Taal - the great Filipino Con Job. - Jan 7 Given we're staying on the side of Taal's original volcano - I figured we should probably get a closer look at this icon so we loaded the car (Nissan Urvan) to capacity again and headed off, up over the edge of the caldera and down to the lake. All of the kids were still knackered from the Pinatubo trek, so we were to book only a single boat to the inner volcano. When Arthur mentioned that there was the option to ride a horse to the summit and back, suddenly ALL the kids got fired up and wanted to come along. So we hired TWO boats and half a dozen horses for the trip - the blokes decided to do the trek on foot. The CON ... read more

The trip started with 4x4 drive to a base station. Not Mazda Tribute drive to Wheatsheaf, but a bone jarring, butter churning experience that nearly caused an eruption of my own which would not have been pleasant for anyone complete with sulphurous gases, albeit hydrogen sulphide not sulphur dioxide as one might expect wth a volcanic eruption. I did get a sense though of what 4x4 enthusiasts get out of the 'sport' - by the return trip though - I was completely over it. The first thing that struck me was the terrain - almost lunar if you ignore the luh tropical growth at the top. The amount of lahar that reamins after the lasst eruption (1991 I think) is truly amazing. Having said that - I was told that it's a common misconception that a ... read more

So,..... yesterday, after 7hrs and 7000 km on a plane followed by 7 days sitting around in a small room watching downloaded videos, we're on the move. Spent most of the day in the car travelng North along the MacArthur highway from Tagaytay to Illocos and a small historical town called Vigan. I thought it might be worth seeing after seeing a feature on in back home on a cooking show (Island Feast). Any travel blog or travelouge will tell you it's an old Spanish Town with cobbled streets and Spanish Architecture. Turns out it's only one street, but WHAT A STREET!!! At the risk of sounding just a little cliched, it's a little like walking through a time warp - except for the foreign tourists, souvenir vendors, cameras and motorised traffic crossing at every intersection. ... read more

Not much to say at this stage as we haven't really done that much. ;;'re staying in Apiad near Tagaytay City.My turn to cook last night so I did the old garlic honey ansd soy marinade for chicken wings and then played with some of the local produce. Made a salad of julienned green mango and white radish with rice vermicilli and a dressing of bagoong paste cocnut vinegar and kalamansi juice.... read more

Ahhhh espresso coffee. Vegemite on toast. Some things simply can't be replaced. You've guessed it folks we're back home and the trip is over. It's been fun and it's been fun having you come along for the ride. Thought I'd leave you with this parting pic of street life in the Philippines. 'Til next time - it good bye from me. . . . and it's good bye from him. ... read more