Last Labor day holiday, I accompanied my friend for a day trip to Liliw, Laguna for her “slippers fix”. Liliw is the slipper capital of Laguna province. My friend went there last year and apparently, she plans to go there every year for her stock of slippers. She liked the slippers because they are a lot cheaper to buy from there and made of natural “cogon” materials. Cogon is dried up leaves of a certain tree I think. Anyway, the material is very breathable and durable. It’s perfect for the summer months. Anyway, locals here wear slippers to go anywhere! So I tagged along for the trip.

We took SLEX all the way to the end exit at Calamba, headed towards Sta. Cruz on the main road. We turned right when we saw a Jollibee before Pagsanjan. You can also take the other route, instead of Sta. Cruz, take San Juan. You can ask the friendly people there for directions “yung may mga tsinelas” (literal translation is “where the slippers are”) hehe… the whole trip took about 3.5 hrs. They’re still doing road expansion on SLEX which caused much of the delay.

Finally we arrived! It was drizzling so we hopped from one shop to another. I was surprised to see the place so festive, to think that the place isn’t a tourist spot. Only when we walked around a bit did I learn that it’s still their Tsinelas Festival! I’ve heard of the festival but didn’t realize that it lasted a week or so. What a treat! The place was really decked up with Tsinelas big and small!

 We had the chance to see the huge Tsinelas float as well as the band with the local kids with tsinelas outfits (from their headgear to their feet!)

1 of the 2 tsinelas float

Newly painted Liliw city hall

My camera battery died so I had to take this picture with my cam phone. See the kids with golden tsinelas on their heads too? Towards the back you can see the 2nd giant tsinelas float.

I’ll share more of my pictures of the place in the coming days.

Woohoo! I got chosen as Sanriotown blog of the week!  Many thanks to the people of sanriotown and thanks too for the great write up!

 Stay tuned to read up about my shopping trip to Liliw, Laguna which also happened to be on the weekend of the Tsinelas (Slippers) Festival. Yup yup! There is such a festival!

The news of the latest volcano eruption in Chile reminded me of Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption about 10 years ago. I recall that I was at home and wondered why our floor was so dirty. Only when I switched on the TV did I find out that Mt. Pinatubo had erupted.

Although I just recently enjoyed a leisurely trip to the crater of Mt. Pinatubo, I do recall the pain and anguish of those people who had to evacuate their homes at the foot and nearby areas of the volcano… especially those who had their homes and loved ones, washed away or buried by the ash (lahar).
Although we can only help and empathize with them now, it helps to remember that this too shall pass…

Chile volcano eruption

The strong winds had blown ash from the volcano to the nearby city

Photos were taken from BBC and guardian.co.uk

I found this cool picture of the street art by local artist Edgar Talusan-Fernandez and Neil Doloricon on Ayala Avenue in Makati for the 338th founding anniversary of the city.

Photo and news from inquirer.net

Last Holy week weekend, I also had the opportunity to finally climb Mt. Pinatubo. Mt. Pinatubo is located at the intersection of the borders of Tarlac, Zambales and Pampanga. You may know it because of the disastrous effects of it’s last eruption June of 1991, which caused several towns to be buried under lahar. The areas around the mountain have recently been re-utilized and re-developed for tourism purposes with hopes of bringing more jobs and awareness to the area.

Picture taken from NASA website.

Leaving manila at 4AM and arriving at Sta. Ines was more pleasant than I initially thought.

Daybreak crossing a bridge with lahar across Sta. Ines

The 4×4 ride was FUUUNNN!! Kuya Alex (our kind and skillful 4×4 driver) maneuvered through the rough roads and dips and climbs of the small rivers with our guide seated on the front hood.

The hike to the crater proved longer than i initially thought (3-4 hrs each way!), but it was well worth it! There were some trees and greens along the way and the streams provided cooling for our warm feet. I love the clouds over the crest (?) of the crater though I was not able to fully capture it with my pictures. The dip on the lake in the crater made my skin and white shirt little yellow but it was interesting to dip in that sulfuric lake. (I hope it helps eliminate pimples too! hehe!) Hope you enjoy the pics!

Lahar mountain - reminds me of Lord of the Ring’s Mordor

At the start of the hike

The peaceful lake in the crater or Mt. Pinatubo. Do you see those people on the beach below? I liked that the clouds were covering some portions of the peak.

The sky was clearing up a bit and I was able to get this cheerier picture above. You can also take a paddle boat tour of the lake (P500 to rent I think.)

One of my fav local show is I-witness and I especially like the Side Trip segments of Howie Severino. This time, he went to the Cordilleras (taking a long jeepney ride, biking and hiking) to catch a glimpse of the wild horses on what they call the Marlboro country.

There are only 5 wild horses left in that area now, lead by a black thoroughbred. For some reason, they were being hunted down for their meat. I was looking for the close-up shots of the elusive horses shown on TV, but these are the only pictures I found online (copyright issues probably). Up close, they look tough, muscular and really majestic. I wish to go to the Cordillera area some day… though I may have to do it soon! These tired bones may not hold up top-loading on a jeepney and hiking up those trails. haha!

Here are some of the pictures taken from Howie’s blog entry and JJ Villamin’s (director) multiply site. Enjoy!

Although this entry is a bit late, I just wanted to share with you some of the photos I took of T house in Tagaytay. I had the chance to stay at the T House last Holy week. The place was quiet and the stay relaxing. I like the layout of the place as well as the architecture. The interior (rooms) were well designed as well. A mix of simple Japanese zen-type design, mixed with homey comfort. Here are some of the photos. Hope you enjoy the pics!

reception area

T House dining and kitchen area

Open area and rooms

Complimentary tea served just before bed (it tasted like Taragon)

blurry night shot of the lights and exterior decorations

Update: I forgot to post the links last time, here is T house’s website. You can also find the detailed map there.

Here are some more fun photos I took at Anawangin!

Pine trees at Anawangin

mama Hen

I hope I didn’t bore you with too many photos. Let me know what you think!

I tried to play around with the black and white feature of my cam and here are some of the photos. Enjoy!

Yay for more women runners! I was glad to see the picture of the publisher of Inquirer Sunday on the front page of this morning’s Inquirer newspaper. She was running and carrying the torch during the 94KM relay run on Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway last Sunday. t always encourages and comforts me to see other women runners. I recall on the last Mizuno race I joined, I saw Sen. Pia Cayetano as we were running towards the finish line. I think she joined the 15k while I ran the 10k. Anyway, I thought this was a great picture but unfortunately, I can’t find a clearer and bigger picture to post here.

Looking at the main headline though is the alarming news that Meralco (electric company) increases their rates! Brings me back to my previous entry about biking or running to work. Maybe the newspaper is subliminally suggesting this.

Last night, I stopped by the gas station and I told the guy to load up Php 1,800 worth of unleaded gas and this is what I saw on my gas meter!

Take a closer look…

It’s not even a full tank!!