A Day in the National Museum

Holiday Friday with nothing much to do, Ed and I headed to Manila for the National Museum. In all of my travels, I have always been fascinated by the different cities that I have visited. My home city, Manila, has been a place I always pass through but never bothered to visit.

Today though is a different story. I only wanted to see the Spolarium of Juan Luna but ended up understanding that the whole city of Manila was strategically built (or at least they planned to) to house the important structures essential to the administration of the city and the country. It also has it's different areas of interest to boost the Philippine culture. It's sad though that this has not come to full fruition and parts of what have been completed is not well-maintained.

So, we headed to the National Museum. They have two buildings, the Old Congress building which re-opened last July holds the Spolarium of Juan Luna and numerous paintings of Felix Resurrecion Hidalgo. The newer building plays host to various collection of artifacts from sunken San Diego ship to the different porcelains and vases of the Chinese era. There are also a number of collections from the numerous tribes in our country.

In my very limited exposure to the arts, I feel that they could add more collections in this building. There are 5 stories in this building and very well ventilated with cold air conditioning for each room. Since each room is named after big Philippine companies, I assume that they have been funding the maintenance of this building. Big thanks to Meralco, Ayala and the other companies that I have forgotten the names.

Just a quick observation though... since it was just Ed and myself going around the building (this is in the new building) it felt eerie. It started on the second floor hall. Ed really liked that hall area with its marble structures and its stained glasses so we were reading the history of the city when I started getting nervous which is weird since I was the one who wanted to go to the museum. But the pounding of my heart went on as we moved to the each gallery. It began beating faster when we entered the San Diego hall. Ed felt it too but he chose to ignore it. I couldn't ignore it for the life of me. When it came to the Archeology hall (I've forgotten the name -the area where they show the burial rites and ways in the olden days), I couldn't make myself go in. I let Ed go inside and I waited for him outside. When he went out he said that it was eerie inside. Spooky!

The tour of the Congress building though was amazing. I loved the different paintings of Luna and Hidalgo.

Take a stroll to the Teodoro Valencia Circle with the big monument of a Rajah. I think its Rajah Sulayman but I'm not sure. After all these, go inside the Orchidarium and have a grilled ensaymada and spanish chocolate in Barbara's. This is ony P110. Not bad eh!

Ed and I know that we have so much more to explore in Manila. We haven't even began to touch the surface but it excites me that now, I can actually tell my foreign friends that there are interesting places to visit in Manila and not just the beaches outside nor the malls in the city.

Entrance fee: P100/ adult (New building)

P75/ adult (Congress building)

If you go to both buildings on the same day you get in for P150/ person

Location: Finance Rd. Manila.

Directions: From Makati, take Roxas Blvd. Make a rt on P. Burgos then another slight turn to Finance Rd. You'll see Barbara's Restaurant on your right. The two buildings are right beside each other.

For more photos, click here.

Washington Sycip Park, Makati

In the middle of the bustling CBD of Makati is a little oasis on Legaspi Village. Not far from Greenbelt 1, a small garden has been built to act as a little haven and area for relaxation.

This morning, being a holiday, I decided to take my camera and shoot some photos of this park. The sun was out, there were not a lot of cars on the road and there were a few people enjoying a relaxing morning at the park.


Each entrance of the park was well planned with it's jars, rocks, and plants planted all around the doors. There are three entrances to this park. You can enter through Rada St, Gamboa St or Legaspi St. Each will lead you to a small pond with fishes and DUCKS! Yes, people! There are ducks in the middle of Makati. I was lucky to chance upon them walking from the garden to the pond.

It was great to see kids with their parents enjoying the park and feeding the fishes.



There are also benches underneath the trees and gazebos which some people use for studying, reading a book or just passing time.



There are security guards who man the place to make sure that everything is in order. The grounds are surprisingly clean. Thanks to the administrators of this park. I really hope that they maintain this little oasis for us who needs to get away from the madness of the city life. It's no Central Park but an area to sit down and read a book with green surroundings is always welcome.

For more photos on this park, click here.

Group Trip Preparations Tips

Preparation month for us! A month more and we are off to this year's destination. Europe!

This year, we have set a $3000 budget all in for this trip (inclusive of pocket money). With the route that we want to take, our budget is pretty tight. Since we are not joining a tour group, we all have to do our homework and get the best deals that we can find.

