this is our green room. we slept very tight and didn't want to get up. i woke up and got ready while p'tang was still curling lazily in bed. yesterday was a long hopping day and we deserved a long night sleep.. as ever, after i got ready, she hopped in the shower next and then we got ready for breakfast..
..good morning tagaytay.. it was simple breakfast with rice, sausage, fried egg and tea or coffee..
..when everyone was ready, we walked down to the breakfast area to enjoy our morning feast..
today, we were heading to taal volcano to see its active crater. taal is in tagaytay 70 kms south from manila. taal volcano, it was said to be one of the world's smallest but deadliest volcanoes.
..group shoot before leaving..
this is where we stayed and that is our transport from yesterday and today..
after everyone was ready, 5 of us hopped into the tricycle (including the driver). venus and cindy sat next to the driver, while p'tang and i sat inside that tiny compartment..
the ride took about 45 mins. along the way we stopped to take pictures at some viewpoints..
overthere is taal volcano and near the shore are lines of fishing traps. we needed to ride a spider boat from the fishing village to taal.. the boat ride took 15 mins.
finally, i had a chance to see and ride these spider boats. i had seen them in travel magazine for a long time.. and my dream came true now.. ;]
you will see we jump everyday at different places. don't get bored! ;]
we rode the spider boat in the lake from the fishing village for 15 minutes. in the centre of the lake is an island (with another fishing village) on which stands taal volcano. the lake was once an enclosed bay on the coast but series of eruptions in 18th century sealed the entrance and turned it into a lake. the last biggest eruption took place in 1911.
Taal Volcano :
..in night time it can be a bit cool but in day time, it was hot and dusty..
we could ride a horse if we wanted.
..but we wanted to walk. look! how dusty it was..
..not half way yet, p'tang looked pitily desperate..
..lucky me, my red converse didn't bite me..
the sun, beaming stronger, started to go up straight our heads as we were walking up the escalating hill.
the view looked like scenes in a cowboy movie; dry and deserted.
looking backward, i saw the sky was even wider and neverending. the clouds were fat, fluffy and greyish white.
..venus was a cowgirl who never gave in to horse riding-temptation..
while p'tang and cindy switched riding a horse, we walked our way up to the tip of the crater.
took a break and sipped (sucked) coconut juice
while p'tang was heading up, riding a horse like a queen, venus, cindy and i stopped for jump photos.
one last flight of stairs
p'tang moaned while we were struggling to get up to the tip of the crater that she would take 100 of photos when she finally got there and she kept asking me 'what do you bring me to see??'
..and here was what we saw, the active crater. surely, we couldn't see it in Thailand..
yay!! eventually, we got there!!
after the sweats were wiped away by the lazy breeze, we walked to another hill nearby.
..and then it was time to walk back..
look at those dusty shoes. they presented our long sweaty walking morning.. ;]
2 fugitives from 2 countries.
it took us just 15 mins to walk down the gray dusty trail. then we hopped into the boat and rode it back to the other side..
then, we rode the same tricycle to tagaytay to take a shower and check out at the hotel.
..Miss Philppines holding a pineapple and riding a unique tricycle..
a fish tank at the hotel
this morning, we checked out my room and kept venus' room, the pink one.
can you believe that she carried an iron with her while hopping around with us?? it was what i kept teasing her that day.. okay, nurse, you have to look neat at all times!!!
time to say good bye to tagaytay and headed to pinic grove
Picnic Grove :
the picnic grove was not too far from the hotel, so we walked. but the heavy bag truly made the stride longerrrrrrr.
..inside picnic grove, we looked for a restaurant to have lunch and then walked around..
..before we tried ziplining..
it'd been a long time that i'd scream my lung out and this was a good chance to do so. after p'tang and i were released to fly along the sling we started to work out every ounce of our lungs.. it was excitedly fun!!
first ride, we went lying down together like this and the return ride we sat in pair to have a different kind of experience like cindy and venus did.
p'tang, i managed to blindly capture this picture while we were riding back
feet above treetop
leaving picnic grove, we hailed another tricycle to a minibus stand and headed for calamba in laguna. the ride took one long nap to get into a busy town (which i forgot to ask for the name)..
we got off the minibus in front of a mall and fixed our long dinner at julibee inside the mall. after dinner, p'tang and i sat waiting for venus and cindy who disappeared into the crowded supermarket to buy our food supplies for the next day trip. they'd gone shopping so long that we thought they abandoned us in the middle of nowhere.. lastly, they showed up with 4 big bags of chips and snacks.. i knew i was going to end up gaining few more kilos after the trip ended.
then, we walked out the mall and hailed another tricycle to the hotel. it was dark and bustling outside. jeepney and tricycle drivers were calling out for customers in front of the mall..
Laguna :
after settling with the price of the room, we checked in at Jovita Resort. p'tang and i chose normal room, while cindy and venus picked the room with a jacuzzi tub bc this hotel was famous for hot spring. getting into thier room, i walked into the bathroom looking for a jacuzzi tub but didn't see any. and i told them 'there is no jacuzzi tub!' we saw it from the bed but couldn't find a way to get into it. looking closer, it appeared that we could walk into it from the bed and there was no transparent glass as i thought! the tub was just open and bare letting another partner see the activity you are doing while soaking in that tub.. gosh! it was just for lovers!! we cracked up after finding out this.. we kept laughing so hard..
..and this is my normal room..
good night everyone!
