Summer Fun at Club Serene Resort in Rizal, Philippines

View of the entrance of Club Serene Resort from the inside.

Club Serene Resort in Taytay, Rizal is one of many basic resorts with pools that are common destinations of local day trippers who are looking for a resort in Rizal for some simple summer fun with family or friends. It has five swimming pools, cottages, and picnic tables.

For only 130 pesos (as of this writing), you can enter and spend an entire day enjoying the pools. For a little extra, you can belt out songs using the videoke machines available for general use. At Club Serene Resort, you cannot expect to experience more than what you'd expect for that amount, which is really for locals who just wish to have a summer diversion in a resort with pools. Resorts that offer affordable rates equates to more local visitors who look beyond quality sought by foreign tourists and actually expect nothing of the sort in favor of spartan facilities that serves their purposes.

Like other resorts in Rizal, Club Serene Resort overlooks the skyline of Metro Manila and is a short distance from SM Mall in Taytay. If you and your family live in the Antipolo, Taytay, or Cainta area, Club Serene is one option if you are looking for an affordable escape even for just one day, just to have fun with family and friends. Based on resort reviews of locals and visitors who've been to Club Serene, in this resort, it's not the ambiance, the facilities, or the scenery that's important or what you'd care to go to; it's really more about the time you spend with the people you care about.

The main patio of Club Serene Resort with a tamarind tree as a centerpiece.

Club Serene Resort with pools is located along Cabrera Road, Barangay Dolores, Taytay, Rizal. You can check out more of the resort on the official Club Serene Resort website.

Bread Looks Like Roasted Pig

Just like real lechon in Cebu, there's Pinoy bread shaped like a suckling pig baked and sold in the Philippines. You can call it Pork Bread or Piggy Bread if you want to. At first glance, you'd think this pork bread is a real honest-to-goodness roasted suckling pig.

A bakery in Cainta, Rizal in the Philippines, Joy Karen bakeshop (near Junction intersection), claims to be the originator of the Pork Bread. The owner says he's been baking such bread, which he simply calls "lechon" (Tagalog for roasted pig) for many years and that other breads shaped like a suckling pig are inspired by his creations. He doesn't use a pig roaster or even a lechon oven. A simple bread oven works well for him.

Learning to make your own recipe for lechon bread that looks like real Cebu lechon only looks easy and takes practice. The owner says he doesn't make his Pork Breads too large because the bigger sizes sacrifice quality. The Pork Bread is a special Pinoy product from Joy Karen and isn't always available. But when it does go on sale, it's always a hit and never fails to amaze people by how the bread looks like a real pig fresh from out from the pig roaster. Some ask the bakery how to make bread shaped like a suckling pig, but it's really best to just buy them, if you're not a fan of baking.

The Pinoy Pork Bread, tasty as it is, doesn't taste like real Filipino lechon as some people would think. It's actually slightly sweet and has chocolate chips inside. It's best eaten while still warm and families just love it as an afternoon snack. If you want to eat pork but can't take the fat, maybe this bread shaped like a pig, is the next best thing. It's the perfect recipe for lechon without the fat. It's an amazing tribute to Philippine lechon cuisine wherein the suckling pig is the star.

Here's a lovable Piglet with Winnie the Pooh Salt and Pepper Shaker Set you can order here.

Coconut Harvesting in The Philippines

Here's how trees with coconuts are harvested in a palm tree plantation cum resort in Quezon province in the Philippines. Among the recreational facilities like tennis and basketball courts, swimming pools and gazebos are these tall palm trees which are regularly harvested for their glorious fruit. Coconut nuts from Quezon get to reach places as far as Manila, perhaps even the United States for their coconut water, now touted as the new vitality drink. If you've ever wondered how palm coconut trees are harvested of their coconut nuts, then here are pictures that will be of interest to you.



First, the trees with coconuts (the coco fruit of the coco tree of the coco palm family) are harvested with the use of a very long harvester made from bamboo. At the tip of this palm coconut harvester is a sharp-toothed iron cutter which is used to saw through the stalk that bears the coconuts. The cut palm tree coconut nuts fall, are gathered on the ground, and are husked on the spot. The naked coconuts are then placed in baskets often called kaing slung on the back of a horse. The coconuts are then taken to a storage area prior to distribution to buyers.

TRIVIA: How do I open a coconut? First remove the husk. Use a sharp, pointed object that stays in place and just hammer the side of the coconut on it to strip the husk. When all the husk is removed, place the coconut on one hand and use a wedge-shaped tool to strike the side of the coconut (not the part with the eyes) repeatedly with a hammering force, rolling the coconut along as it cracks.

Shih-Tzu Dog Planking on a Giant Chess Board

A Shi Tzu dog does planking on a giant chess board.

