Blogs from Taal, Batangas, Philippines, Asia
May 25th 2012
Taal Lake was once just an arm of Balayan Bay. However, after a series of major eruptions in the 18th century, Taal Lake's sole connection to the sea narrowed down into its sole draining river, the Pansipit River. Several centuries of precipitation have diluted the lake's once saline watersinto freshwater. Eruptions has also buried numerous lakeside towns by volcanic ash and submerged by rising lake waters. Lipa, Taal, Sala, Bauan and Tanauan were formerly located along Taal Lake. Presently, only three towns are on the lake's shore. Remnants of the old lakeside towns like buildings and walls are reported to be seen under the lake's waters.... read more
Dressing Up in the Philippines, Circa 18th Century
Published: October 10th 2011Asia » Philippines » Batangas » Taal
October 11th 2011
The Filipino men dress up in Barong Tagalog especially for formal occasions. The translucent fabric used is either Jusi which is our local silk equivalent or pina cloth from handloomed pineapple leaf fibers. It has a front opening with some embroidery, and was originally colourless. Of late, modern barong tagalogs come in different hues. As worn, the barong tagalog is never tucked into one's pants. It is a light dress shirt typically worn to weddings, funerals and other formal affairs. A slightly less formal Filipino attire is the Polo Barong which is usually short-sleeved and made of cotton, linen or ramie materials. Many offices in the Philippines have prescribed the Polo Barong as uniforms for its male employees. The barong tagalog preceded the advent of Spanish colonization. Tagalog is actually a dialect from a reg... read more
Taal, Batangas : Of Heirloom Houses and Patriots
Published: September 28th 2011Asia » Philippines » Batangas » Taal
September 17th 2011
There is the heritage town of Vigan in Ilocos Sur. And there's the heirloom houses in Silay City in Negros Occidental. Both are an hour's away from Manila. By plane. Yet just 2 hours drive south from Manila lies this heritage town of Taal, Batangas. A colonial town "frozen in time", an open museum providing a glimpse not just of how it was back in the 19th century, but of how many of our patriots lived during the Spanish occupation and through the Revolution. Declared a heritage village by the National Historical Institute, a walking tour of Taal, Batangas is certainly worth a day trip. A Pilgrimage? Having started with visits of the Taal Basilica (St. Martin de Tours Basilica), the Caysasay Shrine and the Sacred Well of Santa Lucia, this trip may well be a ... read more
May 16th 2011
Last night, Stephen and I moved to my Uncle Ferdie's home for the next week. His home is just 15 minutes from my aunt's house in Ayala Alabang. This morning, Stephen and I woke up early to take our daily walk around his neighborhood. After our morning breakfast made by their staff, my family and I headed to Batangas, a region of the Philippines where the world's smallest volcano resides. Taal volcano is a living "active" volcano that is located in the resort town of Tagaytay. We had lunch at Josephine's Restaurant and ate so much yummy authentic Filipino dishes. After lunch, we drove to Monte Maria where Father Suraez is currently builing a shrine for Mother Mary. Fr. Suarez is a Filipino Catholic priest who has performed faith healing in the Philippines and all over ... read more
June 22nd 2010
Filippijnen Vanaf Aquino International Airport ontmoeten we onze gastheer voor de komende dagen, ome Leo Merkx (mam’s broer). Na een,wat lijkt, dodemansrit door de drukke straten van Manila in de avond bereiken we San Roque Beach Resort in Buco Talisay waar tante Lita ons opwacht met een lekker koud biertje. De volgende ochtend blijkt pas in welk een prachtige omgeving we terecht zijn gekomen. Het Taal (spreek uit Ta~al) meer met daarin het eiland met de Taal Vulcano. Er zijn er eigenlijk een stuk of 36 bij elkaar maar er is er maar 1 echt zichtbaar!) ’s Morgens gaan we het meer zo’n 600 meter hoger bekijken en dat is een spectaculair uitzicht. ’s Middags neemt Dong Hot, een zoon van Lita, ons met zijn rondvaartboot (nou ja…) mee om rondom het eiland te varen. De ... read more
AN ISLAND WITHIN A LAKE ON AN ISLAND WITHIN A LAKE ON AN ISLAND
Published: January 6th 2010Asia » Philippines » Batangas » Taal
December 21st 2009
Alain a French dude staying in the same dorm as I am got up early and woke me up around past 7am, he did not get enough sleep and was feeling icky because the a/c was bothering him, I had a bit of a sore throat and I blame the a/c as well. Regardless we want to make this a great day so we got ready to leave. It was a bit overcast but not raining, we hope the weather in Taal holds. We took a cab to Jam transit line at Gil Puyat St., traffic was already starting to get bad, at the station we quickly found a bus that goes to Tanauan, we hopped on then I decided to find food, I got 2 siopao for breakfast, I got confused and went a different ... read more
September 9th 2009
Taal Lake is a freshwater lake in the province of Batangas, on the island of Luzon, Philippines. The lake is situated within a caldera formed by very large eruptions between 500,000 and 100,000 years ago. It is the country's third largest lake (the largest being Laguna de Bay). The active Taal Volcano, which is the one responsible for the lake's sulfuric content, lies on an island in the center of the lake, called Volcano Island. The island is called pulo or islet by the locals. In addition, there is a crater lake on Volcano Island, which is in Lake Taal, which in turn is on Luzon (an island). That crater lake is the world's largest lake on an island in a lake on an island. It is located in the City of Tagaytay…the third class city ... read more
August 21st 2009
It was a fun-filled morning @ Lago De Oro! I enjoyed kneeboarding a lot! I'll go back definitely and this time, I'll try wakeboarding (kneeboarding is for beginners).... read more
April 10th 2009
May 3 to May 4, 2008 Outing with TMC officemates. It was FUN!!! Thanks to Ms. Joni Ang for organizing this trip and even preparing the food for all of us. ;) Shercon resort is like a "resort" inside a big forest. It is very relaxing as you can hear only the sounds of water and crickets at night. It was a great experience and bonding with good people. ;)... read more
A Journey To The Crater Of Taal Volcano
Published: March 12th 2008Asia » Philippines » Batangas » Taal
March 12th 2008
Its was mid-afternoon already when we hiked to the crater of Taal Volcano in Tagaytay yesterday. The sun was up and it was so hot. We took a boat to bring us to the volcano, then hiked for about 4.5 kilometers by riding in a horse because walking is not a good idea, the road is not goor yet. While travelling, you can smell sulfur and can see some part of the mountain with smoke coming out from the ground. When we get to the top and have seen the crater of the volcano, its a very beautiful place, nice view and can really appreciate the beauty of the nature, though the volcano is one of the most active volcano in the Philippines, the beauty that it holds cannot be paid by any amount that anyone ... read more
