Brgy. Topland, City of Koronadal
South Cotabato, Philippines
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| These are the two varieties of orchids that Balong and i bought in Davao. There are 5 actually but i forgot to take a shot of the other three (hehehe!). |
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| We have around 10 pairs of lorikeets at home. I remember 'lory loft' in Singapore's Jurong Bird Park when i pass by in here (ahahaha!). Wish to have the same loft as well (ilusyon much ~ ahahaha!) |
I
guess people living all their life in the busy and tedious city can
attest that living in the province is an awesome experience ‘to try’.
Well, I can relate to that bigtime (ahahaha!)!!!
Fresh fruits,
fresh veggies, natural landscape and modest hospitality that engulfs
the community is just PRICELESS which perfectly defines what ‘nature’ really is. Bi-decades of my humble life were spent mostly in the province and here I am the finished product
(ahahaha!). My family live mostly around Mindanao whom people not just in nearby islands of
Luzon and Visayas
but even here abroad inclined to judge as a haven for rebel armies. At
some point they are correct, but I definitely assure for your safety
once you visit
Koronadal City, where people of different walks of life (Christians and Muslims) live in harmony, filled with nature’s bounty for everybody to pamper with.
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| Balong took most of the shots... He is not using DSLR by the way, just an ordinary 16 mp Sony Digital Camera. |
We
live out of the city center actually, approximately around 14
kilometers away and you need to travel an additional 30 minutes to reach
Barangay Topland where our house is located. Please don’t get confused with barangay and barrio as both have the same meaning, k? (hehehe!). Mode of transportation is not a problem either as ‘habal
habal’ ~ a pimped motorcycle with an additional seat at the back
that can carry 5 to 6 passengers including the driver is a common sight
in here. Gradually however, this mode of transportation is replaced with
a common motorbike that can only lodge 2 to
3 passengers for a more safer journey. Jeepney used to conquer the
streets during my childhood years (around 15 years ago ~ ahahaha!) but the king of the road evaporate literally because locals shifted to tricycle. Jeepney subsequently became the family
vehicle which is utterly used for carrying farm products or utilize for travelling in and out of the city.
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| I don't know what is the name of these but there are plenty of these in the pathways. |
We may live in the remote corner of
Mindanao, but don’t underestimate the place where I grow
up as cemented roadways from the city center to our barangay makes the
travel more faster and less haggard. Since our place is basically an
agriculture area, you’ll pass along farm roads
complete with rice and corn fields on both sides of the main toll.
Mountain ranges can be seen from afar embellished with birds freely
flying over the horizon. If you want to have that ‘baryo’ feel, ours
modestly is the best example (ahahaha!).
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| We have few sunflowers in the garden of Papa. i remember we used to eat the seeds even the flower is not ripe yet (ahahaha!) |
Since
I worked abroad for quite sometimes already, I only have 30 days to
spend wherever I wanted to as a remunerated annual vacation. I usually
go home and spent it with my family
coz as what other would say ‘there is no place like home’.
May is always the perfect month to go personally because it’s our anniversary (ano daw? ~ ahahaha!).
Kidding aside, May is a summer
season and most of my cousin is on break too which is ideal to tag along
wherever we wanted to go. We usually gather somewhere and have some fun
but what I fond the most of doing is inviting
my cousin in our house, cook something and helping Mama with her garden
(ahahaha!).
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| I used to know the names of these flowersss... ammmmmmmppnessss... i forgot really... (ahahaha!!!) |
Every
vacation, I always on Mama’s side with regards to gardening. It’s like a
mother and son bonding where I seldom doing except if I am at home (ahahaha!). I help her sprinkling the plant every morning
even arranging it. I am not an expert about landscaping but good enough to beautify the place (naks ~ ahahaha!). I have excessive inclination with flora but just don’t know why I didn’t prosper in this field (ahahaha!). My brother even butted-in
that since we are into it then venture in business. Hmmmmmm he is absolutely right with that notion but seems am not into it ‘YET’ (ahahaha!). Please don’t get me wrong, I do work in a banking institutions but having a business is not my forte
for now, or not my thing so far (ahahaha!). Am just good in advising our clients what to do but in actual mode,
hmmmm nah, let me think about it first (ahahaha!). like everybody else, am just afraid of failures I guess but we will get in that bridge soon, we don’t know (hehehe!).
