Just got back from our brainstorming thingie in Lake Caliraya. I didn't know it was a lake, I was told we were going to a resort, and I assumed it was in Batangas instead of Laguna, and I didn't know it was going to be raining and cold. It took us four hours to get there, and part of the route was a climb around mountains I thought we were going to Baguio. We stayed in Lagos del Sol. It's a really nice place, like a mixture of Camp John Hay, a beach resort only that instead of sand the shore is sort of reddish soil. Somebody told me that Caliraya is an artificial lake. I didn't see the huge blue pipe that brings the water there, but they're building a dam now. [Also, if you would want to see the place, you better go now. I was told that they'll be closing down for ten months prepare for a Hollywood production involving Tom Cruise.]

The huts sit on the slope, with cobblestone paths that let you walk into thick foliage. I took a walk with one of the other writers, and we got caught in the rain. We took refuge on the veranda of one of the huts and talked school. We took the same course in college but didn't run into each other until a couple of years ago. Warning though: I would hate to take a walk through those woods at night. You have to either ride the van or walk down the pathway in order to get to the restaurant. If you walk, even with the lights and all, it's still freaking eerie. There's a buddha statue beside a pond somewhere there, and when you pass by, it feels like the statue is staring at you. Plus there's this feeling that I'd rather walk by the sea than a lake that is not moving, but somehow lets you feel that there's something there underneath. That lake may be artificial, but who knows what sort of mutant there is breeding underneath, right? I'm jumpy.