Number One Too Beaucoup

Palace in the Sky , the unfinished mansion of former President Ferdinand Marcos, has been converted and renamed the People's Park in the Sky.

The Palace in the Sky was built for the official state visit of the former US President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan, though the Reagan's cancelled their trip due to the general unrest and Marcos' problems at the time. Looking at the shell of the palace today, it's hard to imagine the opulence and splendor it enjoyed during its heyday. Hollywood stars entertained the Marcos' and their cronies with such ostentatious and fragrant displays of wasting money, it became one of the final nails in the Marcos' political coffin.

In any event, it's definitely worth the time to visit as the view is amongst the best I've seen; Lake Taal and Taal volcano to the south, Laguna de Bay to the east, and almost as far as Manila to the north. Plus, you get to stamp up the first letterbox in the Philippines!

If you do any research at all on the area, it is easy to find Taal Volcano, which resides in Taal Lake, on the rim of which resides People's Park in the Sky. This is a tourist driven place, but not so crowded that you are unable to find a peaceful moment and wait till any passers-by are out of sight before retrieving the letterbox.

The gate in the photograph below leads to the steep, winding road up to the Palace. Inside is an employee who will take your entrance fee (15 pisos, or about U.S. 30 cents). From this gate the rest of the trip is on foot.

From here, the road winds steeply up. On your left will be a sheer hillside, on your right a steep mountainside. On your way up, watch on your left for the sign pictured below:

At this point, you should stop and pretend to take some pictures, looking for the location of the box and WAITING until the coast is clear to receive it. You will want to go to the end of the sign. Right after the 'K' in 'PARK' you will see a streetlight, about 3 feet off the path on your left:

While looking at this streetlight as if you were taking the picture above, directly to the right and a little bit behind the streetlight, there is a small (about 4 ft tall) 3 stemmed tree. Directly behind this tree is a rock. Under the rock is some Posseware. (a waterproof military container used for decon wipes, so named because they are the Crayola Posse's choice of boxes)

The stamp is the logo of a beer I highly suggest you try while visiting the Philippines, but try it in moderation, it's powerful stuff.

After you stamp up and re-hide the box CAREFULLY, I suggest continuing up the hill and have a wander around this decaying example of the abuse of power.

First Finder gets a HH I planted in the box just for being cool enough to seek out a box in such a far location.

When you return, I suggest you ask a local where Leslie's is. It's an awesome restaurant with wonderful, moderately priced food and good drinks. It is primarily outdoors, you can sit in a Cabana overlooking beautiful Taal lake and it's fish-pens, and Taal volcano:

If you're lucky, the house band will be there. This is them performing ABBA's "Dancing Queen." Truly sublime: