See the real beauty of the Taal Volcano, some enormous views along the way and get ready to melt your hearts from a story that I am going to share in today's episode of TheDiaryGame.

In today's episode of Steemit Philippines Moderator's Entry, I have seen some spectacular entries that our ubersome members submitted. I felt like I need to step up the game coz all their entries are excellent. I won't focus much on formatting to make this more impressive but to the story and the delivery itself. I need to tap the hearts of the readers and send you to an emotional roller-coaster ride as you read along.

I have made a photo-collage to show every the highlights of yesterday's event to be shared today September 10, 2021. This will also serve as my cover photo.The cover photo shows the famous Taal Volcano, the delicious Beef Bulalo and the fisherman that I met on the shore of the lake itself.

Morning of September 09, 2021

I woke up at around 10am, kinda late because I already slept at around 3am from the online job that I used to do since January and being available to the US Blockchain leaders in our organization. The community have gone berserk because of the price of the altcoin that we support is nearly hitting the $1 value. Upon waking up, prayed to the Lord and thank Him for giving me another chance to wake up again and enjoy these blessing that He bestowed upon me.

I sent a message to my business partner informing him that I just woke up and our meeting will still resume in the afternoon as agreed it will be at 2:00 PM. We also agreed that he'll just pick me up anywhere near WalterMart Sta. Rosa. So I did my normal morning routine after I got up from bed and while sipping my coffee, I check the thousands of messages shared on the Telegram GC community chat and the Trading Channel.

I haven't taken photos on my way to the meeting place as I will fascinate your eyes with the captivating shots that I did during the joy-ride.

The whole states of Laguna, Cavite and Batangas are still in Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) so we still need to abide by the rules of the government in being precautious in our travel.

Afternoon 2:00 PM

We met at Caltex Gasoline Station just beside WalterMart. I won't prolong this further and finally start showing you the amazing photos along our way. The original plan was just to go to Tagaytay only and eat Beef Bulalo! Talk about other business ventures and that's it!^{Source: Google Maps - Search Nuvali to Tagaytay Alternate routes}

We took a different route instead of taking the usual Silang or Casile Road going to Tagaytay. The road is so quiet and super less vehicles are really taking this way. A great place to jog in the morning but kinda spooky during the night.

We were able to pass by one of the the former houses of the late president Ferdinand Marcos here in this super secluded road. Nobody lives there but the care-takers of the house. Those two houses are their properties as well as the whole plains that your eyes can see here.^{Shots using my Oppo A5S.}

As we continue our journey going to Tagaytay, we have passed-by a lot of cliffs and got amazed with the scenes that nature can give. This was my first time to get through this road and already had this goal of buying my own car (which is I can do whenever I want) probably after this pandemic wherein this would become a real necessity. So that I can also go here whenever I wanted to.

These are the views that I have seen while on the vehicle.^{The Beauty Of Nature Along The Road - Shot using my Samsung Galaxy A32 at broad daylight.}

Then we pulled over to this Bulalo Restaurant beside the road and on top of the cliff overlooking this astounding view of nature again. My eyes literally were immersed with all sorts of green hues along the vast plains and the cloudy skies as a background.

The Bulalo Treat:

This was the original plan. Just to eat this super-famous dish here in the Philippines. One Special Bowl Serving with 2 cups of rice cost 595 Philippines Pesos or around $12 US only. Good for 4 people if you just stopped over for a normal lunch serving. But for the both of us who starved ourselves since morning then it this definitely satisfied our cravings.^{Beef Bulalo - Knee Part - Shot taken using my Samsung Galaxy A32 cropped to gain this zoom look.}

The Beef Bulalo in this this part of the mainland Luzon is well-known for its super tender and juicy flavor of beef. The cows here are living in such a cool environment and eating from the rich and green green-grass of the vast plains. The soup is super flavorful that's what I was craving for such a long time. The marrow in the center of the hole is super juicy and the delicious taste stayed in my taste-buds for a minute or two. This is what the people are also yearning for when they order this dish too. It has corns, Chinese Pechay, Baguio beans, a few potatoes. When it was served, it also includes condiments for dips which is a fish-sauce, calamansi and one piece of huge red-pepper. The formidable "sawsawan" on the sides is popular here in the Philippines.

