North Cotabato | Magpet At The Foothills of Mt Apo

NORTH COTABATO | Magpet At The Foothills of Mt Apo
Mt Apo's Elfin Woodland

Thickly forested sloping terrain with diverse Flora and Fauna, Magpet being situated at the foothills of the Talomo-Apo Mountain Range is one of the easy trails to consider when hiking Mt Apo the Philippines highest mountain.

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North Cotabato | Cold Mornings In Lake Venado

NORTH COTABATO | Cold Mornings In Lake Venado
The Enchanted 2nd Highest Lake In The Philippines

Kim and I were actually taking each other's photo, marveling at the clear reflection we have in the lake. Joanne is trying to warm up with a little walk. The saturated greens and blues of the photo were no exaggeration; I don't over enhance my photographs.

Enchanted and Beautiful, this Endorheic Lake near the summit of Mt Apo is the Philippines 2nd Highest Lake in elevation. It's not surprising since Mt Apo dubbed as "The Grandfather of Philippine Mountains" is the country's roof top. We camped here after a daylong of trekking the forested Boholanon trail of Magpet, and here's an account of what happened when we arrived and waking up near a sublime body of water with the facade of Mt Apo's many summits looming before it.

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Rizal | Sunset at Mt Daraitan

RIZAL | Sunset at Mt Daraitan
The Far Corner of Taytay Rizal

The January wind is strong, it blew away any chance of cloud formation that would have made this moment more scenic. It was a long day, traveling to this far corner of Taytay Rizal after a graveyard shift, with the midday trekking under cover of Mt Daraitan's forest, I could not wish for a more pleasant way to cap this day than Sunset watching. Mt Daraitan's rocky summit proved to be a pleasant viewpoint to watch the Sunset as we feel the light rain and strong winds pass us by.

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Benguet | Sunset At Kabayan Hills

Benguet | Sunset At Kabayan Hills
A Third In A Row, Return To Mt Timbac

I conclude that the most scenic of Sunsets are in the Highlands, people may disagree since the experience of watching the setting sun vary, and for the most part we remember them for the feeling it gives us. I'm romantic like that; I love to watch the shadows play as the sun is gradually going down in the horizon, the warm and cool colors are splayed together in one frame, the spherical shape of the sun turning dark yellow to reddish and could be framed by the passing clouds, but by being in the highlands like the Cordillera's, the pine laden hills can complete the ensemble.

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Mountain | Chased By A Typhoon In Mt Arayat

MOUNTAIN | Chased By A Typhoon in Mt Arayat
Traversing The Extinct Stratovolcano On A Stormy Weekend

Loveless. My friend Lovely is hugging this Andesite Rock Wall like a caring boyfriend under the rain.

Its an outdoor adventure with added challenges. Chased by the approaching landfall of Category 1 Typhoon Kalmaegi locally named as Tropical Storm Luis which was expected to make landfall over Cagayan Valley of Northern Luzon on the same day as our planned Mt Arayat traverse.

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Falls | The Cold Tappia (Tappiya) Falls of Batad

FALLS | The Cold Tappia (Tappiya) Falls of Batad
Batad Rice Terraces, Batad, Banaue, Ifugao


“Waterfalls are exciting because they have power, they have rainbows, they have songs, and they have boldness and craziness!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

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Falls | Buruwisan Falls of Mt Romelo

FALLS | Buruwisan Falls of Mt Romelo
Siniloan, Laguna

In a corner of this river trekking, the powerful cadence of Buruwisan Falls welcomed us.

This is one of those trips where I just hitch up, but unlike my previous adventures with this group, this time it feels like I'm already part of the pack that I am with. Tired of planning my own trips or going solo, I welcomed the invite from a good friend Arnie of The Kid Wanderer. The same gang that I was with in Pico de Loro, these guys is of the same age bracket as me so I can easily relate. Adventurous and sometimes reckless, it is with this group that I learned to "Ratrat" (local slang term for trail running) a trail especially when backtracking to where the jump off started.

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Mountain | Mt Batulao, Stepping Into Dreamland

MOUNTAIN | Mt Batulao, Stepping Into Dreamland
Nasugbu, Batangas

Derived from the Filipino Phrase "Bato sa Ilao" (Illuminated rocks), Mt Batulao is a favored mountain by newbie to experienced outdoorsmen. With open trails, some steep rocky slopes combined with the cool weather associated with the highlands of Tagaytay; Mt Batulao is a hot spot drawing crowds of adventurers during weekends.

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Food Trip | Saboten of Glorietta 5

FOOD TRIP | Saboten of Glorietta 5
Raintree Restaurants of Makati

I'm no fan of Tonkatsu, perhaps because there is only a few Japanese restaurants around, and not many would specialize in serving Tonkatsu. Perhaps, it was due to a bad memory I have in ordering Tonkatsu from a Japanese Fast Food restaurant. I don't really like eating heaps of breading on fried dishes so I was a little apprehensive before stepping inside Saboten of Glorietta. On any regular day, I wouldn't consider having Tonkatsu for dinner; I guess I needed to be re-educated and Saboten is my rescue.

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Food Trip | Kabila

FOOD TRIP | Kabila of Ayala Museum Complex
Raintree Restaurants of Makati

Few meters outside Kabila is the Greenbelt Park with Manmade pools filled with a lot of Koi fish that are fun to watch.

With nowhere else to go and not being in the mood for mall time, I stayed behind in Mr. Jones until we are ready for the lunch in Kabila. From Greenbelt 5 we practically strolled to Greenbelt 4, on its northern corner where the Ayala Museum Complex is situated. Kabila which roughly means the other side is in the same location as Museum Cafe, you could say that Kabila is on the other side of Museum Café, ingenious play of Filipino words. Passing through the greeneries of Greenbelt Park and manmade fish ponds full of Koi Fish of varying colors and sizes, I found Kabila to be rightfully placed along Makati Avenue. With the towering Shangri-La Hotel on the other side and the Ayala Museum right beside Kabila where a lot of people are milling about, its no question that this is right smack in the middle of Ayala Center itself. A priced real estate, I didn't need to bother asking Ms Michele Magtoto of the price they had to pay for store rights, she can't disclose them anyway.

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