A trip to the heritage town of Taal is a trip to Philippine's colonial past. There, one is treated to the grand vista of an old Spanish era church and a quiet stroll down streets lined with colonial houses.

If you are used to Philippine's coastal scenery of fine white sand beaches with swaying palm trees, then the Kapurpurawan rock formation found in Burgos, Ilocos Norte is surely a unique treat. This astonishing geological formation could easily pass for an English coastal vista (the chalk cliffs comes to mind in this one).

When someone mentions the name "Taal" the images I associate it with were those of the volcano and the scenic lake. That changed when I visited the heritage town of Taal in Batangas last weekend. For me, "Taal" is now a sleepy town of colonial houses and the facade of St. Martin de Tours Basilica, glowing in the golden light of the sunset.

Like the migratory birds, a lot of things are seasonal in Candaba wetlands. The road, for one,  "disappears" during the rainy season. You'll see the fields transform from  rice fields to fish ponds (and vice versa) depending on which month you go there.

Typhoon Santi derailed my plans to go to Polilio island on the long weekend of Nov 1 (All Saints Day). Flights were grounded and boat trips were canceled. Everyone braced for the incoming storm.

When it came it blew strong winds for a couple of hours and poured several millimeters of rain. And then as suddenly as it came, the rain stopped and the sky cleared. So there I was with nothing to do on a cloudless Sunday morning, too late to go to where I planned to spend the weekend.

Without thinking too much on where I was going, I grabbed my pack and headed to the bus station. By the time I arrived at the station, I had decided to catch the sunset in the bird sanctuary in Candaba wetlands. Its bird season and I thought I might get lucky with some bird shots, with a beautiful sunset as bonus.

Manila Bay undergoes a transformation when the sun dips below the horizon. Its just like a Jekyll and Hyde thing, but this time it goes from ugly to beautiful.