This is a series on the practical, simple ways of spending a weekend -- pleasures and moments we usually have taken for granted. It's about getting a life.

TO PARAPHRASE book publisher and rabid environmentalist Lory Tan, if you've got a free weekend to spend with your kids, why not bring them to the Philippine Raptor Center on Mt. Makiling--and afford the youngsters what may be their only encounter with the Philippine eagle, even if it's in captivity?

That's exactly what we ended up doing one weekend, with the intention of shooting some green forest canopies for a video documentary. It turned out to be a good day's worth of semirugged trekking--''semi'' because you manage to walk over smooth asphalted roads, but can wander off trails into the midst of trees that, for the greenhorn botanist, are conveniently labelled.

The drive to the University of the Philippines in Los Baños is wonderfully green, 1½ hours in average traffic. We took the road leading to the National Arts Center, but parked over at the entrance to the Botanical Gardens of the UP College of Forestry.

There's a nominal entrance fee, a little more if you want to use the nearby swimming pool. There are picnic tables off to the right of the gate, under tall shady trees, but the business of the moment was aerobic activity.

You'll need comfortable shoes--not necessarily heavy-duty hikers, as the road is smooth, but it's a steady uphill climb. Still, the air is fresh. You are treated to the sounds of birds, the sight of pretty butterflies and dragonflies, and occasional visitors like small snakes, lizards and frogs. Lory spent several minutes of film following a brilliantly colored snake as it wound through the grass.

You can walk straight up the hill for the next couple of hours, as some serious hikers are wont to do, but we took a side road, still a vigorous hike, that led to the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB)-run Philippine Raptor Center, humble home of the Philippine eagle.

Their sounds fill the air long before you set eyes on them, and although the sight of these magnificent animals in cages tugs at your heart, the people at the center really are taking care of them.

The Philippine eagle's cage is large by any standards, you think--but see them spread those breathtaking wings, and you'll basically understand that, if this captivity were not for a noble purpose, they really do belong out there, with only the sky as their roof.

A variety of other birds are around, which you would never have expected to see in our skies, like Philippine hawk-eagles, and owls with those characteristic saucer eyes and the most curious hooting sounds. Get some of the caretakers to tell you about the animals, and it makes for a truly educational afternoon.

It takes some prior arrangements to drive all the way up to the National Arts Center, but the view is generally stunning--generally, because you also catch a glimpse of an environmental atrocity: a mountain practically cut in half, Lory explained, to create a shorcut for fishermen's bancas as they carry them in and out of the lake. The sight is almost absurd, but it's a grim reminder of how man can really screw things up.

For a late lunch, Lory opted to take the longer way via Pagsanjan for his just desert--some binagoongan at the Pagsanjan Rapids. Of course, you may opt for bulalo in Calamba, or a dip in some of Los Baños' hot springs.