Peninsula Mountaineers in Mt. Talamitam

The 18th day of November brought me to my 3rd summit on 3 consecutive weekends. This time, its another tree planting hike on Mt. Talamitam with the newly-formed Peninsula Mountaineers. Our group is composed of 20 veteran and newbie hikers, who share the passion of enjoying the outdoors and doing community service as well.

We left Peninsula Manila by 4:00 am, arriving at Barangay Aga in Nasugbu, Batangas by 6:00 am. The leader of the guides in the area, Mr. Ted Calimag, joined our pre-climb briefing after we arranged our registration fee, guides, and tree seedlings. The local white dog in the area (I forgot his name) also joined our hike, because we give him food from time to time, hehe.

Dayhike of Mt. Cristobal in Dolores, Quezon

A week after a very short hike in Tayak Hill, our AKAC Group or Abot Kamay Adventure Club, went to climb Mt. Cristobal via the trail in Dolores, Quezon. Seven of us met at San Pablo City by 6:00 am, where we’ve had our breakfast, before proceeding at the public market. We chartered a jeepney at Php 1,200 for a round trip travel to and from our jump off point.

We registered first at a barangay official’s house in Santa Lucia, before the jeepney driver took us to the last point of the unslippery cemented road. Donation is optional, and we gave Php 20/head. We arranged our gears, did our stretchings, and said our prayers at the jump off point, while local residents are cleaning and packing their harvested radish and sayote.

Christmas Light Show in Ayala Triangle Makati

Last Sunday, I took my family on a side trip to Makati, for them to experience the light & sound show at the Ayala Triangle. The photos below offer a glimpse of what we've seen, but nothing beats being there in person.

The nightly show starts at 6:00 pm every 30 minutes, and ends at 9:00 pm until 30 December 2012. The million LED lights goes on and off, in sync with the tune of Filipino Christmas songs, on instrumental mode.

Short Hike to Tayak Hill in Rizal, Laguna

From Nagcarlan, we retraced our route back to the little-known town of Rizal in Laguna, before reaching San Pablo. We turned left on a small road opposite the Rizal Elementary School, for about 20-minute drive to Tayak Hill's chapel.

The road is approximately 90% cemented but narrow on some parts, so it will be hard to maneuver when two vehicles meet on such parts. It became very steep as we get near the hilltop, so its important that the vehicle is in good shape. There is wide parking space, a variety store, and new toilet facility at the jump off point. The tarpaulin poster below greets the visitors, with the photos of politicians who I assumed developed the place.