If you're looking for something new to do, then you should visit Tree Top Adventure. My husband and…read moreI wanted to go on a day trip somewhere near the city so we decided to check out Tree Top Adventure. They are basically a forest with different activities revolving around the trees. There are activities where you simply walk or ride alongside and above the trees. Then there are activities for the more adventurous ones where you either swing through the trees or drop down from one really tall one. I like how they stuck to tree activities, without destroying the place. There are no carnival rides or games or anything else to steer away from the whole point of the place. It's a great alternative to the hustle and bustle of the city. Not only do you experience something new, you get to clean your lungs too! My husband and I had a great time there. We did the canopy ride, as well as the superman and drop. I was scared at first but I enjoyed them as I was in the moment. We will definitely go back with our future kids someday. Hopefully they maintain it that way.

For someone who had never experienced field trip from kindergarten to high school (because the…read moreschool I used to attend to is such a killjoy to all the glorious things a student could enjoy), I was too ecstatic to go on a second one for my minor subjects in college. The first one was in Vigan for my Histo I class wherein I, f.y.i, drowned for the first time. It's also funny because I was thinking that maybe this time in Subic, I'd suffer another tragedy or injury. Thank God I didn't. Whew. What made this experience so fun was because my professor crush was also there at that time. Apart from his charming presence, it was also thrilling to experience the tree drop where I thought I was gonna die because the harness won't work at all. Thankfully, it did work before I face the ground and there's a giant foam to catch me if it failed. The facilitators also made sure that everyone is safe before jumping. They do take precautionary measures seriously. It was also fun eating at a boodle fight on a plate. Yes, we ate on a plate that is placed on top of a banana leaf.

If you want to reenact that Tom Cruise rock climbing scene in Mission: Impossible 2, one possible…read moreway to do that is via wall climbing. We have to at least start with a harness and a belayer. Otherwise, we might fall to our untimely demise without those two important things. BaseKamp is stationed at the 5th floor of Market! Market! welcoming wall climbing hobbyists and enthusiasts. They offer lessons at P3500 for 9 sessions. It's 2 hours per session, so you'll really get those arms toned in no time. A single climb with a belayer is only P50. Imagine that! And I've always thought that this sport is expensive. For unlimited climbs for adults with belayer is P340; P140 without a belayer. They even encourage kids to try this sport out! If your child is between 7-13 years old, then he or she can try wall climbing already. An unlimited climb for kids without a belayer is P110 while with one, it's P310. It's also open from 12nn-9pm.

I have too many good memories here at Worlds of Fun. From the haunted train ride to the bump cars,…read moreeverything was magical specially because it was a time I spent with friends and I was at a point where the biggest problem I had was my first crush, it was indeed a good time. Looking back I was thankful that they've put up small amusement parks like these in malls where kids can easily go to, not just this one in particular but also in other malls too. As a child, we couldn't afford to go to big ones on our own because: 1. we didn't know how to drive and 2. our baons weren't enough to cover the expenses to go there. Unlike most kids nowadays! Worlds of Fun though, they're really budget friendly. Give a kid a couple of hundred and he'd be all set for the day. I also loved playing arcade games there though that wasn't my main focus. It was the haunted train ride that still haunts me to this day (scaredy cat!).

When the baby boomers of the previous generation had children of their own, the demand for places…read moreto take the little toddlers rose considerably, leading to some malls and supermarkets or other major shopping establishments to create mini-carnivals which catered to the young and the young at heart. I don't know if this is something unique to the Philippines, but when you're not up to travel all the way to Star City or Enchanted Kingdom, Worlds of Fun may be a very viable option for you. Boasting mini roller coasters and smaller scale carousels, as well as a plethora of modern, digital arcade games, this area provides children with multiple worlds of fun to go to! Designed in a grandiose fashion that I still find impressive (the entrance gateway is in Egyptian style, for example), the area manages to make something affordable and reasonable look like a lot of fun, even to a young adult like myself, who may be secretly wishing to have the ability to go back to those carefree times.

While we always go to Tagaytay - both planned and unplanned. We would pass Nuvali on our way up and…read moresometimes stop over when we're hungry. I've seen the 'Wakepark' signs but didn't really know where it is, maybe because I wasn't looking hard enough. Or I just have just looked it up online to see the map. My friends took me to go Republic Wakepark because it's their recreational activity, to get away from the stress that living in the Metro brings, well, also school. And it's something that's fun to experience together as a group (individually if we're being specific but you get what I'm saying). I love these types of things because I know everyone gets tired of doing the same old thing and with Nuvali being about an hour or less drive away from Metro Manila, it's the perfect thing to do. If you don't think it's for you and you're being invited to come along then you can always go and stay at the bar or at the pool, take pictures and hang out.

