Day Trip to The City of Tagaytay and Taal Volcano

On Sunday, November 10th the team treated us to an excursion to Tagaytay and Taal Volcano. Little did I know that before the day was over I would cross a lake in an outrigger boat, ride a horse to the top of a trail, take in amazing views of the crater and surrounding area, hit a few golf balls into a crater and then get blasted with wind and waves while returning back to shore. It was a great day and a fun adventure and I appreciate the team taking time away from their week-end to ensure that we had a great trip to Manila.

The drive from the hotel took about an hour and a half

Taal Volcano is located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the second most active volcano in the Philippines with 33 historical eruptions. All of these eruptions are concentrated on Volcano Island, an island near the middle of Taal Lake. 

The volcano had several violent eruptions in the past causing loss of life in the island and the populated areas surrounding the lake, with the death toll estimated at around 5,000 to 6,000. 

The Adventurers: (left to right) Ryan, David, Jan, Julius, Eric, Ruth, Janell and Mike

Taking in the sights from Tagaytay Ridge
before heading to the lake

The elusive photographer
David is rarely
captured himself

A spectacular view from the top

What, that is our ride???

Only four guests to a boat and once underway
we could understand why

We had to drive down steep switchbacks to get to the lake.  Along the way we passed at least 50 guys holding up signs about boats for rent.  One guy jumped on the back of a motorcycle and chased us half-way down the ridge.  For some reason he thought that holding up the same and chasing us meant that we would follow him to his boat.

It was windy and the water was choppy but we had to cross the lake to get to the volcano so off we went.  The ride took about 25 - 30 minutes but at least we didn't get wet (oh yeah, that would change on the return trip).

Ryan saying goodbye to land (and I'm pretty
sure I saw him say a prayer)

The boats were all lined up
waiting for customers

Mike and Juluis in the "dry seats"

Ryan taking in the sights along the journey

A small, dormant crater is
on the leading edge of
the island

The outrigger beams kept the ride fairly stable
 but the drag in the water made for quite a splash

Welcome to the island

After a choppy ride across the lake we were
all glad to finally reach the shore

After arriving on the island we had to negotiate with the horse owners so they would take us to the top.  Thank goodness we had Ryan to strike a deal.  The island was filled with many tourists, quite a few of them were Korean ladies on a tour.

I think Jan was saying his prayers before getting on the horse

The horse handlers were
lined up as far as the
eye could see

Janell and Ruth were leading the way to the top

The route to the top was through steep terrain and consisted of bad trails which were worn down from the rainy season.  We ran into numerous traffic jams where the trail narrowed and the traffic coming down bottle-necked with the traffic going up.  I would not be lying if I said there were at least one hundred people on the trail at any one time.

Ruth was an experienced rider and was not phased in the least by the steep trail

  

Our guide stopped me so I could take a picture of one of the steam vents from the volcano

The view from the top was spectacular.  I had a wide-angle (18mm) lens but still could not get the entire lake in the frame.  Shown below are several different views of the crater.

A view of the main crater with Vulcan Point Island

A close-up of Vulcan Island.  I kept looking for Mr. Spock but didn't see him anywhere.

Taal Lake is seen in the distance - it completely surrounds the main crater

A view from the top of the crater looking back at where we came from

David asking for a copy of the OSHA safety regulations

Eric demonstrating how completely safe this rickety platform is

My guide Rommel

Ryan taking my picture of
me taking his picture

Jan capturing the moment

It was hard not to keep staring into the distance

Now here's something that doesn't happen everyday ...
Smacking golfballs into a volcano crater

Eric showing off his best slice

Team Bonding - Jan and Ruth

Soaking in the scenery

See - we all survived the trip up !  Now just to make it back down alive.

One generator at the top and it powered the photo printer

  

Getting ready to depart - little did we know it
would be a wet and wild ride back to shore

The second boat captain went much slower to help avoid
the spray but apparently the only thing it helped
was getting them back 10 minutes later us in the first boat

T.G.W.E.B.O.S.
(Thank God We Are Back on Shore)

After we returned and made the trip back to the top of the ridge we ate lunch at Gerry's Grill where we experienced a wide variety of Filipino dishes.

Overall we had a spectacular day and the memories of the trip will last for quite some time.

Driving in Manila Traffic (a.k.a. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride)

Until you experience it for yourself it is hard to describe what driving in Manila is like. Fortunately for me we have a very experienced driver named Oliver.  Please enjoy the following video and get a taste for the commute from the office back to the hotel.

Note: Pay particular attention to the motorcycles zipping around the traffic about 1-1/2 minutes into the video.

Traffic on our way into the office

Team Outing at the Elbow Room

So how many beers does it take to get a person to sing Karaoke?  Well, that would depend on who you are asking of course.  A rich tradition here in the Philippines is to take their American counterparts out for a night of food, drinks and non-stop Karaoke.  The team gathered at a place called The Elbow Room where we had a private room in the back.  For some reason we decided to stop at the hotel before going to meet with the team --- BIG mistake as this caused us to have to swim further upstream against the traffic.  Naturally we arrived about an hour late but the team was too polite to start diving into the food before our arrival, and that only led to me feeler worse about our tardiness.

In addition to the Karaoke machine the room was setup with a pool table and a fully-loaded buffet. It was hard to tell which was more popular because both the pool table and the Karaoke machine were in use the entire three hours that we were there. Most of our team members took turns behind the mic and surprisingly the majority of the music was sappy songs from the 80's.  The team tried very early on to pass us the mic but somehow we put them off until much later in the night.

Our team's ladies are quick to pose when you break out the camera

Dave, David and Ryan enjoying a few laughs

The sofa was always lined up with the next group of singers

Dave showing off the trick shot
(btw - it worked)

Ryan was quite a performer and you could tell that it was not his first time behind the mic

Dave and David discussing "what they would
have done if it was their shot"

Magie living her dream of being a performer

Mike trying to make an excuse in
advance of his shot

Tin wearing her Open-C jacket proudly

It didn't matter if you could sing or not (most could not!) but most everybody took a turn at the mic

Dave's strategy of never coming near the microphone paid off for him in the end

Needless to say the team really enjoyed themselves

The inevitable finally arrived, like a man waiting on death row, and I could no longer escape the grasp of the microphone.  I figured that if I was going to sing a song it was not going to be some sappy 80's love song so instead I went for the crowd favorite - YMCA.  Ryan grabbed a mic and sung along with me while David and Mike led the crown in the dancing and singing - Y - M - C - A.  The team got the biggest laughs of the night from our perform and and so we figured it was a good time to call it a night before we had to sing again.

If you made it this far through this posting then you deserve an opportunity to see the video which the team took.