Planking dog

Have you ever seen dogs for planking? You know - that craz-e planking thing wherein you lie flat and make your body rigid like a plank with your face on the ground? Yup, that kind of planking. Well, this dog, which appears to be a Shih Tzu, is one of the dog pets that are cute and happens to be also one of the great dogs for planking. It's a resident pet of a Christian retreat resort at the foot of Mt. San Cristobal in Quezon (Rizal Re-Creation Center) in the Philippines and one of its favorite lounging areas is this giant chess board in one of the gazebos.

If you happen to be looking to get dogs for pets that are cute, then the Shih Tzu is a nice choice. But this particular Shih Tzu is more cat in how it behaves, preferring to keep to itself and not mind you even if you try to get its attention. It goes where it pleases, ignoring the resort guests even when they come in droves. Once it lies down on the giant chessboard, it stretches out its hind legs flat on the floor like a plank. In this planking position, it's hard to tell the front from the rear of the dog even if you look closely. It's a good thing that this Shih Tzu's companion, a huge St. Bernard dog, doesn't mistake his little friend for a rag and sits on it.

Shih Tzu (Complete Pet Owner's Manual)

Hot Chili Ice Cream in the Philippines

Chili ice cream served at the 1st Colonial Grill

1st Colonial ice cream selections.

With so many ice cream flavors available, would you want to try chili ice cream? Yes, it's one of the strangest ice cream recipes out there and you can find some served at the 1st Colonial Grill in Legazpi City in Albay province in Bicol, Philippines. As a region known for it's chili pepper cuisine, ice cream made from hot chili peppers isn't surprising. Bicolanos are famous for their hot dishes, so if you're looking for ice cream that's really hot, you can find some in Bicol.

Where can you find 1st Colonial Grille? This restaurant famous for its exotic homemade ice cream recipes has several branches in Legazpi City. Just ask around and you'll be directed to one of the branches like the one at the Pacific Mall. Several unique ice cream flavors are available, such as Bailey's (the cream liquor), Kalamansi, Malunggay (Moringa oleifera), Tinutong (burnt rice), Pili (a native nut), Coffee, and Melon, but the most intriguing is the chili, or sili, ice cream, as it's called locally. But there's nothing silly about this homemade ice cream. It's seriously hot on top of its sweetness and creaminess. A spoonful of it will initially naturally feel cold in your mouth, but after several more, you will definitely taste the burning hot chili.

The 1st Colonial chili ice cream flavor is not for everyone, but if you're curious, you will need to have a few ice-cold glasses of water ready. You may give a cold shoulder to this chili ice cream, but this is the hottest homemade ice cream around town. If you'll be visiting Legazpi City any time soon to see Mayon Volcano, make sure you also drop by 1st Colonial Grille to get a taste of its amazing flavors of ice cream. It's cozy, laid back, and has friendly management and staff.

You can make your own ice cream recipe using chili. Just add blended chili into the mix! Learn the basics of making homemade ice cream here.

1st Colonial Grill manager gets friendly with customers.

Spooky Chapel on Haloween Night

Every year, on the first day of November, known as undas locally, people in the Philippines flock to cemeteries to visit their dead. At this time of year, all roads lead to memorial parks and public cemeteries. Where there's a cemetery, there's traffic and people - lots of them. Thus, all other places are left almost empty. The roadside Catholic chapel pictured here is one of them.

Locked securely behind an iron gate, it sits mute, silent but still inviting in its call to the spiritual and religious in Catholics. The lights left switched on at night gives the small interior an eerie auria, making the statues of the saints shadowy and gloomy. Nevertheless, the open bars of the gate still permit devout Catholics to pray. They just have to stay outside by the road. This chapel is in Hagonoy, Bulacan.

Read about Ghosts in the Philippines and other supernatural stuff - Supernatural Philippines

Thatched Roof House in the Philippines

Nipa hut by Alexcooper1. WIkipedia

Thatched roofs used to be the traditional roof construction norm in the Philippines. There are now few homes left that use natural dried leaves or grass to shed rain. Typically, roof thatching is used on nipa huts, the traditional-style house of Filipinos of old.

Through the centuries, the thatched roof never lost its popularity, though it became rare to see them used in houses, even the old ones from the early 20th century which are made of wood and stone. These days, old houses are stll found standing in heritage places like Vigan, Batangas, and Bulacan, but the roofs of most of them now use modern sheet iron.

Fortunately, there are still houses in the Philippines which use roof thatching. The house pictured here is found in Bulacan province. Notice that it also uses the traditional capiz shell sliding windows. Though the roof of the small garage is corrugated iron, the house is still a quaint picture  reminiscent of how all houses used to look in the country.