Anilao Outrigger Resort Batangas

... using kangaroo meat as the burger base. Or McCroc using crocodile meat. They could also have a McEmu. These three meats seem to be the ones used besides beef, chicken and pork. For vegetarians they could have McBeetroot.

South Africa opens up a whole bunch of burger possibilities and these could also go with some other countries like Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, etc ...

... and anemones serving as nurseries for broods of tiny Clownfish. We even saw a pygmy sea horse hiding in a sea fan which was so small it needed to be viewed with a magnifier - a reminder that its time for me to order a prescription dive mask!

When we weren’t exploring the reefs we were able to relax in the comfortable surroundings at Acacia. The deck overlooking Balayan Bay helped in the effort to leave the city and its ...

... we were ushered into the Marina Bar where Ms. Marj Dayrit (Communications Manager for Punta Fuego) was on hand to welcome us. A table filled with a dazzling buffet of irresistible wines and ingenuously-prepared, delectable and tempting Spanish cuisine awaited us. After this late lunch, we crossed over, by speedboat, from the yacht club to Terrazas de Punta Fuego where we witnessed a cooking demonstration, again by Chef Mikel, at Café Sol. Using ...

... 11 friends at the mall with you. They have a sport here called cock-fighting. It's when they train roosters to fight and it's huge on the weekends. You can go and bet on the fights. I don't think that women go though - well only certain types of women go. We actually found a store that sells stuff for it - make sure you all ask your friends and loved ones when they get home what the name of the store was I didn't buy anything but I ...

... to them. It's great to see my cousins especially Genesis and Joy whom I haven't seen for so many years. They're both in college now. We all went back to our home in Bicutan the following day to celebrate New Year's eve there. Looking back, I just realized that most of my big goals and plans for 2006 has been fulfilled. Here are my favourite parts or highlights of 2006 in no particular order ...

Today we visited lake Taal (Ta-Al) Which has a small active volcano in the middle of it. Catching a boat over to the island we then got a (rather scrawny looking) horse ride up the side of the volcano. Carl nearly got off half way up because he thought the poor thing was about to collapse. At the summit you could look into the crater at the top which contains a sulphurous lake. On the way back my horsse made a bolt for freedom as soon ...

... and two was that I wasn't dressed appropriately. We went to this other area in Manila named Makati and it's the rich area and there are many foreigners and fancy department stores and such. Its not really my kind of area as everything's overpriced and its much more materialistic than the rest of Manila, but we tried a few places and basically I couldn't get in because I was wearing shorts, it WAS 33 degrees that day! Even though I looked way better than a ...

... tunes. Singing ensued, quite loudly if my memory serves me correct. It must not have been a pretty sight. Early morning brought sunrise (as one hopes it would), and sunrise meant a quick hour-long march to the waterfalls. Climbing down an (at points) 80 degree staircase, we (the Swiss in tow) crossed over a fresh mudslide and promptly arrived at the falls. A few (read: ten too many) photos later, and after a quick dip, were back off to the city, where our busy schedule pushed us back ...

Boulders *nd chilling out *t the summit On our second d*y, I woke up refreshed by * good night's sleep in my "*ir-conditioned" tent (th*t's how the temper*ture felt like in the forest). Aside from bre*kf*st, we *lso prep*red the p*cked lunch we would be e*ting *long the tr*il. There were deb*tes on whether we should just p*ss through the summit *nd descend to L*ke Ven*do to c*mp. In the end, the ...