Here are some of the sights while climbing up the 2 hills to the camp site.

I took this shot while resting up the 1st hill.

We were walking on the edge of the hill on our left and this beautiful scene on our right.

We finally reached our camp beside the running river.

I went camping with some friends up Mt. Romelo, in Siniloan, Famy, Laguna Philippines. It’s about 3 hours away from Manila via public bus. Mt. Romelo is famous for the Buruwisan Falls and Batya Falls. Many people go there to camp, hike, rappelling and just to enjoy nature. We were fortunate enough to have very patient and accommodating friends who made my introduction to camping fun and enjoyable.

It had been raining the whole week before the climb and the paths were slippery and muddy. The whole climb up the 2 hills to the camp site took us a full 4 hours (usually takes just 2.5 hours) with a lot of slips and near falls. Nonetheless, it was fun and exciting. The whole climb up, you can’t help but marvel at the beauty of the place. I kept thinking to myself, “Why go abroad to hike Yosemite when I haven’t even explored the many sights of the Philippines!” The different shades of green was refreshing to the eyes and the cool waters of the river, invigorating!

Can you guess what they’re doing?

In the coming days, I’ll post up some more pictures from this trip. Enjoy!

I’ve heard of Ilustrado’s for so long and finally got the chance to visit and dine at this resto which is found in the walled city of Intramuros. Here are some photos I took that night.

Very nice ambiance and good food too! A must-visit if you plan to travel to the Philippines!

I must say, i was a bit hesitant to take this photo.. I might see someone peering out the window. haha! You’ll never know, with these old Spanish houses. *shivers*

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Some more photos of Manila Bay on a peaceful Sunday afternoon.

Here are some photos of Manila Bay at night…

The Manila Bay area used to be a popular place when I was growing up. As a child, my parents would bring me to that area to play in the grassy parks and enjoy the fresh air. I’ve recently had the chance to go there after almost 8-10 years! There were new areas set up where visitors can dine and enjoy the great ambiance. I happened to go there on a cloudy/rainy day and didn’t get the chance to take a nice sunset photo, of which the site is popular for. But I managed to get some cityscapes. Enjoy!

It’s been so gloomy lately here that I decided to look for some sunny photos and share them here with you.

This is a photo I took when I was in Palawan last July.

I saw this great photo of colorful hot air balloons from Eye Captain’s photo stream on flickr. Though I don’t personally know Eye Captain, I hope he does not mind my using his photos here. There are more sunny, happy photos there too.

It’s been a busy week for me and quite a struggle really because I haven’t been feeling well. I am looking forward to the weekend though I need to go to the office for a few hours on Saturday.

I’m thinking back to the time I was in Palawan (Philippines) and the beach.

Here are some of the pics I took. Enjoy and happy weekend!

Sunset by the beach

Crystal clear waters and soft sand

June 11, 2007

I had a great day trip to La Luz beach in San Juan, Batangas over the Philippine Independence day holiday. The drive to San Juan was about 3.5 hrs. Here are some of the photos I took that day. Enjoy!

I swam with some of the kids over to the raft about 20 meters away. They’e quite good swimmers but they didn’t want to let go of my hand! So it was more difficult to swim with just one hand and no fins! We hung around the raft for a while looking at the fish.

Here’s the picture of the treehouse where they conduct some of th scuba diving lessons.

I’ll try to share some more photos soon.

- Mikee

I went around the malls over the weekend and captured these colorful pictures.

This was taken at Powerplant Mall, a small mall with lots of nice shops like Zara, Topshop, Nine west, a huge bookstore (Fully Booked and a National bookstore soon), an excellent movie house setup and lots of restaurants and cafes. You can see some birds flying around eventhough it’s an airconditioned mall. I think they are trying to create an environment which brings in the freshness of the outdoors with the convenience (and comfort) of a modern establishment.

I also went to Greenhills to accomany a balikbayan (literally translates to “return country”) friend go shopping for south sea pearls. The prices there are relatively cheaper than buying from the US or Japan. I was feeling a bit dizzy after walking around the tiangge (little stalls) all selling pearls, swarovski crystal jewelry and other trinkets.

Can you guess how much this piece cost?? It’s south sea pearls, 10k gold trimmings with some red corals (i think)