PASIG RAINFOREST PARK
F. Legaspi Street, Barangay Maybunga, Pasig City

Imagine playing your favorite sport, then going to the zoo or a butterfly garden afterwards. It might be an odd combination but these are some of the things you can easily do while at the Pasig Rainforest Park, which combines fitness activities with elements of nature for individuals and groups alike. Aside from having tennis and badminton courts, a swimming pool, a gym and fitness center, there's also a train that can take you around the park. The mini-zoo houses ostriches, crocodiles and monkeys. There's also an aviary, a full-sized amphitheater and a fountain, plus a children's playground and garden for senior citizens.

Students from the nearby school go to the park to hang out with friends or plan their group assignments, and the location is easily accessible even by public transportation. Open from 5 a.m. up to 7 p.m. Entrance is free. Swimming pool rates are P100 (regular rate); and P60 (for Pasig residents).

Call 642-5280 for more information

MANILA AMERICAN CEMETERY AND MEMORIAL
McKinley Road, Global City, Taguig

Although it's not a place for exercise, picnics or pets, this venue still provides a meaningful trip through history. Visitors to this memorial need not know anyone personally who gave up their lives in the war. A walk through the Wall of the Missing reveals the names of 36,286 uniformed men and women who gave up their lives and are considered missing in action as a result of World War II. Ten-foot high mosaic maps also illustrate the important routes during the war. Despite the sense of loss that it evokes, it is still a sight to behold for its neatly cut grass, shady trees and rolling hills of crosses that are lined up one after the other.

Managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission, the cemetery has 17,097 white marble headstones located in 11 burial plots which are arranged in concentric rings around the Memorial. You'll hear the sound of lawnmowers once in a while, but this 152-acre space is a peaceful spot, whichever corner you choose to sit in. Entrance is free.

For more information, call 844-0212 or 813.2521; or log on to www.abmc.gov

Photos by Alfred Mendoza and Jeff Cape