Manila (Philippines) 15 Jul - 18 Jul 2006

Hotel: The Malayan Plaza, Ortigas

Booked this hotel from www.booking.com.  There were 4 of us for the trip (not counting those friends who were already in Manila).  Got 2 one-bedroom apartment.  Not too bad except that my roomie freaked out on our first night as we saw one roach running around the apartment.  We had to get the guys to come and get rid of it.

The highlight of the trip was the Tagaytay trip.  It was a super long drive out of metro Manila but the trip was well worth it.  The view was spectacular.

Upon reaching Tagaytay, my friend brought us to a place where we can take a motor boat to Taal volcano.   When we reach the foot of the volcano, we were given the choice to either walk up or take a horse.  We decided to go with the horse option because we didn't want to spend time walking up and down again.  It cost us PHP1,800 (after bargaining) per horse.  It was sad to see that all the riders are kids.  We, of course, didn't hesitate to tip the kids upon knowing that they only got PHP80-100 per ride.  That's very little compared to the PHP1,800 we paid for the ride.

The ride up to the crater was fun.  My rider actually got down on a less steep slope and let me ride the horse on my own.  At some stages, my horse did gallop. If you are a greenery person, you would enjoy the scene up.  There's nothing but greens.

The view from the top of the crater lake (also known as Taal lake) was awesome!  The water look abit still though.

We were busy cam whoring while our riders and our horses took a rest.  We even bought them soft drinks.  Yupz, soft drinks are sold at the top.

Smoke coming up from the slopes.  Do note that this is NOT an extinct volcano.  It's dormant (last erupted in 1977).  Total amount of lives it took over the last few eruptions stands at 5,000-6,000.

We took the chance to snap a few more shots.

Time to get back to land.  Manage to steal a few shots of the sunset.

Was still able to steal more shots of the sunset while on the boat back to land.

We were treated with yummy authentic Filipino cuisine while still at Tagaytay (before heading back to metro Manila).  It was a feast.  The driver didn't want to join us initially as he prefers to sit by himself.  But we forced him to.  Well, we come together, we eat together and we go back together.

I have never had McSpaghetti so naturally, I got to try.  Didn't like the spag too much as it's too dry for my taste.  Comes with a piece of fried chicken.

The last day has arrived and we took a cab to Clark Airport.  This will be the first and the last time we fly into Clark coz it's just too far from town.  When we arrived, we took their public bus but the journey was too long.  I love to eat in the airport...any airport so I didn't hesitate to buy a cup of instant noodles.

The entire trip was tiring as per the rest of my other trips.  But it was fulfilling as I get to get on a volcano!!!