Flat Rocks!

Yes, I know it has been a while since I have written a blog, and for that I am sorry. There’s just so much to do here, and school takes up a fair share of my time too J. Anyway, last Monday (June 13), we (the five of us) decided to go to Flat Rocks on a whim. We don’t have classes on Mondays, so nobody really had anything to do. Flat Rocks is within UPLB’s campus, but it is a bit of a trek up through the mountain from the main part of campus. We started on our way around 9:30AM, and by about half way there, it started pouring. You would think that after spending 3 weeks in the Philippines where it rains almost every day, we would have thought to bring umbrellas, but nope! We tried waiting out the storm underneath the entryway of one of the buildings, but after about 15 minutes or so we gave up and just continued on our way. We paid our P10 (about 25 cents!) entry fee, and started on this path through the jungle. There was mud and huge masses of tree roots everywhere, and it was pretty slippery since it had been raining pretty hard for a while. Thankfully, nobody fell and we found our way their without much trouble. Flat Rocks is basically a bunch of huge rocks created by lava when Mount Makiling (yes, my school is on the side of a dormant volcano!) erupted hundreds or maybe thousands of years ago (nobody knows when it last erupted). The rocks are in and around the river that flows down the mountain, creating a lot of small waterfalls and pools. Basically an awesome playground for big kids like us! J 

The men, being men, had to assert their manliness and climb up on the huge rocks that the ladies couldn't scale…yes I am admitting a physical weakness here :P

Just plain awesome!

We were soaked from walking in the rain, so we weren’t shy about getting wet and playing in the water!

 RJ looking downstream. It is so peaceful here!

I’m sure there are cool places in the U.S. like Flat Rocks, but we would never get to experience them the way we were able to enjoy Flat Rocks, because of all the safety regulations. Being here, I am realizing how 

many neat things you can do when the government doesn’t regulate everything!

Disclaimer: I know regulations are supposed to be for our safety, but sometimes they just need to trust that we can handle ourselves and have a little fun! If everyone is careful and doesn’t do stupid stuff, there is no reason why we can’t enjoy nature. If someone falls, it’s their fault for pushing themselves too far. Just my opinion, sorry for the rant.