for interior design—a mix-match of clashing colors, textures and elements curated from the best of her travels in Europe and Asia.

There’s Proposal Room, a greenhouse behind Sunflower banquet, filled with sweet-smelling herbs and flowers, and its own romantic nooks.

Proposal Room

Still, amidst this sea of change, I am glad to see that the famous garden salad and mix-your-own vegetarian pasta and the freshly-squeezed dalandan juice are still there and worth coming home to.

In few sepia corners, tight streets and public spaces of this old heritage town, Taal feels like Lucban, Quezon where I spent my summer months as a kid—like the gazebo in the town square or the ancient walls of the Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay.

Just around 40 kilometers from Alfonso, Cavite (about a 45-minute scenic drive), Taal transports you to the Spanish colonial period the moment you cross Nasipit bridge and turn left to Calle Marcela Agoncillo towards Basillica de San Martin de Tours, the biggest church in the Philippines. Built in 1754, around the time of Taal Volcano’s longest and most violent eruption on record, the church is as old as Taal town in its present location where it moved from its previous lakeshore spot, the present day San Nicolas.

Tampuhan Café (look for Tampuhan Café in Facebook), a few meters from Nasipit bridge, provides a worthwhile stop to explore the town on foot. Unlike most ancestral houses in Taal, it has spacious parking space, thanks to the alley across the street.

Tampuhan serves popular hot and cold coffee concoctions from Batangas coffee beans, the province’s primary export during the Spanish period which made it one of the richest provinces in the Philippines. While Tampuhan’s crepes and cakes are perfect for kids, be sure to try good ol’ Batangas lomi if you can.
Tampuhan’s take on this Batangas pride is teeming with flavors: sliced kikiam, fish ball, pork liver, egg, topped with chopped onion and toasted garlic. Next door, Tampuhan has an art gallery by local artists, and occasionally it doubles as stage for musical performances.

Morning yoga at Sonyas Garden

Owner Benjamin Pulta, a newspaper reporter and a fellow amihan from The Varsitarian, can take you to a tour of around a dozen period houses, mostly bed-and-breakfast places now, which owners are his close acquaintances. It is history that’s made more engaging and fun when told in a manner of gossip between friends.

In this age of Wikipedia homeworks and Flappy Bird breaks, it is good to gather the kids in an activity that will enrich their knowledge of history and culture that only the sensuous and tactile experience of travelling can give.

I remember this trip’s most definitive experience: To make up for the kids’ missed hobie cat ride, I indulge their perpetual request to open the Ford Ecosport’s sunroof so they could pop up their heads again and again, watch the world go by, and actually feel the full blast the freedom, the speed, and the wind.
Ah yes, life’s most exhilarating experience.