This is the main hangout space for my friends whenever we come back to Manila from studying abroad…read more The employees are very accommodating and are very helpful in teaching you how to wakeboard. It is in a great location and I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who loves water sports within the South area. However, the rentals for boards are quite expensive and are very limited to only a couple of boards if you have grown out of the slip-on boards. The food service takes quite awhile for you to get your food. Putting that aside, this is a place that I would highly recommend anyone to come to for a day mainly just for the awesome facility to wakeboard. It's also best to go during the weekdays early in the morning so that you can get the most out of your buck, or else you would be in line for quite awhile as that takes up your riding time. Night boarding on the weekends are also enjoyable and are less crowded than during the day based on my experience from going.

We have already tried Escape Hunt Bangkok and it being the original, we assumed we already tried…read morethe best. But Escape Hunt Manila was way better! First off, we love the place. It was bigger and more comfortable, and it exuded a more elegant yet still cozy feel. And of course, the best assets of this Manila branch is its people. From the owner (Mark) to the game masters (we had Carlo and Sam), we were treated like royalty. We were a big family celebrating my niece's 15th birthday, and Escape Hunt provided a nice cake for the birthday girl. All 14 of us also played at the same time and the staff volunteered to look after our 3 little ones under age 7 since it was not yet a busy hour. And of course the games were so much fun! It required lots of teamwork, critical thinking, problem solving, fast decisions, and even some math (yes!) but it was all worth it. Good thing we were the only ones scheduled to play during our assigned time because I'm pretty sure we got pretty loud. :) Definitely a place to visit for locals and tourists alike. And since their 3 themed rooms change every 6 months, there is so much more to look forward to. Thanks Escape Hunt Manila for a wonderful family bonding experience! We'll be back!

I was actually confused on how I would categorize this part of my village park. The truth is that…read morethis facility of the park is just a covered court and is used for a wide array of different activities. When it was first made, this court was actually meant to be a volleyball court or a badminton court. It could be used by the village residents absolutely free of charge. There were times when my mother and I would spend our afternoons playing badminton here. Those were the good old days. Anyway, things have changed since then. Nowadays the net isn't there anymore. Im not sure what happened to it, but with the net gone people don't play volleyball or badminton there anymore. However, during the morning I noticed that the court is used for Zumba. There are moms, lolas, and titas there who all dance to the beat in order to lose weight. I have no idea if its free or open to anyone though.

I remember first finding out about Mystery Manila when one of their sponsored ads caught my eye on…read moreFacebook. I have to give props to their advertising agency or advertising team as the ad was extremely enticing and I know I wasn't the only one whose attention was caught by the copy and graphic that they used. Anyway, when the website finally launched (www.mysterymanila.com), my friends and I rushed to book the first room we could get our hands on. It was called Chained Chamber and we were a group of five (two guys, three girls). Upon entering the grounds at Libis, we were greeted warmly, briefed, offered drinks, and finally, blindfolded, and accompanied to the room we would be solving the mystery in by a guide. I was extremely expressed by what the owners have done with the place and how they've been able to so ingeniously utilize the small space that they have. For that space in time, I really did feel like I was somewhere else and the challenge in itself was quite a feat to tackle. I don't want to give away too much, but allow me to liken the experience to the Amazing Race. Been back several times since the first visit, and I can say that those experiences were super fun as well. I can vouch for the Sinister Sensorium (Jupiter branch) and the Ticking Time Bomb (Libis). Have fun... and don't forget your brain food!

If you feel like you want to play a game... *puts on a Jigsaw voice*…read more You're bound to have fun at Mystery Manila. You and your friends are locked in a room for one hour, and you need to solve some kind of puzzle (depending on the scenario) to get out. No athletics or brute force needed here, just lots of skill points in problem solving and teamwork! It's all about mind games and riddles, which you'll have to solve under an hour. I went with a group of 5 friends for the Sinister Sensorium room in their Makati branch (across Mapua). This was lots of fun because each of us had to pick a disability: 2 of us had to be deaf, 2 blind, and 2 mute. I won't give any spoilers here, but let me just say that it we had an awesome time. Gather a group of friends and try it out! :D (We also realized that if we were to actually be in a serial killer scenario, we'd be so screwed. :P)

