Fw: Taal Volcano # 2

We arrived safe, sound, and only slightly damp from our banca trip to find a rather dusty, makeshift, but bustling little ranch with lots of mini-horses and some adorable small foals. The man in charge pointed at me and then at a mini-horse and said get on. The mounting block was made of empty talapia fish food pellet bags filled with sand. I got on "Gabi" the mini-horse and put my feet in the stirrups. My knees made a 90 degree angle, which if you ride, you know is not good. Stirrup way too short. But since the stirrups consisted of two small metal stirrups tide on either end of a rope, there was no way to adjust them. No helmet, no reins, awful stirrups and guides ready to run: I had my doubts. I don't know boats, but I do know riding. In my younger days I would have loved this all, but now I believe it's possible to break parts of yourself falling from even a mini-horse.

Sad but true, this is how I started my trek up to the volcano being led by a barefoot kid while I rode a tiny horse. The saddle had pretend stirrups that made me ride with my knees bent way too much for good balance. The saddle horn was way too tiny to use for balance. I had no reins and the makeshift halter was held by this kid who just wanted to GO! My poor young guide had actually gotten onto another pony and was set to speed off leading me after him. I yelled, WALK! So he did; he got off and walked which I hadn’t meant at all. Actually it really wasn’t such a bad walk, but I did keep asking if he wanted to ride on back since his and my weight were less than lots of other pairs. But he refused. (On the way down he did ride with me!)

Since I felt a little too unbalanced to risk unearthing my camera from by backpack while riding, this is the best photo to show our route from the boat to the volcano. We came from the shore and followed the path in the center of the photo. A small observation tower is off to Carol's left.

This is the center lake with the volcano around it and Lake Taal in the background. I am wearing my Red Sox B hat. C.C.

You could see steam coming up from the volcano.

Some views from the top. It was quite lovely; not so easy to capture without a wide angle lens.

Walking along the ridge of the center volcano. C.C.

Rain shower off in the distance.

Convenient CR (comfort room.) Cost 20 pesos. Usually it’s 1 pesos.

Next email, the trip down.

Ruth Johnson Doramac

Lake Taal: Part 1

You can see the rim of the original vocano with the lake inside and the volcano within the lake, with a lake inside! Like a Matruska doll.



The green line is our banca ride across the lake and the red line is the pony trek to the volcano. These photos are from Wikipedia.

This was a fun trip on the spur of the moment; little advance planning, just all adventure to see what we could see. Carol, her driver Michael, Randal and I left Makati about 9 am and drove the 50 or so miles to Talisay, a small resort town that offers access across Lake Taal to the inner volcano. It took almost 3 hours in the Sturday traffic, winding mountain roads, and a slight goose chase to find the best (reliable, banca won't sink and we all drown in the lake) resort to find lunch and hire our banca. When you get to the main lake road in Talisay, you are met by bunches of men waving signs hawking their boat services. We finally settled on these guys and followed them wherever the led us; at times back and forth and back and forth along the main road till we said, "Stop, we'll eat at the first place."

Our "guides"

I can't really tell you much about our resort. Its name started with K and there is a large wooden fish over the entrance.

Carol and Randal look at the lunch menu.
We shared barbecued pork and rice for 5, though the 4 of us managed to eat it all. Pretty good too.


The resort had a fish cage where they raised talapia. You can see across Lake Taal to the inner volcano area. The large mound on the left is an extinct volcano. It looks a long way across, but it only took about 15 minutes to get there. It felt quite safe; the lake was quite calm.

A typical banca. It held the 4 of us and 3 banca boat men. (They're small.)


Randal and Carol.
Michael and I are in front.

View from the banca. C. C.


Not so pretty. This was the little ranch area where we got our ponies for the ride to the volcano. We took a few photos at the end of the ride when we had more time. I'll show you later. The ride was an experience, right up there with my pony ride in China when Sallie rode the "zebra."

Next stop the top!

Ruth Johnson
DoraMac
#end

Manila Day 1, Mostly

Monday April 28th.

Last Thursday morning we took the "express "bus from Olongapo to Manila. The bus stopped 22 times along the way; Randal counted. Two official stops and 20 unofficial stops to let folks on and off along the way.

We had the front row seat. The man standing in front near the window was the ticket taker.

You can see why it takes 4 hours to get to Manila. Lots of traffic out of Olongapo and then insane traffic in Manila. They showed a movie, Deja Vu with Denziel Washington. Totally implausible plot, but it was quite entertaining and made the time pass quickly.

At some of the stops men came on board selling snacks.

These are pork rinds. Randal actually bought some once. They come with a dipping sauce.

When we arrived in Manila we were met by Michael who drives for Carol. You met Carol during our Samat adventure. It was wonderful to have Michael drive us since he knows Manila and Makati and we don't. Our first stop was to the HSBC Bank. HSBC stands for Hong Kong Shanghai Bank Corporation. When we opened our account in Hong Kong, I asked if our money was insured. The answer was no, but since they were one of the biggest banks in the whole world, we need not worry. Well I can think of other words HSBC stands for, but nothing I can write here. Randal's ATM card was wearing out and he had applied for a new card. Because he didn't include his middle name, the Hong Kong Bank wouldn't send the card. The HSBC Philippine banks say they can't help because we opened our account in Hong Kong. So?! HSBC is HSBC, NO? And his worn out card wouldn't work at this ATM. Not a good start for our trip.

Anyway, after that failure we moved on to our next stop, Santis. The chef at Aresi in Subic had sent us there to buy a blender that would chop ice. Michael drove us to Santis. Lots of wonderful foods and spices and wine and everything you might want if your goal was not to buy a blender. But it was a blender we wanted and blenders was what Santis didn't have. We give up for now.

