September 24, 2003. A Tour bus was waiting in front of Starbucks Café at the Shangri-la Hotel in Makati. 32 MVP members were looking forward to the exciting tour.

The expedition started on time. Sony Ng, our charming guide, welcomed us and gave us some future information about the bus ride to the Carvings in Angono, about the visit to the museum of the Blanco Family and the following lunch in a quiet and gorgeous resort with a view of Laguna de Bay.

What an impressive day I thought and it really was! After an entertaining ride to the top of the small hill behind Angono we admired first the surroundings and then walked through a manmade tunnel to the interesting rock formation above us.

There they were, the famous 3000 year old Petroglyphs!

Dr. Jesus Peralta gave us in the lecture a very good impression about the old 127 drawings engraved on the wall of a shallow cave.

Author Maricis Jan Tobias writes:
"The Angono Petroglyphs are listed in the world Inventory of Rock Art. In 1996, it was also included in the World Monuments Watch, a list of 100 Most Endangered Sites in the World."

Now we had the famous place in front of us. Personally I was surprised, that the drawings stuck so close together. But even then you could recognize the different characters, the lizard and frogs and there it was—the mother and child—on the right side of the cave. I remembered the words of Dr. Peralta telling us about the strange coincidence, when they wanted to photograph the mother and child and it did not appear on the picture paper?!

When you are standing underneath the cavern you understand why people chose this protected place to live. The shelter is excellently situated to the sunlight, having the rock in the back and the open view to the lower land. It was to my opinion an advantage for the old times.

Our next stop was at the Jose V. Blanco Museum. Jose V. Blanco is the indisputable master of Philippines genre painting. Blanco tells us through his work what it is to be a Filipino in Folk tradition and in contemporary artistry. He is the father of seven renowned Filipino painters of Angono, Rizal. His wife started to paint at the age of 48. (Maybe it could encourage us all, to start whatever we like to do. Age has little influence as long we make the decision to start and have the will to work on it!)

The bus brought us through narrow streets to a silent and cozy resort on the Laguna de Bay. There we could enjoy our lunch under a tree house and rest a while in the lovely park.

Once it was time to go back, we sat in the bus, ready to leave. Let's say we were ready but in front of us was a colorful Jeepney parked. The big question was now, how could we find the driver of the vehicle? It didn’t take long and a few strong Filipinos didn’t hesitate. They just pushed the parked Jeepney to the side. A little smile on both sides; our way was free to drive off.

I think everybody was having a wonderful time on this unforgettable excursion. We thank Sony for the great organization and unique journey.