Homecoming -- Trip to Manila

As promised, I said that I would fill you in on the months wherein I horribly failed to blog. One such month is my birthday month, October! I was lucky enough to take a trip to the Philippines, the home I've been missing for ten (yes 10!!!) long long years. It was all so exciting because not only did I spend my 31st birthday there, but that visit ended my 10 year streak of Manila separation. YEAH!!!!



As you can guess, it was a really hectic trip for me. I basically spent the better part of October meeting up with missed relatives and dear friends. I tried to soak up every bleesed second and savor the new memories to compensate for the ones I missed. Needless to say it was all so overwhelming and I refused to lug my camera most of the time. Hello? I need my arms for all the hugs!

But by the time Taylor came 2 weeks later, it was the perfect time to bring out the gear and go sight seeing. It's Tay's first time to Asia -- so I had to take the tourist around. ;) So allow me to share a few photos of our mini trips around Manila. :)

1st stop: Tagaytay, where people go for good food and admire the scenery. Below is a picture of Taal volcano, which consists of a lake that surrounds a volcano island, which itself contains a lake! Pretty cool if you ask me. And it also reminded us of our trip to Greece since the scene was similar to Santorini's caldera. Cool huh?




When we got back to Manila, we drove by the Malate Church ....


... and Manila bay just to soak up the sights.


Next stop: Old Manila. During the Spanish colonization of the Philippines from 1521 to 1898, the Spaniards build a walled city -- Intramuros. In current times, you can take a nostalgic walk around and admire the old stuctures, which expose their historic past.




Obviously, the tourist had a great time!


... watch out for part 2 of our trip!