 |
Casa Corazon Motorbike Museum is a short 3km left turn from the Tagaytay, Lemery junction. Vintage beauties in the hundreds await
|
Sep 8-10, 2018, The Taal Lake Loop is a wonderful scenic route filled with must do stop overs such as a Motorbike Museum in Lemery (Casa Corazon), a quick pass at Fantasy World just right after Tagaytay and gingerly crawl coastal roads and take shots of the milky way and star trails amidst an epic ocean view back drop.
 |
| a lone white vintage BMW with signature Boxer engine |
The Trip was actually two trips collapsed into one since both were back to back dive trips (my main line) and my second return got me exploring the backroads of Batangas and Lemery.
 |
| Tay psoing with a R35 from 1940, the engine was pre Boxer engine era which you still see being used in GS and RNineT models today |
 |
| BMW army bikes used during WW1 and WW2 |
 |
| The whole Honda Cub line...amazing |
 |
Ultra rare.. the Honda Motocompo was a fit your trunk bring anywhere briefcase scooter originally designed for the US Honda hatchback version in the late seventies/early eighties
|
 |
| Legendary BMW boxer engine on display |
 |
| R12, circa 1939 from the San Miguel Corporation |
 |
| Me in touristy mode :) |
Casa Corazon, the Motorbike Museum along lemery is a must do stop over. It is a home to more than a hundred vintage bikes, mainly historic honda bikes and the main event was a stroll through the entire line of BMW motorcycles. I just breezed through the Honda selection and probably stayed an hour where the BMW bikes were.
 |
| There are vintage cars beyond the vintage Honda and BMW motorbikes, Mr Slim and a Corvette Stingray to name a few of the classic cars on exhibit |
Beyond classic motorbikes, there are less than 10 vintage cars, notable ones was a Stinbgray Corvette and a Mr Slim Benz, and one mega rare BMW Isetta 300 vintage which can be seen below...
 |
| Mega rare BMW Isetta 300, Photo by C,.S. Tay |
After a visit from the museum, you actually have several more options if you would like to drop by Taal town where the first church in Asia was built, but we were on a diving sojourn and headed straight to Bauan Divers Sanctuary resort in San Jose
 |
| Bauan Parking Area |
You need a boat to get to Bauan Divers Sanctuary, you leave your car and motorbike at their parking area, hop on a banka and get there in less than 15 minutes
 |
| The real purpose of trip was helping out Bell Cruzet's divers get an advance diving course |
Was fortunate that our trip there fell on a new moon phase where while cloudy mostly throughout my stay, it provided windows for me to take the Milky Way and take some star trail shots with just a mobile phone camera (used a Huawei P20 pro for all shots)
 |
| Milky Way over Ligpo Island with a Huawei P20 Pro |
 |
| 1 hour exposure with a Huawei P20 pro via Bauan Divers Sanctuary Dive Resort |
 |
| Falling Stars via Bauan Divers Sanctuary resort |
All things come to an end and snapped a few coastal scenes, where the image below was my favorite :)
 |
| Slow shutterin with Ligpo Island View |
We actually took the Cuenca- Alitagtag route getting here, the usual scenic hills with a bit of twisty roads but nothing really special to make a stop over for. Heading back to Manila via Lemery Tagaytay will be a much cheaper (skip P90+P25 toll at Startoll) scenic route, made a quick stop at the never fully opened Fantasy World amusement park for some snaps
 |
| Fantasy World bokeh view |
I wnated to get in but the silly rotting Amusement Park was charging P1,000. The rate is for 10 pax but charges the same rate for anything less than 10 peeps, what a rip off, Maybe should organize a ride here with some ride buddies soon just to see whats inside.
 |
| Fantasy World charges P1,000 entrance per 10 persons, if its just one person, they still charge P1,000..stupid really why this is how close I got without paying the silly fee |
Heading back, there are so many options to go to once in Tagaytay, from Sonya's garden to Leslie's Bulalo, choose your stop and be rewarded with cool weather and this spectacular lakeside view
 |
| Taal Lake View from Leslie's Bulalo |
 |
| Taal Lake road view before hitting Canyonwoods |
 |
| Brief side trip to Sonya's Garden on a weekday (yay, no peeps), ultra famous for their everything homegrown in their garden breakfast |
In Summary:
The Taal Lake Loop is a 300km+/- motorbike route filled with much interesting stopovers and will yield lovely coastal roads with a great view of the ocean. While others may choose to enjoy the cool weather of Tagaytay, others may want to spend the night at a Dive resort which will open opportunities for Milky Way and Star Trail photography. For gear heads like me, Casa Corazon is definitely a must do stop and be rewarded with a rich history of vintage bikes and classic cars which is very much worth the P250 entrance fee.
The Route taken. Casa Corazon (Motorbike Museum) can be found at E
