Taken on 21 September 2009
Though the zigzag trail that comes after Tanay, Rizal makes me dizzy, I sometimes take this route instead of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) when going home. The sight of Laguna de Bay with the mountains surrounding it is just so revitalizing.
That day, we were going to Club Manila East. We stopped at this point (before reaching Tanay) for a few minutes to have a group photo with the lake as background. We never knew that it was going to be a so-called calm snapshot before the storm.
It’s a little odd though to realize that it’s “a lake that is a bay”. Gramatically, a bay is a body of water partially enclosed by land with a wide mouth affording access to sea while a lake is an expanse of water entirely surrounded by land. Here’s a story of how it got its name. It was in the town of Bay (pronounced as Ba-é) on the lake’s southern shore that the Augustinians, established their first Christian mission station in Laguna, in 1571. Hence, the lake’s name. Incidentally, the American cartographers misread “Ba-é” as “bay”.
This is the largest lake in the Philippines and the third largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia (in terms of surface area) after Tonle Sap in Cambodia and Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia.
Lumban Bridge. Taken on 20 September 2009 on my way to Liliw, Laguna. Lumban is the neighbor town of Pagsanjan and Kalayaan.
It has 29 lakeshore towns and my hometown and Lumban are amongst these. It has several uses, one of which is power generation.
A grainy shot while passing by the pump storage hydroelectric power station which is operated in Kalayaan, Laguna. It produces about 300 megawatts of electricity. Efforts are underway to increase this capacity to 600 megawatts.
I guess everyone loves the view of this lake whether they’re seeing it from Laguna or Rizal. But being close to something beautiful has sometimes a twin effect. Just as when Pepeng was predicted to overflow the lake, our worries became tantamount to those of the residents of the beautiful Mayon Volcano when there’s a quake and/or possible eruption.
And we pray that these beauties remain calm.
0 thoughts on “The Great Lake, when it’s calm”
kayni
you take great photos; the scenery is so relaxing. yes, let’s hope that they remain calm.
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Photo Cache
You know I’ve never even glimpsed at this beautiful body of water. Your post is very informative. I never knew those info beforehand.
.-= Photo Cache´s last blog ..Cornus Florida =-.
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fortuitous faery
alternatively, you can call this post “the great lake before the great flood.”
can’t believe you were in the philippines when it happened! you didn’t even leave a hint that you were flying there, and for a short time!
.-= fortuitous faery´s last blog ..Birthday Loot From Europe! =-.
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sheng
that’s a nice scenery, i will be to pangasinan soon, i dunno if may madaanan din kaming ganito, hehehe…
.-= sheng´s last blog ..Air Supply – Even that Night is Better! =-.
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PM
dito samin maraming ganiyanng lugar. actually kahit saan LOL isa yan sa joys na gusto ko dito sa province.
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betweenbites
Great photos! It is indeed calming 🙂
Soothed my eyes 😀
.-= betweenbites´s last blog ..Between Bites’ Bloggers’ Choice Award Vote Goes To… =-.
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luna miranda
i always enjoy the view of Laguna de Bay going to Paete via Rizal.
.-= luna miranda´s last blog ..Purple =-.
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kg
i heard that some parts of laguna will be submerged in flood until december….those near laguna lake. di naman kasi dapat tinitirhan yun eh!
i agree, laguna de bay is so relaxing!
.-= kg´s last blog ..My worst post-university experience =-.
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Nebz
From our place in Angono (near Antipolo), we can see the Laguna de Bay. From afar it’s always placid and beautiful.
I agree. The Rizal route going to Laguna have lots of greens and mountains (and ravines too) and the sights are refreshing. Especially pagdating sa bandang Quezon. Takot ako sa mga bangin pero I always enjoy the trip.
Nice photos. Made me want to re-travel that road on my next vacation.
.-= Nebz´s last blog ..As a PBA finalist, I’m gloating, sad and afraid =-.
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katcarneo
I can see Laguna de Bay in the horizon from my tenth floor office in Alabang. It has that certain soothing effect, I must say. Nature is simply beautiful.
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The Nomadic Pinoy
I only get to see this lake from the window of a plane. I see a lot of fisherfolks have built what look like fish pens from above – is that regulated by the local government?
.-= The Nomadic Pinoy´s last blog ..Madventures Philippines =-.
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witsandnuts
DENR imposes a zero fish pen/fish cage policy. And the locals oppose this.
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