In order to see the Taal volcano, we went to the popular spot in Tagaytay, which has a good view of the lake within a volcano within a lake. We brought a picnic lunch of pancit and adobo and green papaya (with shrimp sauce) and found a nice spot with a good view.

We decided to take pony rides in the afternoon and that turned out to be somewhat disastrous (at least for me). We got 2 "big" horses that held two of the kids each and then 2 "small" horses, which Keren and I were each supposed to ride on. Well, my poor small horse could NOT handle my weight and as soon as I got on, complained pretty strongly by not budging. Finally the guide managed to drag the poor thing along, but that horse was clearly not happy with my weight (okay, I need to drop a few lbs but geesh). Anyway, we rode around a ring for about 10 minutes before I decided my horse deserved a rest, so I got off. The thing is, we paid for an hour, so that horse just got a (much needed?) 45 minute break. Keren also felt pity for her horse, so we just hung out while the kids took turns on our horses too. Ugh.

After we left the park, we stopped at a fruit stand so I could try all kinds of exotic fruits. I tried lansones and also the purple fruit in the picture that looks like plums, mangosteen. That purple skin on the mangosteen is a hard shell, though, and you break through to get to a soft fruit (about the size of a large grape) inside. Both were delicious. At this point, we said goodbye to most of the group and my mom, Keren and I hopped on a bus for Manila where we were going to stay the night with an old friend of my mom's.

In the evening, after dinner, we got into the car (they have a very nice Toyota SUV) and drove around to see the Makati city lights at night. Makati is kind of the financial district of Manila and has a lot of tall buildings (hotels, banks, offices, and some new condos). Then we parked at Baywalk, which is the name of a promenade overlooking Manila Bay along Roxas Boulevard. Baywalk is a lot of fun with tons of restaurants, little food stands, vendors selling little toys, live music, you name it. We had boiled peanuts and fruit shakes (I had avocado; Keren and my mom had watermelon). A lot of the live music are small bands playing covers, but it was fun. I could hang out here all the time! Picture Waikiki Beach, except there's a bay instead of the ocean (the ocean is the only thing Waikiki beach has over Baywalk), and a much more down-home atmosphere than the high-end (read: unaffordable) shopping along Waikiki Beach.