Cafe by the Ruins

Who would drive at least four hours through the tricycle filled roads of the Philippine province followed by a dark and dangerous climb over steep and unlit mountain roads with speeding trucks while having a flat tire? And that only to consume a world famous cup of coffee only served at a place called By the Ruins???

We did, double M and me. Cause this was not just a cup of coffee, this was the extremely rare civet cat coffee... What coffee??? Okay, its a kind of weird story and don't ever ask me how they invented this coffee, but the civet cat eats coffee berries, digested by the cat after which the beans are harvested from its... poop. This is then produced the same way as other - normal - coffee beans and brewed to a cup of fresh coffee. In New York they can charge you up to $100,- for a cup of coffee, but since the Palm Civet lives in the Philippines, it did not cost more then a regular Starbucks Frapuccino...

By the ruins is located in the mountainous city of Baguio, in the north of Luzon. The Ruins are a bit hidden behind a busy street nearby the central park of the city, but once inside (and waiting to be seated as even at lunch time this spot remains utterly popular) you enter a surprisingly moody garden like place. On the menu we read the following phrase:

"The ruins we lay claim to are the remains of a garden theater which was later converted into the gracious home of Phelps Whitmarsh, the first civil governor of Benguet. The house was built early in the last century and destroyed in World War II.The governor maintained a famous garden where Mrs. Whitmarsh, an Ibaloi, propagated flowering plants and introduced strawberries and vegetable seeds." 

We also had a great lunch (in the next blog) but coming back on the coffee. I finished the whole cup while Double M did only sip a couple of times, showed me his connoisseur look, then pushed the whole cup into my direction while murmuring something about 'distinguish taste' and 'interesting' after which he continued his cream cappuccino...

Another shot of the By the Ruins interior, obviously prior to my photography courses. I promise better overviews next trip...