At The La Mesa Eco Park

La Mesa Eco Park

La Mesa Eco Park - is a sprawling 2000 hectares of forest that surrounds the 700 hectare water reservoir of the La Mesa Dam in Quezon City.

Before I visited this place I never thought that this kind of lush greenery still exists in Metro Manila. It is indeed the lungs of the city that provides clean air to its residents.The La Mesa reservoir provides clean drinking water to the 12 million inhabitants of Metro Manila.

My siblings, my boyfriend and I visited the park last April 16, 2011.

WHAT TO DO AT THE PARK:

1. Have a picnic at the Lopez picnic grounds and pavilions or just placed your picnic mat and blanket under the shades of the big trees of the park.

2. Ride a horse at the Petron Amphitheater while touring the whole park

3. Hike at the mini-forest and marvel at the beauty of nature.

4. Exercise and challenge yourself at the 17 exercise stations of the Petron Fitness and Bike Trail.

5. Enjoy a paddle boat ride at the Superferry Boating Lagoon.

6. See and climb the steps of the Shell Flower Garden Terraces. The 2 hectares of garden terraces is actually the dam wall of the water reservoir.

7. Swim at the Pool and Bath House or at the Aquatic Center.

8. Scale the outdoor wall or try the Zipline and the rapelling wall

FEES:

Entrance Fee:P50 for non Quezon City residents and P40.00 for residents with a valid ID indicating that the owner of the ID has a Quezon City address.

At the Pool : P80 for those above 3ft and P40 for those below 3ft.

Boat Rental: P100/30 minutes, the boat is good for 4 people

Bike Rental: P50-90/ hour

Horseback Ride: P50/ 30 minutes

You may bring your own food and drinks to the park. There are many stalls that sells food, beverages and souvenirs at affordable prices.

PARK SCHEDULE:

Open daily from 8:00 am to5:00 pm. The park is closed only on December 25 and December 31.

LOCATION: La Mesa Dam Compound, Greater Lagro, Quezon City

Travel along Commonwealth Avenue,right after Sandiganbayan and Litex Road, on your left is the East Fairview Subdivision, enter the subdivision and then turn left on the first street, at the end of that long street which is Dunhill Street (the streets inside this subdivision were named after cigarette brands:) ) is the La Mesa Eco Park.

If you don't have your own car, just alight from the bus or jeep that travels along Commonwealth Road at the East Fairview Subdivision Gate; there are many tricycles parked in front of the Subdivision that can take you to the La Mesa Ecopark.

AT THE SHELL FLOWER TERRACES

PETRON AMPHITHEATER

BEAUTIFUL TREES INSIDE THE MINI FOREST

Breathe in the clean, cool air of the La Mesa Park and feast your eyes with the beauty of nature right at the heart of the city.

Places I Want To Visit In The Philippines

I'm making a list of places in the Philippines I want to visit:

Ilocos - all its beautiful and old churches, heritage homes and amazing beaches

Bohol - Chocolate Hills, Loboc River cruise, tarsier, Baclayon Church and other historical places

Palawan - Coron Island, St Paul Underground River

Bicol Region - Mount Mayon, Cagsawa Ruins, Camarines Sur Water Complex

Mount Pinatubo - try the extreme Pinatubo trek

Cebu - Magellan's Cross, join the Sinulog

Davao - Mount Apo, Eden Park, Pearl Farm

Cagayan De Oro - try all the extreme adventure this place offers: zipline, rapelling, etc.

Pangasinan - Hundred Islands

At Fort Santiago

My siblings and I visited Fort Santiago last April 9, 2011.

Fort Santiago is one of the oldest fortifications in the country and is part of the premier defense structure of the walled city of Intramuros built by the Spanish Government in the Philippines in 1571.

Before the Spanish colonizers came, the area where the fort stands used to be the settlement of early Filipinos led by Rajah Sulayman. This fortress is near the mouth of the Pasig River.

Our National Hero - Jose Rizal was incarcerated here in Fort Santiago from November 2 to December 29, 1896. He was charged with rebellion, sedition and formation of illegal societies; and was sentenced to death by firing squad by the Spanish authorities. He was executed on December 30, 1896 at Luneta which is now known as the Rizal Park.

Inside Fort Santiago is the Rizal Shrine that houses the memorabilia of our National Hero.

On June 20, 2011 our nation will celebrate Rizal's 150th birth anniversary. Fort Santiago is one of the places we can visit to honor and remember Jose Rizal.

Renewed Interest In History

Philippine History was my favorite subject in Elementary and in High School. Memorizing historical dates, events and people was never a problem. I don't know but I love to know the story of what happened in the past and learned from it.Since I took up a Science Course in College, my interest in History took a back seat and I concentrated more about life sciences.

But these past few months I've regained my interest on it and I've been visiting a lot of historical places around Metro Manila. I am so much amazed by the things I've learned while visiting these places. I have this great sense of pride knowing about the courage of Filipino Heroes who did everything they could so that they could secure the freedom of our nation.

Aside from visiting museums and historical landmarks, I've been fortunate to have stumbled upon so many blogs who shares this same interest as I have.

I have so many stories and pictures to share but I just don't know yet how am I going to start and where I am going to start. :) I'm even considering putting up a separate blog about it. Since my two blogs have been on free web hosting, I am now considering getting managed hosting services. Through managed hosting, I don't have to think about my sites' servers, making back-ups or setting up patches because an expert will do all these things for me. But managed hosting and even colocation may be too much for my simple blogs because this services are more profitable for businesses websites. But who knows I might need these services in the future when I put up my own business website for my own travel company that specializes in touring people around the Philippines' historical places.

I'm so excited about my next trip to another historical landmark in the Metro within the next two weeks.

June 20, 2011 is a Holiday!

Malacanang announced that June 20, 2011 is a special non-working holiday in honor of the 150th birth anniversary of Jose Rizal, our National Hero.

Rizal's birthday is on June 19 which falls on a Sunday this year but the National Historical Commission requested that the holiday be moved on June 20.

Proclamation No 54 was made "to give all Filipinos the opportunity to commemorate Rizal's patriotic deeds and sacrifices for the country, rekindle their admiration and respect for him, to celebrate this milestone with appropriate ceremonies,"