went to manila bay and tagaytay again last thursday to tour some professors from the university of limoges in france. this time around i went with some colleagues from UP. we each took turns doing the tour guide bit, describing places and telling stories about filipinos. i found it funny that filipinos who tour foreigners around say almost the SAME things when explaining the tourist spots, what historical events have happened, and interesting things about filipino culture. it's good that our explanations were consistent... unahan na lang sa pagsabi na UST ang oldest school, na may black nazarene sa quiapo, na prostitution alley data ang baywalk, etc. 
taal's volcano, lake, and city as seen from taal vista lodge, tagaytay. the view is free but parking isn't.
another resto discovered by yours truly (with the help of UP friends)... this has been here for a long time na. yeah well, better late than never. this is breakfast at antonio's in tagaytay. the menu is a bit similar to heaven and eggs but the ambiance is anything but. the view of the volcano here is better than most, not like taal vista, but good enough. the prices however may be a bit constraining for some.
doing the tourist guide bit again... in breakfast at antonio's tagaytay with dave, cleo, jude and our visitors from the university of limoges (france), emmanuelle and guiseppe. they gave a seminar on finance for a UP-European Commission joint research project.
my cousin kuya chris came back to the philippines last week to lead worship with the parkcrest worship team at the convention in tagaytay. it definitely was a homecoming of sorts for him, although he had only around a week to spend here. we barely saw each other in tagaytay. it was only last monday until wednesday that we had time to spend together. in the short span of three days, however, we were able to go to pagsanjan and metro manila, as well as do some shopping for pasalubong and some visits to family and friends.
we're here with our tito poly and his wife, tita clara, just before kuya chris went to the airport to catch the plane back to LA wednesday night. tito poly leads the cruzada church choir and is the eldest living sibling of my dad (who is the youngest of six) and kuya chris' mom (who is the fourth). tito poly's daughter, ate christie, taught the both of us how to sing from as early as when we were in kindergarten.
with kuya chris and the ulangcas in kuya noel's house in LA in april last year. it was soooo nice to be with family again after a long time of living amongst strangers in france.
ang taray na pala ng virra mall, este, VMALL, ngayon. ang promdi ko pero ngayon ko lang nakita to ulit. couldn't believe my eyes. the crowded arena for cellphone-haggling has been replaced with spacious, shangrilamall-like, areas and shops like a different bookstore and u2. sosi.
chrizelle in her usual state of being... joke lang, pero tutoo yan. ask any PT member. mwehehe.
kuya chris and sofia in promenade, greenhills. sofia is the daughter of ate neri, kuya chris' kinakapatid. she's sooooo cute, and definitely a star in the making.
with lynn, hazel, kuya chris, paolo (lynn's bro), and chrizelle.
with chrizelle, lynn and hazel at starbucks theatre mall, greenhills. lynn is also kuya chris' cousin on the ulangca side... i'm his cousin on the alava side. sisters chrizelle and hazel are close friends of our families.
pagsanjan river
hanggang sa ilog traffic pa din.
typical elements found along the pagsanjan river... kids. salbabidas. huts. "ikaw ang ms. universe ng buhay ko" on a videoke machine.
pagsanjan falls
pagsanjan falls... to jump in or not to jump in
parkcrest worship team from lakewood, ca
took almost an hour to get to this spot but it was definitely worth it.
i heard this was where they shot apocalypse now. hmmm... i don't know... but somehow i just can't imagine the godfather paddling through this river.
shown here with kuya chris and our backside boatman. my shirt, shorts and sandals gave me the weirdest tanlines ever.
definitely hard work but someone has to do it... there are two boatment to a boat
en route to the falls 
pagsanjan boatmen 
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