TOUR. It was a three-day fun tour that singing businesswoman and television personality Hildi Montesclaros a.k.a. Ate Ging organized for the members of the dyHP Gabayan sa Kaayohan drama group. She also invited me to join them in my capacity as her co-host and pianist of our twice weekly show As Time Goes By over Cebu Catholic Television Network channel 47.
MUSEUM. Day one took us to the Malacañang Palace museum where some of the personal effects of past presidents are on display. Our tour guide also brought us to the other parts of the palace but he wasn’t able to fully explain the significance of those several rooms that we understood were used as meeting rooms by past presidents during the Spanish era. Our guide even failed to explain the presence of a yellow baby grand piano in one of those rooms. But the Malacañang tour was also a learning experience for all of us.
SENATE. From the palace, our group headed to the Philippine Senate where we also visited its museum. There, we also learned a lot about the legislative body but we failed to catch up with the Senate session. We only had a glimpse of a press conference conducted by Sen. Richard Gordon during that time.
AMAZING. Day two was a tour of an amazing place in Taguig City called McKinley Hill. There, we saw the Venice Grand Canal, an attraction patterned after the Italian city. The canal is filled with crisp clean blue water and some gondolas. The place gives its guests a glimpse of Venice, Italy with a few restaurants and shopping centers in the vicinity. I highly recommend McKinley Hill as one of the top attractions of Taguig City, therefore, a must-visit place.
VOLCANO. Day three brought all of us to Tagaytay, specifically Taal Vista Hotel, from where we could see the still-active Taal volcano. We gathered that it already had 33 historical eruptions. Viewed from where we were, the volcano and lake were very picturesque and attractive.
TOURISTS. The rest of our group were Randy Padayao Suson, Melody Taberos, Ricky Garing, Rannie Bodomo, Ingrid Vertudazo, Miraluna Flores Tumulak and daughter Marcia, Joel Benzi, Christian Diano, Ariel Mancao, Monica Sacedon, Leo Manlanat and Trifon Morales. All of us are one in sincerely thanking Ate Ging for the memorable tour.
CONCERT. If plans push through, international concert pianist Ingrid Sala-Santamaria will stage her farewell show in Cebu on Feb. 25 to coincide with her 77th birthday.
This column is regularly published on Monday.