Next stop was Carol's place to dump our stuff. Luckily on our way there we noticed an HSBC branch at the Power Plant Mall. Power Plant Mall is walkable from Carol's place. Luckily the ATM card worked with no problem.

Cash in hand we strolled through the Mall looking for shoes for Randal. That was one of the "must buys" on our list. His old shoes were falling apart.

We opted not to try this and went off to Power Books to browse. We bought a Lonely Planet travel guide to Southeast Asia since it included lots of our future stops.

Later on that evening a view of the Pasig River that is the northern border of Makati.

Makati is part of greater Manila. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasig_River Pretty interesting article about the river which divides Manila in half.

Morning view.

A small, local ferry runs back and forth across the river. Carol said at one point the river was clogged with water plants but it has been cleaned out. A larger fast speed ferry goes along the river's length. I just read that it costs about 45 pesos and is air conditioned and has a bar. It saves travelers from taking a combination of buses and jeepneys to get to their destinations.

Friday night we went to Fort Bonifacio for dinner. You saw the photo of Clawdaddy and the Patriots and Red Sox banners. But you didn't see who we met while strolling along the shopping area after dinner.

Elvis may have left the building, but he is presently standing here in Fort Bonifacio, Makati.

Randal is wearing his Mt. Samat hat and the shirt he had made in Olongapo. One of his favorite shirts had been used as a pattern.

ps I sent this as an email post and the photos didn't show up so now I am re-editing it. It is hard to get just right. I truly may have to read the directions. Till then, the layout might be odd, but the photos should be labeled correctly.

Ruth Johnson

DoraMac

A few photos from Manila

Just a few random photos from our trip to Manila until I sort through the hundreds I took.

Clawdaddy Restaurant

Fort Bonifacio is a great little shopping and restaurant area in Makati. The owner of Clawdaddy was a fan of Boston sports teams, at least the Sox and Patriots. Patriots banner, Red Sox banner and photos of Ted Williams!! I felt completely at home.

Our waiter took this photo.

Yup, got on a pony again! Thought I would never get on again

after my crazy ride in China. My sidekick is riding on back.

This was part of our trip to the Taal Volcano. C.C.

Sunset up in the Tagaytay Highlands. C.C.

Lots of stories and loads more photos. This will have to do till I get it all done.

If you search for Lake Taal Volcano in the Philippines you can read about it, quite interesting.

Ruth Johnson

DoraMac

Off to Manila

Hi Everyone,

  Unless plans change, Randal and I are off to Manila tomorrow to visit our friend Carol and to do a last round of chores that can only be done in Manila; like buying Randal shoes that actually fit and a blender that really chops ice and doesn't destroy itself in the process. Thanks to the Chef/Owner of Aresi Cafe we have the name of a restaurant supply store in Makati so there is hope.   I am looking for a slow cooker, though they are available here too, so that's less important.  But I do need new bike pedals; mine are beyond repair. 

  We will go Thursday and plan to return Sunday.  That will give us time to do chores Thursday and Friday and go seeing sites with Carol on Saturday.  We would like to stay and visit with Carol longer, but too many boat chores. 

  If you haven't yet noticed, it is baseball season.  I have been refraining from posting daily Red Sox scores on my email.  I figure, if you care, you already know, if you don't care, you don't want to know, and if you are a Yankee fan, you hate knowing.  So unless there is a really huge reason to write about the Sox, I'll just keep it to myself.  I'll just say that my new little red (Red Sox) ring  and red bangle seem to be bringing them luck. That and digging up Big Papi's shirt from under the new Yankee Stadium.

 

Ruth Johnson

Doramac

Aerial View Subic Bay Yacht Club

We are actually next to the slip with the plus. I walked down the dock and counted spaces today. DoraMac must be out on a trip to Silanguin since our space is empty.

You can see the swimming pool at the club and I have actually been using it lately. Catherine and Rob Coulson, who are in the next slip on Bob-the-Boat, are swimmers. I have been going with Catherine late in the afternoon. Next to Cat and Rob are Dave and Dorothy on DavidEllis. Across from B-T-B. are Nick and Zaida. On the other side of the + are JR and Heidi. I have mentioned all of these folks and now you know where they live. Dave and Jamie Fritsch were on the other side of Dave and Dorothy, but Dave Fritsch is on his way to Hawaii and Jamie is in Connecticut waiting to rejoin Dave there.

This was my first attempt to use paint and add text and lines. It was a battle to get the photo the correct size and the text and line done. Time to read the help section on paint and then practice. Wish I could take a class in Paint at the Roanoke County Public Library! I'm sure one of my former co-workers could teach me in way less time than it will take me to teach myself. I am doing battle with blogspot just now too. This is my fifth or so attempt to post this.

Ruth Johnson

DoraMac

Drain Gunk

Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 6:38 PM
Subject: Gunk

Gunk is how I labeled the photos I took, so I guess it's as good a name for this email. The sink in our rear head was draining slowly so I decided to clean it out. The same things that are living under the boat seem to make their way up pipes too. Yuck. Before I had thought about a photo, I had scraped the thing clean and trashed the trash. But then I decided to clean the trap under the sink too. Same gunk. Yuck. I did take a photo of that. You might not want to read this email if you are eating. And my sister says this is way too much information!!

Looks like a creature from a really bad horror movie

This is the drain trap.....supposedly to keep yuck from going down the drain. Seems to me it is keeping gunk from coming up the drain.

Ruth Johnson

Doramac