Armin showed why he was named the No.1 DJ in the World (for the 3 consecutive years) and that set was probably the best House/Trance music display I've seen this year.

Armin van Buuren spinning Manila at the World Trade Center. The man's got talent and living his dream. Amazing.

A little hangover didn't stop us from doing a little retail therapy at the biggest mall in Asia the next day - MALL OF ASIA.

We hopped on over to Greenbelt Mall for dinner at Fely J's restaurant. It was about 15 minutes away but we got there 45 minutes late because of heavy traffic.

After dinner, we made our way to Rockwell to check out a friend's bikini stall at a bazaar they had right outside the mall. Rockwell is a very nice downtown area, it reminded me of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills a little.

We were going to out partying again that night (we only had 4 days in Manila afterall!) but finally decided to rest up for our day trip the next morning to Tagaytay. We hired a driver for about 3000 pesos (SGD90 to take us around). 90 bucks to get a driver to take you anywhere you wanted for the day? Deal.

Don't forget to eat your breakfast! I still live by my health rules everywhere I go. We ate at Pancake House (may not be the healthiest but hey, I eat oatmeal almost every other day!) and it was heaaaaaaaaven. Probably even better than IHOP?! I had the blueberry pancake with kiwi juice.

Time to walk it out! On our way up the mountain to see the beautiful view from Tagaytay. Adam & Charles were poking fun at my backpack - said I looked like I was ready to go to school. Meanies!

Tagaytay View We got lucky because it had been drizzling/raining a bit but the weather that day was PERFECT.

After an hour of excessive cam-whoring, we were off to look for the pier to find a boat that would take us to Taal Volcano for a little hike. Sure you'll see a few cows, horses and goats for sale on your drive up/down the mountain but we even spotted a Starbucks! And a pretty nice looking one too (again, it reminded me of the States. Am I homesick?).

The castle and tree top houses looked UNREAL. At first I thought I was hallucinating. Would definitely like to check it out sometime. I'll see you soon, FANTASY WORLD.

Our driver took us to this pretty shady looking pier that had only one boat and a guy asking for 1700 pesos for the boat ride to Taal Volcano. That only included a return trip and no guide or whatsoever.

Cutest stray puppy I've ever seen!

We found ourselves on a beach near Batangas (South of Manila), don't remember what it was called but the people there were really nice, friendly and not too pushy at all. We rented a bamboo house float where we enjoyed some fine brew (San Miguel, baby!) and watched the sunset...

Most Beautiful Sunset That's the bikini I got from a friend's bikini store called Soak Swimwear.

The next day was Charles' grandma's 85th birthday (the main reason why he went there to visit, Adam & I just tagged along because neither of us have been to the Philippines). A few of their close friends and relatives came to the house to celebrate. It was nice to be at a traditional Filipino family gathering. It really made me appreciate the culture, tradition and...

...FOOD! Halo-halo, anyone?

We left the same evening, I was a little sad because I wasn't ready to leave! Nanai is wearing the necklace I got as her birthday gift - it was a smoky quartz stone from Brazil. Its believed to help detoxify the body, relieve fears, lift depressions and bring calmness and positive thought. ♥

Wished I could have stayed longer, I've fallen in love with the Philippines. Words can't describe. The nature, the people, the culture, shopping... There's just so much to explore out there.