Around Lipa: Cafe de Lipa

Now this is far more homegrown and speaks volumes of the city's rich coffee heritage. It's refreshing to see there is a brave local businessman who's willing to take the risk and measure up to imported coffee chains now altering Lipa's cityscape. They proudly call themselves a Filipino Coffee Company, and rightfully capitalizes its flagship products on the local favorite, the Baráko.

You'll find it in a free-standing coffee shop right outside Robinson's (ironically behind Starbucks), in SM City, in the Petron Station along Star Tollway, and a pilot branch in Metro Manila; in Market! Market! in Bonifacio Global City.

Around Lipa: Coffee Shop Chains in Coffee Country

Nothing is more paradoxical and strangely inorganic than alien coffee chains sprouting around downtown Lipa. In a city whose heritage is strongly identified with coffee farming, trade and export, it is practically sacrilegious to be promoting "Kona" and "Java" blends or beans grown in Guatemala or Bolivia within hearing distance of the cathedral's bells.

Figaro (left) is not that bad; after all, it is a locally-owned chain and kudos to them for giving imported brands a run for its money. But still, it's sad to see that our own local coffee, as it is, is actually far more superior, bean for bean, than most that are popular around the world. Local coffee is just not packaged and marketed creatively, and the industry has absolutely no government support.

Around Lipa: Malarayat Golf & Country Club

Just some minutes away from the farm is the much raved-about 27-hole golf course and the Country Club that has forever changed the landscape of Lipa. From its grounds one can see panoramic views of Mount Malarayat which gives the course a unique backdrop that cannot be mistaken for anywhere else. In fact, one hole has been dubbed as one of the 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes!

It's a beautiful property, you can see more about them at their website, which explains more about their amenities, activities, dining options, and even an adjacent residential estate boasting stunning views of the golf course and the surrounding vistas (all photos in this entry are from their website).

Around Lipa: the de la Salle Chapel

Inside the de la Salle campus in downtown Lipa is a quiet, contemporary chapel that invites one to just stop by and commune with God. Oftentimes, the other churches in the city can be filled to the brim and may sometimes be noisy and surrounded with activities. But this school chapel has a calming and natural atmosphere, it gives a meditative vibe that somehow makes one introspectful. 


It helps too that from the inside, one can see an expanse of green; the school's football field, surrounded by trees and flowering gardens. It's nice to see that contemporary tropical design principles are also now being applied to ecclesiastical architecture.

Of course, I couldn't help but note that they have interestingly-designed pews. I couldn't tell if it partly uses recycled lumber but undoubtedly, it uses combinations of beautiful tropical hardwoods.

Around Lipa: Casa de Segunda

Lipa is one of the few Philippine cities (and towns) whose main street is not called Rizal. Instead, it is named after Claro Recto, a nationalist and one of the city's most distinguished sons. The other major thoroughfares pay tribute to equally-prominent Lipéňos: Morada, Luz, Kalaw.

But there is a Rizal Street, a side street of Recto Avenue, some blocks behind the Cathedral. There is a special, sentimental reason for this rather unusual street-naming: the young Jose used to visit a house on this street, a house that you can visit until today. He would arrive on horseback (presumably from Calambâ), tie his horse on the alagáo tree by the gate (which is still there today) to court a young girl he was infatuated with: Segúnda Katigbâk.

The house is a fine example of colonial tropical architecture; it dates from 1880 and is in excellent shape to this day, one of the city's five remaining Spanish-era houses that survived World War II, earthquakes, and typhoons. In fact, this particular ancestral house has this wonderful, lived-in ambience: Segunda's descendants live within the compound and personally attend to every guest who knocks in their gate.

The nárra floors are polished, the capíz windows are complete, the planters and pedestals are filled with greens, and the compound seems to be always abuzz with activity. Once I was there, the barangáy was having a meeting in the courtyard.

Apart from its great condition, it also displays a tasteful selection of period furniture made of tropical hardwoods with exquisite inlays and tracery, rattan caning, Chinese porcelain, silverware and kitchen implements true to the era of this beautiful home. There are family photos, leather-bound books, Lipa memorabilia, and of course, references to Segunda and her famous suitor. But the ancestral house speaks far more than this short historical footnote: its design alone is a good model for tropical architecture.

Despite the heat and the sunshine outside, it was pleasantly cool and breezy within the rooms, the corridors, and especially in the foyer downstairs. Of course, the compound is sheltered by old trees that further enhances the shady and balmy atmosphere.

Casa de Segunda requests a token amount of twenty pesos to help maintain their house. They are open everyday but big groups best book ahead.

Around Lipa: The Cathedral

Despite the recent growth and expansion, Lipa's cityscape is still dominated by the dome of the Catedrál, an imposing structure in the core of the city which a lot of locals still use as a reference point where every significant landmark radiates from. The Lipeños are deeply pious and hold their patrôn, San Sebastian dear.

The puerta mayór (main door) of the cathedral is made of muláwin and is decorated with bas-relief depicting the history of salvation from Biblical times until, believe it or not, eleven years ago (the last panel depicts the logo of the 2000 Jubilee, not in this photo). What's interesting on the left photo is the scene on the lower right; a Santacruzan scene, what is actually a Filipino re-enactment of St Helena, accompanied by her son Constantine, and their search for the Holy Cross.


The interiors are typically in the colonial baroque style, and this seat of the Diocese of the Southern Tagalog Provinces is not be outdone. Frescoed ceilings done a la Michelangelo, trompe l'oeil decorations, chandeliers, and a dazzling silver retáblo typical of the Augustinians.


But even if the design is imposing and awe-inspiring, the catedral is an intensely-personal matter for every local. A lot have had something significant held there, from one's christening to a wedding or even something as mundane as a new vehicle's blessing. The cathedral is never without people, and I guess that alone shows that it is very much an intergal part of daily life.