M1202: Sampaloc Lake Postcard

Postcard Size: 4"x5.5"
Postcard Type: View card
Printed by: JMC Press, Inc., Quezon City
Purchased at Goodwill Bookstore

The postcard shows Sampaloc Lake with the famous Mt. Banahaw in the background. The lake, an inactive volcanic maar, is the largest of the Seven Lakes of San Pablo, Laguna. Nearly half of the lake's depth has a shallow depression at the lake's bottom, indicating its volcanic origin.

The lake has an area of 104.0 hectares with a maximum depth of 27.0 meters, approximately 85% of its volume below 10 meters and 15% below 24 meters.

The back of the postcard reads:

Sampaloc Lake
Laguna, Philippines
This lake, rich in legend, surrounds Mt. Banahaw seen in the background.

M1202: Sampaloc Lake Postcard

Legend tells of a giant Tamarind (Sampaloc) tree in the garden of a selfish, stingy old woman who drove away a fairy disguised as an old man asking for some fruit as a cure for his ailing grandson. Instead of helping him, the stingy old woman had him driven away by her ferocious dogs. The old man was badly hurt. After the old man left, there was a thundering noise, rain, followed by the cracking of the earth. And then, the entire orchard sank into a colossal pit which was immediately filled with water. Henceforth, the villagers called it Lake Sampaloc.

SOURCES:
Lake Sampaloc Wikipedia Entry
San Pablo City: Sampaloc Lake