Harvesting pineapples near Manila.

Heading out of Manila and into the hills, three crops are very noticeable: coconuts, bananas and pineapples, which are grown in huge quantities and sold on just about every street corner in the country. I bet you thought that pineapples grow on trees?… No, they are found on small spiky shrubs usually grown in neat rows. My photo shows a field of young plants in the foreground with more mature shrubs behind. I can tell you that there is nothing more delicious than a fresh pineapple expertly cut up in front of you and served with a cocktail stick!

A barefooted coconut plantation worker heads for the top.

This was a tricky photo to take, because not only do these coconut plantation workers move very quickly but I was photographing against the light. To avoid underexposing the subject, I set the camera to overexpose by at least a couple of ‘stops’.

Taal Volcano, one of the Philippines most active, sits in the middle of a lake.

This was the main reason for my visit though, a good viewpoint of the famous Taal Volcano, which eventually emerged from the clouds to give me this atmospheric shot.

NEXT TIME: I head south to Mindanao Island for a ‘jungle’ trek and go in search of a paradise beach!