Growing up, I would enjoy passing through NLEX not only because it would mean out-of-town vacation trips, but it also meant enjoying the nice views of nature along the way. There's the vast farmlands of Pampanga. And there's Mt. Arayat that stands tall across the horizon and that persists on your gaze as you travel along the highway.
I would always wonder how this mountain would exist solitarily yet valiantly apart from the surrounding flat landscape, or how it would look like as you stand on top of it like a king watching over his dominion.
So that curiosity led to this hike. And it was special.