Byaheng Escudero

Had my first visit to Villa Escudero yesterday... good thing it was a holiday... Proceeded to Estepa residence in Sucat, Paranaque from our apartment in Makati at early 5 am... left at around 620 am for our almost two hours (good thing there was no traffic at this time) drive to Villa Escudero in San Pablo City and arrived before 8 am for the opening of the Villa Escudero facilities...

The museum was the maiden destination, which featured so many memorabilia from religious artifacts, to monetary bills, to armors, to military uniforms, to antiques, to chandeliers and a whole lot more... Took me only a short time here though my Titas took probably 3 to 4 times more in this place... The appreciation of artifacts I guess comes with age...

We then took our Carabao ride to the pavilion of Villa Escudero with matching folk songs... Interesting to note during our ride the one guiding the cart told us that how the well treated they are by the Escuderos, with benefits including receipt of land for their houses, scholarships and their employment... Upon reaching the pavilion, we had a round of snacks and after that- rafting along the lake. The lake seem so serene and beautiful...

After rafting, it was time to fill our tummies with nourishment... and what is the best spot for such than under a falls with water flowing freely along your feet... The dish was more of the inihaw variety with several fruits and vegetable... yum yum... A refreshing site accompanied by a refreshing meal... After lunch, we still took time to snap some shots along the area with waterfalls and the swamp-like area as backdrop... Then came the invite from those who would be performing in the cultural show later.

At 2 pm, the cultural show started featuring dances from the country's history and the different cultural groups in the Philippines as performed by their various employees... and also featuring the Villa Escudero Rondalia Group... the dances was well performed and enjoyed by the audience... The show took about an hour and after this we bought a few souvenirs and waited in line for our carabao ride back to the exit... It is good to note that the carabao rides is more in demand than the regular jeepney ride around the place...

So as we reached the exit... it would be followed by then another long drive back to Makati... this time with a taste of traffic in some portions of Batangas and Calamba... Reached home at 7 pm and cap a trip called, "Byaheng Escudero..."

photos at http://franckxethee.multiply.com