Planning is one phase of our trips! Its time-consuming but it builds excitement and brings out our resourcefulness and teamwork. Seriously! Being in a group of travellers, you learn compromise, kindness, generosity, teamwork, resourcefulness, tact and being a cheerleader. It's like preparing for an event and dealing with different suppliers and team members. It's a plus if you have known these people for a long time or have been with trips with them before. If not, just remember that you can learn new things from them all the time. You all have one thing in common, you want to take the next great adventure!!! :-)

Here are some tips I can share for a group preparing for a trip.

Themes.
a. If you are in a group, agree on a theme for the year or the whole reason why you are all travelling. This guides the decisions that you make. (ex. our group choose places that would be harder to go to when we are older... Cambodia, India... Morocco. This year, we decided on a European destination but will still fit our budget... the decision... EASTERN EUROPE!)

Destination decision
b. Once a theme is decided, choose the destination. Everyone has to agree with the destination. No half-hearted group member. Each should be excited with the destination. Remember, it's their vacation too!

Timing
c. This could prove to be a problem since not everyone can take leaves at the same time. We normally approximate the time or month a year before. This way, we all have enough time to file leaves, prepare, save and research. Take into consideration the travel destination and the climate on the month you decide to visit. This can make or break your vacation.

Intentions
d. It would be good too if each person can tell the group what their main reason is for travelling. If one chooses to shop more than the others, the itinerary should be flexible enough that the shoppers can have their shopping time and the more culturally oriented ones can go on about seeing other places than the mall. Remember that you don't always have to stay together as a group. Having one companion each is a must though.

Research
e. Research! Research! Research! Study the place you're going to. Do they have Unesco World Heritage sites? Do they have a lot of shopping places? Which places do you want to visit first? What's the city center? What can you find around the City Center? How far are the sites from the City Center?

Assign. Assign. Assign.
f. No one person should be assigned to take care of everything. Each person in the group should be assigned to a task. (Ex. one can be assigned to research on flights, another to the tourist spots, another for restaurants, another for nightlife -- you all need a drink or two to meet the locals, right?!?! ;-)).

Collate!
g. Collate and evaluate. Once data is ready, share it with the others. Meet for dinner or email. It would be nice if you can all meet up. It's nice to start getting to know each other or just sharing the excitement of everyone for the trip.

Flights
h. For flights, show at least three different options. Cost is almost always the biggest consideration so show different flights from cheapest to most expensive. Next consideration is the date and time... do you fly on weekdays or weekends? Day or night? Remember that you don't all have to fly together if it really is not possible but make sure that everyone agrees to meet in the place of destination on a certain date so that the tour can commence on that date.

Accomodation Selection
i. If flights are tricky, you should look into this more closely. There might be people in your group who are picky with accomodations. First, agree on the amount to be spent on accomodations so you have a baseline on whether you will choose a 4 star, 5 star hotels or apartments. Next, give options of different hotels with cost per night or the whole time of stay so they can all vote and agree on the accomodations.

Places to See
j. There might be tons of places to go to in one place. Choose the best ones that you can go to in a day. Write them down and schedule which ones to go to at certain times of the day.

I'll stop here for now. There are so many tips. I'll add more later.

2007 Destination - Paris-Vienna-Prague

This year's destination, EUROPE!!! :-)



Since 2004, my friends (I think this started in 2002 but I only joined them in 2004) and I have been travelling to different parts of the world. Yes, God has blessed me with this chance of visiting different countries with my friends!

In 2004, we went to Cambodia and Thailand. In 2005, we ventured into the colorful and artistic world of India and Singapore. Last year, we toured Qatar for a day and visited the exotic country of Morocco. This year, 2007, we are going to the fashion capital, Paris and the country with one of the best architectural wonders, Prague, Czech Republic. We're also heading to the land of Mozart, Vienna, Austria.