WARNING: this place will charge you for everything!!!…read more Over priced and not worth the price you pay. No outside food or drinks are allowed and if they see outside food, they will fine you. The first day we arrived it finished raining and they shave no dining areas that are closed in, so all dinner locations were filled with mosquitos that kept biting us all. The rooms are pretty small so my ma and pa asked if there were extra rooms. They tried to pretend that all they had left were executive rooms that were expensive. One my mama and papa said it was to expensive for us they magically found a "cheaper room available." The WiFi only allows for 2 guests to connect per room, however the WiFi was not even good at all. Even the employees at the bar told us that the WiFi would work and not work all the time. When my I laws room was "cleaned" the made the bed, emptied the trash, but did not bother to change the used towels. The towels should be the first thing to be changed, especially if they are left on the floor. The TVs in each of our rooms were difficult to operate as the instructors were wrong. It tells you to change the TV to Video 1 or 2 which we're not even options on the TV we had. If you want an extra pillow or blanket or anything they will charge you to "rent" it. The guys at the bar lacked maxing skills and all seemed to be new as they had to look at a recipe cheat sheet when they only serve a hand full of cocktails. When checking out they said everything and everyone has to be out of the room. One of our friends that had another room was charged $4,700 because there was writing marks on the bed sheet. They said that if after they wash it, and it "goes away" they will refund the price. They contacted my friends and said that the marks "went away" but that "it's not as white as it use to be" so they refused to refund the money. I would not recommend this place to anyone because they will charge you for everything and there are mosquitoes everywhere!! Beware they will take you money and instead of enjoying the resort, you will be more worried about what restaurants to drive to outside the resort, making sure you have enough mosquito repellent, as well as making sure you are no over charged on your bill.

Last weekend, we took a short, overnight trip to Island Cove in Kawit, Cavite…read more We took the Cavitex, and there were 2 toll booths. One charged P24.00, the other charged P64.00, for a total of P88.00 one way. We just used Waze to navigate, but it was just all driving straight ahead until Kawit, a little past Island Cove, actually, and then making a U-turn after the toll booth to head back to Island Cove. Took us less than 30 minutes from SM MOA. There's a big sign that says there's no bringing of outside food & drinks. ISLAND COVE HOTEL Parking space was plentiful. We checked in at the hotel, it was the usual process where we were asked to provide a deposit. The staff was helpful. The lobby was cold and air-conditioned, and the original hotel building, where our room was, was obviously old but maintained. They have some newly built villas beside the main hotel. Our deluxe room had cold air-conditioning. The amenities are modern - there's an Asian-sized bath tub, hot and cold water, rainfall shower, telephone shower head, soap, shampoo with conditioner, lotion, vanity kit, shaving kit, hair dryer, etc... room entry also used key cards. They also provided some insect repellent lotion. You'll need this. It is an island, after all. There will be insects. Slippers are also available. It's nice to see Island Cove's support of the local community. At first, I was worried that I wouldn't have enough water to drink, so I was so happy to see that they provided complimentary filtered drinking water, and you can request more drinking water if you want to. I'm one of those people whose first order of business after settling in for a foreign trip, is to buy a gallon of drinking water, so this is great! They also provided several USB sockets located near the headboard! It's much appreciated for charging our gadgets. Some usually ignored areas like the back of the headboard was a bit dusty though. Wifi was available, but was spotty. It's good enough for casual surfing and staying online, but if you need internet for work, better bring your own pocket wifi that you can position near the balony. I had good Smart signal outside, but weak cellphone signal inside the room. ... AND LEISURE PARK There's an electric shuttle you can ride to take you to the different buildings and areas on the island, but we decided to just walk. It is really not too far, just 2-10 minutes' walk to anywhere on the island. This was better than a staycation where we just stay inside the room. We were actually walking around, breathing fresh air, in wide open space, getting good vibes from the abundant plant life. It is so different from crowded Metro Manila. Time moved so slowly. SANGLEY POINT After swimming, we had dinner at Sangley Point, Island Cove's main restaurant. Sangley Point and the pool are connected, but have different entrances. However, you can order food from Sangley Point and eat it at the poolside tables. We ordered the Sangley Point Burger (P330), 6 sticks of their Pork Barbecue (P495), and Chicken Piccata pasta (P330). These were good, especially the BBQ. BREAKFAST BUFFET The breakfast buffet was at Sangley Point, from 6 AM - 10 AM, Saturdays and Sundays. I was happy with the breakfast buffet -- it's not the most extensive, but it was just such a relaxing morning, the ambience made one feel like they had their own hacienda, it just didn't matter. They had typical Filipino breakfast fare like rice, tuyo, tinapa, adobo, corned beef, goto, champorado, etc... There are eggs cooked different ways. They had breads, pancakes, cereal, salads, fruits, coffee, juices. SUMMARY Our stay at Island Cove was a happy, relaxing one. It brought us out of the Metro Manila time dimension and we experienced a slower pace of life - can't believe it had just been a day! It felt like we had a long time to unwind and relax, more than the actual 20 hours we actually had.

