What a weekend it has been! So many new places, new faces, and new experiences.
On Friday, all of us (including 11 students from India) spent the morning working in the rice paddies where we had the opportunity to experience traditional and automated field preparation and rice planting methods — I will make a separate post on this soon once I receive the pictures that were taken during that activity. In the afternoon, Froilan (the on-site supervisor for all IRRI students) drove the five of us around Los Baños and showed us what restaurants we should try out while we are here. We then stopped at a small vendor where I tried Carabou (water-buffalo) milk for the first time — it was delicious but it was also chocolate flavoured so maybe that doesn’t count as an honest review.
Water-Buffalo chocolate milk
Next we drove to the outskirts of Los Baños to the biggest lake in the Philippines, Laguna de Bay, where we had great views of the water front and could even see Manila in the distance. We learnt that the lake is a huge fishing spot for Tilapia.
Great photo-op at Laguna de Bay!
We then drove up Mount Makiling to buy some fruit from vendors that are considerably cheaper than vendors closer to IRRI and UPLB (University of the Philippines Los Baños). I ended up buying a Dragonfruit, which I have had before, as well as a Marang, which I have yet to try. The Marang is a strange-looking fruit that can only be eaten once the outside has turned brown and the flesh has become soft, apparently when it starts to smell like gasoline the fruit is ready to be eaten. I don’t know if I should be excited or scared but I’m sure it will be an interesting experience either way.
A Marang fruit
After our fruit-buying excursion, Froilan introduced us to the Filipino specialty of Buko Pie — Buko is the flesh of a young coconut. Buko Pie is filled with layered slices of coconut flesh surrounded by a custard, it is baked and served straight from the oven. Buko Pie is one of the most popular desserts in Los Baños and I testify that it really is delicious! If I had to describe Buko Pie I would say it is reminiscent of Apple Pie with the custard resembling that of a Melk Tert (a South African custard tart).
Buko Pie (sorry for the burry picture) 
We had Lety’s Buko Pie – one of the most well-known suppliers of Buko Pie in LB
On Saturday, we decided to go on a hike up Mount Makiling to the Mud Spring. The Mud Spring is a type of hotspring created by the action of heat, from underlying volcanic activity, acid, and different microorganisms in the rocks and soil. They usually smell like rotting egg because of the presence of sulfur in the area. On our way to the Mud Spring we stopped at the Saturday Market at Freedom Park. I didn’t end up buying anything but it was fun to interact with the locals and have a look at what was being sold — for future reference.
Our walk up to Mud Spring and back ended up taking about 4 hours and we walked from about 20 km. It was extremely hot (34C/93F) and I’m convinced I got a month’s worth of exercise done in that day alone but luckily I had packed enough water, we had Aircons waiting for us back at IRRI, and the scenery was beautiful so it was well worth it.
The water was so hot that you see and hear it boiling and bubbling
We saw so many different types of butterflies while hiking up
Had to pull out my safari hat because the sun was ruthless