Swimming in Tagaytay gives me a high

Picnic Hostel at the Picnic Grove in Tagaytay City

I went to Tagaytay last Thursday to get a good view of Taal Volcano and Taal Lake. That’s what the city is most famous for anyway. So I never thought that I would go swimming in Tagaytay on that day.

Swimming wasn’t part of the Tagaytay trip that I had originally planned. I didn’t even have a backpack – all I brought were my cellphone, ID card, ATM card, cash, Ziploc bag and two handkerchiefs. All of them fit in the pocket of my boardshorts.

Obscured view

It was quite unfortunate that it was foggy when I went to Tagaytay’s Palace in the Sky (now called People’s Park in the Sky), so I didn’t have a good view of Taal Volcano and Taal Lake from there.

I hoped that the view would be much better from the Picnic Grove. When I got there, however, the view wasn’t any better. I still hoped though that it would be less foggy later in the afternoon.

I thought of engaging in a fun activity while waiting for that better view. I didn’t feel like riding a zipline or a horse, that’s why I decided to take a dip in the swimming pool at Picnic Hostel. The entrance fee was 100 pesos.

Attire

Good thing I was wearing boardshorts – I already had the proper swimwear. I just removed stuff from my pocket. I also took off my underwear and tank top. I put all of them in the Ziploc bag, which I handed over to the hostel staff for safekeeping.

The deepest part of the adult pool was only five feet. The kiddie pool was obviously shallower.

I swam for almost an hour. After swimming, I stayed for a few minutes in the pool area to dry my boardshorts.

Dry

The adult pool (left) and the kiddie pool (right)

I dried my hair and skin with one of my two handkerchiefs because I didn’t have a towel. Since a hanky is much smaller than a towel, it took me some time to dry my hair and skin. I wanted the other hanky to remain dry.

I had to throw the wet hanky away because I didn’t want to put it back in my pocket and damage my stuff there, especially my cellphone.

After fixing myself, I headed back to the Picnic Grove area where I could get a good view of Taal Volcano and Taal Lake. Swimming in Tagaytay wasn’t part of my original plan, but I had fun doing it.

Tanjong Beach in Singapore offers solitude

I prefer a beach that’s not crowded, that’s why I like Tanjong Beach in Singapore’s Sentosa Island.

The relative isolation of Tanjong Beach and the lack of crowds there made me feel as if I was alone in paradise.

As the video shows, no one was swimming at the beach except me. It seemed the beach was mine!

But even if it looks rather isolated, it’s still as accessible as the other beaches in Sentosa.

That’s another good thing about Tanjong Beach. You need not spend hours and hours to get to a place where you can enjoy the sea and the sand, sans the noise of groups of beachgoers.

Palawan Beach in Singapore features the “Southernmost Point of Continental Asia”

Say “Palawan Beach” and the first thing that will immediately come to my mind is the so-called “Southernmost Point of Continental Asia.”

Palawan Beach in Singapore’s Sentosa Island is a fine beach, but when you’re there it’s hard to ignore the twin lookout towers in a much smaller island where the Southernmost Point of Continental Asia is situated.

In addition, the suspension bridge between the two islands seems to invite people to visit the smaller one.

You’d really like to know what it feels like to cross that bridge, climb a tower and enjoy the view from there.

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Siloso Beach in Singapore bristles with activities for visitors

Siloso Beach in Singapore’s Sentosa Island offers visitors more than just frolicking on the beach.

The presence of activity centers ensures that there’s something for practically all beachgoers.

Two of these Siloso Beach activity centers are MegaZip Adventure Park (flying fox ride) and Wave House Sentosa (surfing).

If I remember correctly, MegaZip was featured in The Amazing Race 16, while Wave House Sentosa was featured in The Amazing Race Asia 4.

I was happy to see people having fun while engaging in various activities. Siloso Beach is indeed for everyone.

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The three beaches in Sentosa, Singapore

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I like many things about Singapore, but it’s the easy access to beaches that I like the most.

HarbourFront is the MRT station closest to Sentosa

A beach is just minutes away from you because of the excellent transport system. It’s easy to get from any place in Singapore to a beach.

Since there are many beaches in the city-state, I’d like to talk about the ones that I’ve actually seen: the three beaches in Sentosa, an island off the southern coast of mainland Singapore.

In no particular order, these are Palawan Beach, Tanjong Beach and Siloso Beach.

Next month I will publish a series of short blog posts featuring every beach.

Remove unwanted picture items with Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop makes it so easy for me to delete what I think are unnecessary items from a picture.

The photo below is a good example:

Now you see him...

