Years after its 1991 eruption, the wrath of Mount Pinatubo continued to be felt. Case in point is the San Guillermo Parish Church in Bacolor, Pampanga. On September 3, 1995, after days of torrential rains, a raging lahar flow from the slopes of the previously thought dormant volcano buried the town about half a dozen meters deep.

Only half of the church remains unburied by the lahar flow

Many decades after the painstaking filming of "Apocalypse Now" gave rise to the country's perhaps first surfing destination when the film crew left their surf boards behind, the name Baler has become associated with surfing. While Colonel Kilgore in the film referred to the Viet Congs as "Charlie(s) (who) don't surf," in real-life Baler, everybody surfs.

Sunny skies greeted us upon arrival in Baler's long beach

When Jose Rizal was deported to Dapitan, a sleepy town in Zamboanga del Norte facing the Sulu Sea, the Spanish might have expected that being exiled in a place completely opposite of the cities where he lived and thrived with other La Liga Filipinas members would break his will. Our national hero, on the other hand, has other plans. Rather than accepting defeat, Rizal made his presence in Dapitan felt deeply by members of the local community.

These young men and women channeling 1890s fashion

Stepping out from my accommodation, Zostel Hostel, on a 16 degree °C Delhi morning had me looking forward to witnessing some bustling street activity. Little did I know, bustling was an understatement for what I'm about to experience. I should have braced myself for what was to come because my destination, the Chandni Chowk Market is only one of the oldest and busiest market in a city known for being one of the world's most crowded.

Canals (now closed) once divvied up the market to reflect moonlight.