A three-hour scenic drive from Manila leads to Pico de Loro Cove, a leisure community set in Nasugbu, Batangas that offers boundless wonders and possibilities for its residents and club members

Living in Manila definitely has its perks. I’ve always likened it to New York in that it has everything a restless individual needs, and that is ample distraction. Oh yes, Manila will undoubtedly hold you captivated with its fast-paced corporate power jobs to its endless malls and sprawling event venues offering diverse culture, cuisine and entertainment experiences. 

However, while city life may not always be a bad thing, leading a busy, fast-paced lifestyle will eventually take its toll on most. Burnout, confusion, loss of inspiration—these are just among the unfortunate results that stem from a full-throttle existence. Luckily for weary city dwellers and habitués looking to escape the chaos, another benefit of living in Manila today is that the perfect weekend getaway is just a three-hour drive away. 

Jose Rizal's Laguna Reveries

The evening shifted as though the weight of stars bore down on this corner of the universe. It’s half past eleven in the evening, a Wednesday, a few days prior to the rising of the full moon. A child was heard a-screaming, belting from one end of the spectrum to the other a cry yet to be silenced by the surrounding darkness. Beneath the looming scar that sliced the night from the birthing day, a poor mother pleaded to the Virgin of Antipolo to save her newborn son. Save for that evening’s defiant moon, the night was pitch black, and nothing but angels and a clutch of stars had heard her cries.

When I went to Calamba, Laguna to see the house of Jose Rizal for the first time, typhoon Basiang had just shaken up Metro Manila and surrounding provinces. So it was with much awe that I stepped inside the Rizal Shrine, the house where the national hero grew up, seeing it unscarred by the fury of the storm.