I want a picture that shows only the Vietnamese tour guide on the left and the young visitor on the right.

But there’s obviously another man in the picture. I don’t want him to be there. So what should be done?

The answer

With Adobe Photoshop, removing that man from the picture was as easy as one two three.

All I needed were the Quick Selection Tool and the Content-Aware feature.

Below is the finished product:

...now you don't

I like Adobe Photoshop.

Palace pictures are okay despite restrictions

It’s probably the most inaccessible landmark in Manila compared with other attractions in the city.

No, it’s not because the roads leading to that place are unpaved or something. After all, it’s in Manila, the premier city and capital of the Philippines. The roads are okay.

I consider it the most inaccessible landmark because of the strict security measures one has to go through to be allowed to step foot on it.

Yes, it’s the official residence of the President of the Philippines: Malacanang Palace.

Palace virgin

Last week I visited Malacanang for the first time.

Obviously, the presidential palace isn’t an ordinary place.

I think of it as the house of the Filipino people, the home of the person we choose to lead us.

And because it’s not just any other place, visitors can’t just wear anything that they want to wear. The minimum: semi-formal attire. Strictly no jeans!

I find the dress code okay, because it’s not very often that I get the chance to wear a necktie and not look overdressed.

At the Palace, neckties are an ordinary sight.

Restrictions

Since it’s the official residence of the most powerful person in the Philippines, my movements were restricted.

I couldn’t just go wherever I wanted to go.

I also couldn’t take pictures of everything. Some areas were off-limits to picture-taking <sniff>.

But despite the limited chances for picture-taking, I’m happy with my Malacanang photos.

I think they’re quite good, even if they were taken in a hurry.

Pieces of the Philippines in Paris

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw “pieces” of the Philippines during my one-day stay in Paris in November last year.

I didn’t expect to see anything that would remind me of the Philippines while I was there, for Paris and Manila are about 10,750 kilometers away from each other.

The “discoveries” were serendipitous. After all, I didn’t look for them. I just saw them by chance.

Eiffel Tower

The first piece was on Eiffel Tower itself.

Up to now I’m not 100 percent sure what it was all about, but it showed a picture of a bridge in the Philippines that was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the brains behind the iconic French tower that bears his name.

It says: “1890 – Santa Cruz de la Laguna bridge, Manila”

The Wikipedia article about Gustave Eiffel did list the Quezon Bridge in Manila as one of the many works of Eiffel.

However, I couldn’t find anything saying that the Santa Cruz de la Laguna Bridge and Quezon Bridge are the same thing, with different names.

But what are the chances that Eiffel built two bridges in Manila? I’m guessing that it’s the same bridge.

Pictures

I found the second piece in an area along the Seine River, while on my way from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre.

There was a photo exhibit in the place, where I saw pictures taken by a certain Jake Verzosa.

Yup, part of the Eiffel Tower is visible from that spot

I took pictures of Verzosa’s pictures (hmmm, it’s like photocopying the photocopy of something), but I don’t think I can post them here.

Anyway, what really matters is the thought that home is really just around the corner, even if I’m in a city that seems to be light-years away from it.

From the Great Wall to the Berlin Wall

From the Great Wall...

I would like to start the new year right by being thankful for the old one, 2009. 

Last year I met new friends, put an end to something that I should have ended years ago <wink> and stepped foot on places that I never thought I’d actually see in person.

Friends

In 2009, I gained friends from various parts of the world, thanks to the journalism workshops that I attended in Macau, China in May and Bonn, Germany from mid-November to early December.

End

Now I no longer have any unfinished business. Closure is a good thing.

Places

In April I set foot on the Great Wall, one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

After only seven months, I saw vestiges of the Berlin Wall, probably the most concrete symbol of the Cold War.

... to the Berlin Wall

I feel so blessed.

Two-time visitor celebrates Macau handover 10th anniversary

Portuguese man and Chinese woman behind me. A symbol of the fusion of Portuguese and Chinese cultures in Macau

This month Macau celebrated the 10th year of the transfer of the territory’s sovereignty from Portuguese to Chinese hands.

I have many fond memories of Macau because I’ve been there twice: first in 2007 for about three hours, and then this year for three weeks.

I was not there during the festivities, but I’d like to take part in the celebration by enumerating the top 10 attractions that visitors ought to see when they’re in Macau.

1. Senado Square

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2. Ruins of St. Paul’s

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3. Macau Tower

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4. Casinos

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5. Venetian Hotel

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6. Guia Lighthouse

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7. A Ma Temple

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8. Kun Lam Statue

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9. Red Market

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10. Hac Sa Beach