I still call the place ULTRA. Most of my friends still do. Now, it is formally named Philsports…read moreArena, short for Philippine Institute of Sports Arena. My earliest memory of ULTRA was when my parents brought me here for various sporting events. After that, I would not hear about ULTRA again until I got into running and my friend encouraged me to try its outdoor oval. The track has a rubberized surface designed to relieve the force of impact in my strides, which must be the reason why it attracts both casual joggers and hardcore marathoners. To give some sort of order, the sprinters were relegated to take the inner lanes while the slow joggers stayed on the outer. (Also, I think this is where our national athletes practice and they have the place all to themselves in the morning.) It was a midsummer sunset run but somehow, the place was cool. It had a nice view of the tall buildings by the horizon, which reminded me of the field at the Manila Polo Club. One only has to pay 35 pesos to use the track, which is open until 9pm. It stretches 400 meters long, meaning I had to go around 25 times if I were to achieve my target distance. Another thing worth mentioning is that ice-cold water and Gatorade is being sold by the bleachers.

Carl (the previous reviewer) is right. Nobody I know calls this place "PhilSports Arena" or…read more"PhilSports Complex". To us, it was and it will always be ULTRA. I love it here. I have plenty of fond memories in the oval as I used to run for the track team back in college. So I've witnessed several sunsets here with people that I loved and bonded with even for but a time. The pool is decent too. I've even been inside the fencing hall because my best friends used to train there as they were part of the varsity team in their respective universities. This place is great for a run, a swim, or even just for hanging out. The arena isn't half-bad either.

I'm lucky to have been able to call the Cultural Center of the Philippines my second home. Dancing…read morewith Ballet Philippines required me to be at the CCP every day and so I got to experience a lot of the events in the hub of the performing arts in Manila. From art exhibits to stage plays, full-length ballets to musicals, film festivals to the Aliwan festival, CCP plays host to several large scale events within the year, and there's always something happening on its grounds. In the first quarter of the year, you'll have most overseas productions come to the Main Theater and the closing gala of most of the resident CCP companies like the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Tanghalang Pilipino, and Ballet Philippines, to name a few. The best time to go is in February when Arts Month is in full swing, because the complex will be at its busiest, especially during Pasinaya - the CCP Open House weekend where all the resident performing companies put on mini-showcases in various locations around the complex. Food stalls are found all around the streets of the complex like one big fiesta. Best of all is its pay-what-you-can entrance fee! The summer season also brings along summer workshops, so if you've ever wanted to try acting, singing, dancing, playing a musical instrument, or writing a play, you can enroll in one of the many workshops that the companies at the CCP have to offer. This will also be when the major companies hold auditions and begin preparations for their next seasons. (They've got a bulletin board by the Artist's Entrance that holds all the audition announcements.) More festivals like Cinemalaya (an independent film fest) and Virgin Labfest (theater), and competitions like the National Music Competition for Young Artists are held in the latter quarters, as well as the onset of the regular performing season at the CCP. Even during its most quiet days, the CCP always has something to offer. During my free time in between rehearsals, I would walk around and always find something new to discover, whether it's in the galleries on the upper floors, or the archives of Philippine theater in the CCP library, the beautiful architecture inside, or seeing rehearsals of the various performing companies. It's where the best of the best in the performing arts come to create, and it's also one of the foremost places that makes Manila what it is.

Every time I set foot on the grounds of CCP, I always feel like I am in the brink of nirvana. The…read moredim lighting, the carpeted staircase, the spacious lobby near the main theater, the chandeliers - all these things that I see as I climb one floor to the next lend a sense of awe and prestige to this cultural Parthenon. And, I haven't started talking about the exhibits and performances yet! When there are events going on, the halls transform into a vibrant place, reminding me of how, in the Phantom of the Opera, the dust suddenly flew away from the theater and revealed the structure's old grandeur. Even the small box-like theater, the Tanghalang Huseng Batute, becomes alive and magical with every performance during the Virgin Labfest season. And, all floors becomes packed with students, film enthusiasts and various other people when Cinemalaya runs its carefully-chosen independent films. But even when there are no festivals or much-publicized events going on, the artistic atmosphere does not leave CCP. Exhibits are a staple. I suggest you feed your eyes with a view of the beautiful, critical artworks in Bulwagang Fernando Amorsolo and Bulwagang Juan Luna. Or, you can also feed your ears by visiting the paid for exhibit in the 4th floor entitled "Diwa: Buhay, Ritwal at Sining". It displays Asian musical instruments, some of which you are permitted to play (note: ask the guard which you can touch and which you cannot.) Also, not to forget, CCP has a library which houses audio and videorecordings of some performances and several books about art. I did some of my thesis research here. The library did not charge me a fee and all the staff were very accommodating.