To add to the great feeling being here is the ambience of the place that even though it is just on the street-side, you would still compare it to the 5-star class restaurants here in the Philippines.

How? Here's why:

Here I am showing you how I see these majestic views the way that I do.^{Apologies for these construction materials visible since the safety barrier to the cliff is under construction.These photos just made me love nature more as I get stuck inside the house just doing my job. All taken using Samsung A32.}

Now that both our tummies were full, we're set to go home. But eventually we decided to go further and go to Tagaytay and take a look at the Taal Volcano.

Just for the record, recently the whole area with several kilometer radius had few tremors and intermittently erupting every few hours. It has this certain amount of danger proceeding to our plan but what the heck! We are already here so I decided to go for it.

And yes, my buddy's pet is in the front seat beside her master! What a funny sight. If I sit there in the front seat, then definitely she will bother me a lot because she doesn't really wanted to be placed in the back-seat either.

My buddy's pet dog is actually trying to check on me at the back-seat every now and then, making sure that I am not trying to do anything wrong to her master! Just like this one. This is such a funny sight. Isn't it?

We stopped over to Crosswind Resort Park to check the residences there for future properties as a rest-house in Tagaytay for relaxation. Yes, we can now afford these things because we have successfully ventured in cryptocurrencies and won from our trades most of the time.

Look at these pine-trees forming a pattern:

Then we went to the entrance of the Village and this caught my attention. The giant chair!^{Shot using my Samsung Galaxy A32, the chair doesn't looked like it was a giant one but it is.}

---

The Taal Volcano.

Just a bit of a background, the Taal Volcano is located inside the Taal Lake which is a Municipality of Batangas. One of the State or Province here in Luzon.

It is also considered as The Lake Within A Lake. The Taal Volcano is also listed as one of the world's smallest ones, but it is the Philippines' 2nd most active one.

Though there have been a misconception because this is the Island that is erupting.

And not this one according to Google and so many other documented info shared in the textbooks and even on the internet.^{Source: Google}

It is also the image that was taught to us during our younger years in Elementary. We were just all got updated last year (January 2020) when it erupted angrily.

Here are the other shots of the Taal Volcano:

Look at those fantastic shots! The volcano is actually denuded because of the recent lava flows. No trees are present on those boulders of mountain hills except on the base of the island. Many residents in the island and some parts of the nearby places including where I stand now are relocated to other parts of Batangas. This beauty is a killer too. During the time it roughly erupted, the ashes almost killed a lot of animals for livestock and disrupted the peaceful community that surrounds the volcano. I have interviewed a townsfolk there as I also bought two pieces of Guyabano for 100 pesos or $2 US. Along with the purchase is the viable piece of information to determine what the real island volcano is, and not what we have known for such a long time.^{A shot using my Samsung Galaxy A32 - A proof that I went here}

This is the zoom view of the island that we used to have known "The Taal Volcano" but it isn't. ^{The Laurel Island is often mistaken as the Taal Volcano itself. This shot is a 3x zoom of Samsung A32.}

At my back is also such a great view.

After this ride, I thought it would already end there! But to my surprise, there is another place my buddy wants me to see. And so we drove further.

Just for the record, this is such a great place to go on overnight stay and see all these amazing views by your window. For 24 hours you will be able to stay in this cozy but inexpensive room for 800 Pesos only.

Laeuna De Taal Photo not mine but for promotion purposes only. Suggested place to stay to see the Taal Volcano fascinating views. Source

Let's proceed further to the dead-end of the road.

As we go along our journey and passing by several towns in Batangas, we have talked a lot of things that we have achieved on the financial side. I have discovered that my buddy has ventured into a lot of traditional businesses but not yet in the online world though he is an IT developing websites for his clients.

At last we reached the end of the road and now we are on the bay-shore.^{A photo of my buddy with his Montero GLS Sport and beside it is the adorable pet.}

Here are some photos of the bay-walk.

