Bucal, Calamba

View from main entrance of Sol y Viento resort

IMHO only, a waste of mountain, space & spring water pool opportunity; design?! while awesome in size, position and certainly unique, the man-made waterfall is...well...too man-made for my liking I guess

Well, couldn't this town have been much more...quaint

Okay...adequate showers & they look alright imho; but do swimmers use them pre-plunge?
at least they, the guests, weren't in cotton t-shirts and shorts unlike in most resorts here

along the national highway

Oops why is this photo here...Tom Yum Goong made by Indonesian neighbor; two weeks ago, surprise Kimbap made by Korean neighbor. I don't ask! They give :-)  All masarap 

Pho Hanoi restaurant along the way to Los Banos

simple, clean, straightforward, so you know focus is on the food, which must be good; note palochina furniture of which there are many along the road. The pho and some other dishes we ordered were delicious, fresh, in a home-cooked Vietnamese way; but we were slightly put off after realizing the special Pho Hanoi did not contain the ingredients as pictured...and we were only told after we asked about it (and after we had eaten it all, in hunger) that it was all beef, and with added beef as the other ingredients were out of stock. Sadly, the cold dessert (Three Colors--bean, gelatin, with shaved ice and milk) was not available as the gelatin imported from Vietnam was out of stock. Oh prices are alright too. Reasonable.

Rain in Santa Rosa

...feels moderate all the time.  There is a strong tropical storm, "Falcon" passing the northeast area of the country, and Manila has been flooding again.  Traffic was terrible today what with non-stop rains.  Here, it was on/off rain, wind and now at midnight, calm.  When Metro Manila began flooding during Ondoy, we were largely unaffected. Well, the technopark side of Santa Rosa, that is.  There were areas down at the bayan, starting from bgy Balibago and down to the Laguna Bay area, that were waist deep in water.

Many times, were enjoyed sunny skies while Metro Manila was dark and rainy.  Of course, this is due in part to our location away from the ocean, with the Tagaytay ridge bordering the flat lands.

While it is a blessing to live in mostly pleasant weather with moderate, refreshing rains here, we are no less sympathetic to everyone stuck in traffic or wading through floods. I know I often sound too enthused about this place to friends and relatives...but the truth is, watching traffic reports on the nightly news really makes me glad I'm away from that stressful city. Now even typhoon reports make me doubly relieved I'm not there. We do worry about everyone else.