As of today, we have booked and paid for our tickets with Singapore Airlines. Meine, one of my closest friends and travel buddy found the "Double the Miles" promo of Singapore Airlines. Now, we have a free trip to anywhere in South East Asia which we can avail upon our return. We've already decided that we are going to Yangon, Myanmar next year for a weekend. That's going to be another exciting trip! :-)

Unlike our other trips, we are not joining any tour groups. We'll be touring on our own. This is going to be exciting but we have to do a lot of research before we leave so we can go to the best places too. I'm in charge of researching on Prague so I better start! :-)

For accomodations, we are renting an apartment in Paris and we might also do the same for Prague. I'm just checking if we can do the same for Vienna. These would make our accomodations cost about 40% cheaper than staying in a regular hotel.

Preparing for our trips give all of us our natural high. We prepare for this the whole year and now that its only a couple of months away, it's getting more and more exciting!

Mt. Pinatubo Weekend

"My tolerance for camping is only overnight.", that's my usual comment when people invite me to go camping. Pitching a tent, the lack of bathrooms in the campsite and sleeping with only a sheet between me and the ground turns me off. But when Grace asked me if I want to reach the crater of Mt. Pinatubo, I didn't hesitate. Well, I also did not realize that there was camping involved. hehehe!

After this weekend though, it has changed the way I see the camping experience. Mike, our guide for this trip, made everything as relaxed and as convenient as possible. The campsite is fantastic, the food is extra-ordinaire and he's well experienced that you are safe while you trek.

Dau, Pampanga is about 2-3 hours away from Manila. We left Makati around 10 am on a Saturday and got to Dau at around 11:45 pm. We met with everyone at 2 pm and then started moving towards Sta. Juliana, Tarlac. It took about 1.5 hours to get to the Barangay hall where every visitor is asked to register for monitoring. You park your car inside a school compound so its safe.

As soon as we loaded our trailer with all our stuff, we headed to the campsite riding our 4x4 truck for the weekend. After going through lahar for 10 minutes, we got to Tambo lake. I was so happy that our campsite is by a lake. It was so relaxing just being in that place. Mountains all around you and then a very still and calm body of water with two small huts in the middle... that's our home for the night. After stretching and raving about the place, we started pitching our tent. BOY! I didn't think that pitching tents were a lot easier now compared to when I was in
5th grade. I got a kick out of putting up the small red tent I will be sharing with my brother. It's like playing bahay-bahayan all over again! hahaha!

Since this is not a resort, the bathroom is an outback type. No flush but there's a water pump outside so you can gather some water on a pail and bring it with you inside the rest room. No showers in this place so bring alcohol and Wet-Ones. Once the campsite is set, we were just lounging around waiting for the sun to set. One of the things that I really enjoyed is interacting with the local aetas. Since this place has not been infiltrated with a lot of tourists, the aetas are still friendly and would not expect money from you everytime you talk to them or take their photos. They let me talk to their kids and join them fishing in the lake. They even let our
friends ride their boat to go around the lake. It's very refreshing to see locals still untouched by
commercial tourism.

The ecopark is only open from March to early June. It is closed during the rainy season. My suggestion is that you go towards the end of May and the start of June. The trek to the crater is excruciatingly hot since there's a big portion of the trek with no vegetation in site. The drizzle and the cloudy skies will actually be helpful while you trek.

Mike's schedule is ideal since we started trekking early in the morning so we can be back at the trail head a bit after lunch. We started the trek at 10 am and was back for lunch at 2.

Rise and shine is at 530 am to give enough time to enjoy the morning view of the lake, breakfast, getting ready and cleaning the campsite. Once all tents and bags are loaded in the trailer, we were off to the volcano.

After about an hour of a fun 4x4 ride through rocks, sand, lahar and water, we reached the trail head. For the hike, you might want to bring a day bag different from your backpack. Your backpacks and tents will be left in the trailer so you really don't have to worry about any of your stuff. You can bring a smaller back pack with 4 liters of water, trail food, sun block, camera, slippers (if you want) and extra shirt if you are swimming. Don't bring any other things that you don't need. Its harder to walk if your bag is heavy.

Be ready to get your shoes wet so use old rubber shoes or trekking shoes. The trail is very rocky so make sure to stretch before starting the hike. Most important stretches are your legs and your ankles. You'll be off balance at some point so your ankles should be prepared. Its also very hot so wear a cap and shades. Put sun block on to make sure that you don't burn from the heat.

The trail goes from wide expanse of rocky and lahar, it become narrower and narrower while seeing bigger rocks and more trees leading towards the crater.