Here is this unforgettable experience:

I saw this man swimming on the lake. You can check the photo above my selfie with the waters as a background. I thought he was just plainly swimming. I checked the waters if it was meant to have a dip some other time. But I guess I'll pass because I don't think that the water is clean. Especially it is a lake and it doesn't really looked nice. I took out one piece of cigarette and has a smoke. As I finished, the man rose to the side of the bay and to my surprise, he has all these nets and found out he went fishing.

My curious self went near him and wanted to see how much fish he caught to know how blessed the town is for having this kind of sustainability from nature itself. I politely introduced myself as Aaron from Laguna. I asked his name and he told me it's Bert. I asked to show me the fish he caught that he told me he's been catching for two hours of swimming and diving this lake. To my dismay... here it is...

^{Three pieces of Tilapia but one is actually huge and could roughly be 3/4 of a Kilo.}

Imagine three pieces of fishes for 2 hours of hard work getting it. Instead of being happy for him, I was quite saddened. I further asked if he and his family will just cook it for themselves or will sell it to buy food so that the money will be used to buy other foods because it is not actually good to eat the same meal and the same kind of fish over and over again every single day (that, I assumed). He said, if he will sell it, at this time, nobody would buy at 5PM because people might think in the market that it has already been the unsold perishable good in the morning. People will also think that they are no longer fresh. And it is just a few nobody would buy it for 100 pesos for the three pieces. His family hasn't taken lunch yet and this will just then be their FOOD for the WHOLE DAY which is I assumed for their supper.

My heart was crushed because at that instant, I already thought of myself as being lucky because I just had a Bulalo treat from my buddy (which is I can also pay but thankful enough that he paid for it). I have also thought at that quick moment that his family has still not taken any food yet because that's the only time he went for a swim to catch some fish. Although not my problem, but I was moved by the fact that he is still a responsible father willing to provide for his family.

I offered to buy all his catch for 200 pesos but then I thought I don't have the plastic bag to put all those fishes in and it might mess up inside the car. So I just gave the 200 pesos to him and told him to buy food aside from that. Kuya Bert smiled. He thanked me genuinely by the look in his eyes and from his smile.

That feeling though, afterwards! Priceless!

He then walked away while realizing this awesome feeling to give - with a purpose.

I took one final shot in this place with him walking away. Took one final glance at the sea and said to myself that being one with nature or close enough is such a great feeling for us to do once in a while. How much more for the people who are close to the sea and the forest.

One final glance of the lake as the sun is close to set at 5:30PM.

Then I told my buddy to head on our way home. During our travel back, thoughts burst in and had this moment of realization that some people are still really working so hard but gets a few from their efforts.

It is thru us influencers to really share to these people the power of cryptocurrency and social media for them to fully adopt this kind of activity we are having. I am blessed with this kind of skill and experience to be adept to this business and will continue to be a bridge to these people who are really willing to be taught and learn this kind of business.

^{Meet my buddy John and Chu-chu, his pet. One final photo before we head back home.}

Went home at exactly 6:00 PM and bought a pizza as a pasalubong for my mom.

Thank you so much for reading my extra long entry for the day and this should be a standard DiaryGame for moderators as we need to make it meaningful that would be a good example for our community members to put their efforts in each of their entries and not just for the sake of creating one and earn from it.

This is @Fycee and I hope I was able to touch your heart with the funny sights of the pet peeking thru the car window and the sad part is the realization of the efforts of some people not being enough for themselves and even for their families.

Your Steemit Philippines community moderator from Luzon, bringing you one of the spectacular sight here.

Enjoy the upcoming weekend. Lhuv-y'all!

#photography #philippines #steemsea #nature #volcano #taalvolcano #tagaytay #smartphonephotography

10% of this reward will also go to our community curation account.

Thank you to all my Luzon friends here in our community and inviting everyone to participate:

@benisnice @jewel89 @aalagenesis @reginecruz @neihy05 @vinsaint @jeycel @mikejosephortega @eryll @hanna716 @sxshx @joreneagustin @mers @kneelyrac @beyonddisability

Updates in the latest onboarding contest will be shared on the next post.

Grateful for @booming support our community is getting, as well as @steemcurator01 and other Steemit Curators.