Down the Rabbit Hole

New Year 2009 , a set on Flickr. We welcomed the Year of the Ox with a lot of fireworks, food, and rain in Sta Cruz, Laguna. Needless to say, everyone had a good time. :)

With the trusty camera in tow, Anna and I went to Gelatone in Greenbelt to try out the ice cream and document the "event". That completes our Makati ice cream round for this year (which included Haagen Dazs and Cold Rock). What desserts are we going to try out next year? Hmm...

After taking in the view of Tagaytay Highlands at Palace in the Sky, we drove to Calaruega to see the church and the grounds. Without all the Holy Week pilgrims and wedding guests in the area, I was finally able to see what makes Calaruega a great place for retreats and weddings: the place is very peaceful.

After the "photo shoot" at Dampalit Falls, it was time to travel all the way to Tagaytay, a city overlooking yet another body of water (Taal Lake) and a volcano (Taal Volcano). We were showing Aureline, the French student in our lab, tourist spots close to Los Banos. Picnic Grove was supposed to be our lunch pit stop on the tour of the Tagaytay ridge, but the fees were expensive... so we went to the People's Park in the Sky. We were literally up with the clouds that they looked close enough to be caught! The downside: the view of Taal Volcano wasn't as good as in Picnic Grove. The upside: we had a bird's eye view of Tagaytay Highlands. With me were: Dara, Ana, Lucy, and Em-em.

The day was perfect for a photo shoot: though cloudy, the day wasn't too humid and it didn't rain! This was good because I specially practised on the water fountain in Fort Santiago for this hike!

light night traffic at the intersection of Ayala and Makati Avenues While waiting for the traffic light to go green, I noticed a tourist with a DSLR shooting pictures in the Makati area without being reprimanded by security or by traffic enforcers. Thus, I decided to try take a few photos myself. I had to stop for a few hours because of the downpour, and continued taking pictures at night before going home.

Ate Maddie and I had an afternoon's worth of my kind of history lesson... an actual walk in Fort Santiago. This place is known as the site of pre-Hispanic Rajah Sulayman's kingdom and where Dr Jose Rizal, among many other martyrs, was imprisoned prior to their executions. The entrance fee is worth every cent because inside those walls are pristine gardens, fully paved walkways, and very clean toilets. A place we must visit again.