According to our guide, this place used to be like a silver desert but now, life forms are coming back to this place. Life rules! :-)

There's a water source about 5 minutes away from the crater but don't drink this if you have a sensitive tummy. No one sells water or food along the way so bring your own.

Once you reach the area with the view of the crater, enjoy it! Remember that this calm waters used to be hell hot magma. After resting and taking photos at this area, you might want to go down and be in the crater. You can swim in the water!!!

I suggest that you swim. When do you get to swim on a crater of one of the most destructive volcanos?!?! Go ahead and enjoy it. :-) The water is sulfuric so wear old bikinis or swim suit since the color might fade. The water is cold and refreshing. Just don't drink it. Stay on the sides if you don't know how to swim. It drops from 3 ft to a we-can't-figure-out deep.

There are no decent bathrooms or rest rooms in the area. The whole mountain is your bathroom. :-) You can let yourself dry on the trek back. Believe me! With the heat, your clothes will be dry in no time. :-)

Oh, I should mention that if you don't want to climb STEEP stairs, don't go down the crater. The local government built a semblance of stair steps going up and down the crater. Going down is easy but going back is harder than the trek.

After another 2 hour trek back, the 4x4 will now bring you back to the Barangay hall. Here, you can take a shower for P20 each person. Be careful though since its not clean at all. Wear slippers. The water is cold but the cubicles are dirty. When we went there, there was only one cube working.

Now that you are all cleaned up and ready to go home, finish up your trip with a meal in the original sisig place, Aling Lucing's sisg. It's on Angeles City. Once you hit Dau again, ask people there where the RILES is and they will give you directions. That area comes to life at night with its bars and grill place. With the whole day of walking, a cup of rice, one order of sisig, one order of lechon manok and coke... that's the perfect ending! :-)

Here are photos of the craters when it erupted in 1991 and at present.

Estimated expenses:
a. Toll fee on NLEX - P360 -- two way

b. Gasoline - P1000
c. Saturday Lunch - 150

d. Tips for local guide and driver - 200

e. Shower cost - P20/ person

f. Sunday night Dinner - 200

g. Package cost - P2770/ person (for 4 people)

h. Meals (dinner, breakfast, lunch) prepared by guide - P300

Total expenses: P5000.00

This can be lower if you divide the gas and toll fee cost amongst yourselves.

Things to remember:
a. No signal for Globe and Sun Cellular subscribers starting from Barangay Hall

b. Put your clothes, camera, etc in plastic bag inside your bag. This is protection for your things just in case it rains.

c. Bring rubbing alcohol. Since there will be no decent showers up until you get back to the barangay hall, this will be your body disinfectant for two days. You can also bring Wet Ones to wash your face with.

d. 4 liters of water to bring while trekking is just enough if the sun is really high and you consume a lot of water.

e. If you are going to swim, you can wear your tank top underneath your shirt for the trek. Use an old tank top coz it might fade due to the sulfur content of the water.

f. Stop for a few minutes and sit on the cold and clean running water from the mountains.
g. Make some GORP as trail food if you have time. Goold Old Raisins and Peanuts (c/o Ginger).
For more photos, check out www.pbase.com/lysh/pinatubo

If you want to experience this adventure, get in touch with Mike Soriano at +63 9279251415. He can prepare a package for you and your friends.

Pagsanjan Falls -- Shooting the Rapids

With short planning time and limited budget, we decided to stay in Manila for the 5 day holiday. Not wanting to do nothing for these rare vacation moments, we decided to do a day trip in Pagsanjan Falls. I've been hearing about this place since I was a kid but I've never really had the chance to go so its pretty exciting to see what this place is all about.

Pagsanjan is about 2 hours away from Makati. We left Makati at 730 am on a Good Friday so there were almost no cars on the road. To get there, take the South Super Highway all the way down to the last exit -- Calamba, Laguna. Follow the road that leads to Los Banos, Laguna. Take the main road and you'll get to Pagsanjan, Laguna. You'll be passing the municipalities of Los Banos, Pila and Sta. Cruz. Enjoy the ride! The view of the trees and the rice fields reminds me how great it is to be out of Manila! Wonderful! We got to the resort at 930 am.