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| The shot on the left is from the bulb of the cactus plant, while on the bottom right is the renowned bougainvillea! Don't ask me with the yellow one (ahahaha!). |
Because
of extreme fondness to orchids and ornamental plants, expect that when
Mama is on a trip anywhere expect that she always bring varieties of
plants on her way home (ahahaha!). She can either buy
it or just plain talk to persuade the owner to give her some seedlings/saplings for her garden (ahahaha!).
That is always a norm actually and it’s her weakness at some point and
who am I to hinder unto that simple yet adorable happiness, huh? (ahahaha!).
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| Mama used to collect ornamental plants, it's just a hobby for her. It's good because it's therapeutic that gives you beauty while it fills your time (hehehe!) |
When Balong and I went to Davao City, we passed to one of the flower farm that sells different varieties of orchids. We bought 3 assorted vandas and 2 dendrobiums
as a gift to Mama to add to her collection. In most flower shops,
prices varies actually because it depends mainly on the orchids species
plus the rarity of course. Like
Waling Waling for example, considered as the ‘Queen of all Philippine Flowers’ can range up to PHP 100,000 if you buy it in cluster with fully blown flowers (ahahaha!). Well, we have no
waling waling yet at home but we have plenty of varieties to be proud of (naks ~ ahahaha!).
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| I guess you know what it is (hehehe!)? Corn plant on the left, eggplant flower on the bottom right and a grass flower on top (ahahaha!). |
Everybody
would agree with me pretty sure that flowers really append to that
tropical feel within or outside of our house. It can either be potted or
planted on the ground but point is, it has this fascinating
appeal to people that adds color to our life, ayt? (ahahaha!).
At some point, it makes our day pleasant seeing the intricate beauty
that embodies certain areas of our house. That’s why there is no
questions really if my mom is wholly engage into it
because our humble house maybe small but having area as an outlet to
see such beauty at its best then a garden is an answer to that (hehehe!).
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| Hmmmm Proud to say that I took these shots (ahahaha!) |
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| Balong took this when we were searching for 'chili leaves' ahahahahaha |
If my Mom has her floral garden, my dad has its own veggies garden too (ahahaha!). It’s not that big actually
(around ¼ hectare) but ample enough
to sustain our daily needs. Since it’s the first time of Balong to meet
my parents, he always accompany Papa in cultivating his garden (palakas mode ~ ahahaha!). What he has are
mostly seasonal plants like lady fingers (okra), bitter gourd (ampalaya), string beans (sitaw) and lots more. I love steamed kamote tops with bagoong (fermented fish), thus I always pass by here to pick some (ahahaha!).
It’s
mainly for family consumption exclusively but our neighbors do ask for
some then we heartily share it with them. The lot is where we about to
build our house but for the time being let’s keep it as a garden (ahahaha!).
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| Have you seen my mom in the collage pics??? Ahahahahaha... ILOVEYOU Mama.. mwaaaaaaaa |
You know what is more interesting? The vegetable garden even won as ‘the best private backyard garden’ for the whole province of
South Cotabato in 2011! How cool is that huh? (ahahaha!). It was solely materialized as a hobby for them to fill their free time but having a price is just a plus (ahahaha!). Below is the news in relations to the award received
by Papa and a PHP 10,000 price is fair enough, huh? (ahahaha!).
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| We have more than a hundreds sapling of oncidium or locally known as dancing lady. |
Herewith
are some of the shots taken by Balong at home during our
vacation, taken mostly from Mama’s orchid garden. I made a collage out
of it because there are so many shots that is hard to delete (hehehe!). Thanks baby, mwaaaaaaanesss!!! Just enjoy the shots po...
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| My mom loves collecting orchids. She has more than a hundred varieties. It's just a hobby that fills her time when she's at home. |
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| She has a small garden in front of the house and there is a rambutan tree that shades the whole area. |
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| Everytime she travels, rest assured that she always have an orchids or ornamental plants to bring home (ahahaha!). She usually buy it but sometimes she persuade the owners to give her some saplings/seedlings (ahahaha!) |
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| Hmmm that's me in the corner. I usually help Mama in sprinkling her garden with water. |
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| The rambutan tree in the background serves as the shades of the orchids. |
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| It's always good to see a garden filled with beautiful flowers. Wish to have a good one in the near future. (hehehe!) |
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| Dendrobium is the most common vareities that my Mom has. It's more than 20 i guess. If all her orchids blooms, darrrrrrrrrrrnnnn what a stunning scene pretty sure.. (hehehe!). |
So that's it for now guys. Hope you enjoyed the shots from our humble garden.
Cheeeeeeeeerrriooos!!!!!
Have a great day and night everyone.
Enan signing off.
SMILE :)
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