A Pagsanjan Arc will mark your arrival at your destination. Pass the arc and you'll see the Pagsanjan church. Make a right at this point and you will notice a lot of boatman flaggers on the streets. Billboards along the roads will notify you that you shouldn't be dealing with illegal boatmen in the area. Be warned too that there are flaggers as early as 20 minutes away from the main Pagsanjan area. They will tell you that they are part of the Boatmen Association and will bring you to the area. They might be legal but its still best to trust the Department of Tourism Accredited groups.

We have made earlier reservations with La Corona Hotel in Pagsanjan. Their contact info is: 049-5011753. Look for Michael or Marvin. My suggestion is to arrange and book a trip with a hotel or a resort since you can use their facilities after you get wet from the falls. Believe me!!! You would want to take a shower after the trip. With the heat of the sun and the cold water of the falls, you need to freshen up after the rapids trip. :-) It's P100 more than the normal rate but you get to use their facilities and the best part is that, the resorts have back-ups and emergency support if in case something happens during the trip. Their shower rooms are clean so freshening up is not a problem. I just wish they had an exhaust fan in the shower room since its a bit warm.

As soon as we got there, we were received with a warm smile by the receptionist. After paying P760 per person, we relaxed for a few minutes at their breezy patio/ restaurant. After a cup of coffee, a couple of juice drinks and a plate of french fries, we were off on our Shooting the Rapids adventure.

Our Boatmen were waiting for us by the steps leading to the river, ready to put our life vests on. Once the vests have been secured, we got into our canoe. The boats can take 3 people max. I was so scared that we might fall off the canoe in the beginning. It was a small thing carrying 4 people with the boatman in front leading the way and skillfully stepping on the rocks to move our boat forward. These boatmen are unbelievable! After a few minutes of seeing how our boatmen can easily maneuver our boat, I relaxed and just took photos. It was really amazing how they can kick and pull and carry the boats from one point to another.

In between rapids, you will see lush greens on both sides while you're cruising through calm waters. You can hear birds, see dragon flies and spot monkeys along the way. Its a nature trip! Fantastic!

After about 10 minutes on the boat, we had a stop over in a place where you can buy drinks and eat grilled chicken. This is a tourist trap! Once you get off your boat, the vendors will instantly ask you to buy a drink for your boatmen. Since our boatmen were so good, we decided to get each one of them a can of coke. Hmmm... How much is a can? P40! Highway robbery! But, I guess the boatmen do deserve the rest and the soda. The second part of the ride to the falls is much harder than the first part.

When we got to the Pagsanjan Falls (which is actually in the Cavinti, Laguna area), we got on the raft that will bring us inside the cave and under the falls. The raft ride is P90/ head. This is the part that you should not miss!!!! You get wet big time but its so much fun. Remember to put your head down but tilt it a bit on the side where you can get some air. You'll be under the water fall for a good 10 to 20 seconds. Scream as much as you can and enjoy the super cold water!

After a few minutes of rest and admiring the falls, we headed back to the resort. The ride back is faster and more fun since the water is down stream. It felt like being on the Log Jam ride of Enchanted Kingdom!

After 2 hours, we were back in the resort for a much awaited meal. LUNCH! The lunch in the resort is super yummy! Don't miss their Adobo de Pagsanjan (there's a lot of pork fat though so please tell the waiter to remove them if you don't want fat) and Spicy Sizzling Sisig.

To cap off the trip to Pagsanjan, don't ever miss having a massage by Lola Lolita through the resort! She's the best! Plus, you'll have the massage in a cabana near the pool area.


Expenses breakdown per person:
Shooting the Rapids package via resort:
P760 inclusive of vest, boat ride, guide, use of pool and showers at the resort
P 80 two cans of coke for our boatmen
P 90 Raft ride to the falls
P 50 tip for the men at the raft ride
P 200 tip for our boatmen
P 200 (estimate) for lunch
Total cost: P1380
** Exclusive of Gas and Toll fee

Things to remember:
1. Expect to get wet so be in clothes that can get wet
2. Bring toiletries for showering
3. Use sun block -- it can be really hot
4. Bring either a pelican or a bag that is water proof so you have a container for your camera and money
5. Bring water for drinking while you are on the boat
6. You might want to bring a towel or sarong to cover your legs from the heat of the sun