Fern, Platycerium superbum

This beautiful fern wrapped the tree like a ribbon.

 @ a garden in Davao City

Platycerium superbum, commonly known as the Stag Horn Fern, is a Platycerium species of fern.  It is native to Australia, in east central New South Wales north of Nabiac and in Queensland.  It is a bracket epiphyte occurring in and near rainforests.  Platycerium superbum is very widely cultivated as an ornamental plant.  

straight out of the camera

 
Linking to Mandarin Orange Monday

Monday Mellow Yellows

At the Butterfly Sanctuary [Sunday Bridges]

A short wood bridge at the Butterfly Sanctuary in Malagos Garden Resort, Davao City.  This sanctuary houses the biggest butterflies in the Philippines, but there was light rain when we walked in the sanctuary and we didn't see any butterfly, not even one.:p

Posted for Sunday Bridges

Balak [plan] - Litratong Pinoy

Matagal kong pinagmuni-munihan ang trail map ng Eden Nature Park---balak ko sanang ikutin ang 4-kilometer trail sa pamamagitan ng paglalakad. Pero pagkatapos ng halos tatlong oras na pamamasyal sa kagubatan at medyo naligaw pa kami, sumuko na ako. Hindi nakayanan ng tsinelas ko.:p

I contemplated long and hard at Eden Nature Park's trail map---I planned to walk around the 4-kilometer mountain trail to get some exercise while enjoying the flora and fauna. But after nearly three hours of walking in the forest, we got lost somehow and almost screamed for help (just kidding!), I surrendered. My slippers just couldn't handle it.:p

Posted for Litratong Pinoy

Waiting for a ride - TWTW

Many streets in Metro Manila are still in a sad state from last Saturday's massive flooding.  So let me take you far away from Metro Manila---to a  highway about 27 kilometers from Davao City.  These were taken across Malagos Garden Resort in Calinan, Davao City.  We were waiting for a ride back to the city, and it took a really long time for a  jeepney to come by that I started to get bored.   Took out my camera and started shooting at the passers-by.  I was already prepared to hitchhike, jump into the basket on the motorbike  or ride on top of this jeep when a jeepney finally stopped.:P

Posted for This Way, Thurs-Way

 

Photo-Hunter: hanging bridge

my cousin Franzia
on a hanging bridge at Eden Nature Park in Davao

"The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn."

~ David Russell

a hanging bridge at the Forest Camp in Valencia, Negros Oriental

Posted for Photo-Hunt

Wordless Wednesday: wishes

Mayumi's wishing well at Eden Nature Park in Davao City


You can have anything you want if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.


~ Abraham Lincoln


Posted for Wordless Wednesday

Weekend Snapshot: shrine in Davao City

Shrine of the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague

These were taken many weekends ago---one weekend in August last year to be exact when I visited Davao City. My cousin who is a Catholic wanted to attend mass that Sunday so we visited this shrine on top of Matina Hill, near Jack Ridge. The green rolling lawns and ancient mango trees give this shrine a tranquil ambiance, a perfect place to pray and meditate.

Enjoy Weekend Snapshot

Wordless Wednesday: Eden Nature Park

Mucuna Bennetti "Red Jade Vine"

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful.

~ Abram L. Urban

Location: Eden Nature Park

Ruby Tuesday: flowers of Malagos Garden

For my very first Ruby Tuesday, I'm posting these flowers from Malagos Garden in Davao City.

More Ruby Tuesday participants at Work of the Poet.

Lasang Pinoy, Sundays: School of Fish

Grilled fish is got to be the most common recipe Filipinos do with fish. It is served with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, kalamansi juice, chili peppers, and onions. One American client asked me to bring him to a Filipino restaurant, and he ordered grilled pompano. It was too late when he realized that the grilled fish is served in whole, not fillet. He turned green when he saw the fish with head and eyeballs that he said were staring at him! And imagine his expression when I told him that fish head is the tastiest part, and that most Filipinos eat fish brains and eyeballs. :D

You wonder what this thing in the second photo? It’s not sausage...it’s my favorite part---we call it bihod in Ilonggo, or fish roe. Whenever I eat bihod, I would remember my childhood in Negros where my siblings and I would fight over a piece of bihod. Since there’s only one bihod in a large fish (usually from fish locals call alibalay and gingaw or red snapper), my grandmother would slice it in small parts so each of us have a piece. Tuna bihod is available at the Seaside Market along Macapagal Highway.

More fish dishes at SpiCes.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy(ness)

"Jump for Joy"

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.

~ M. Scott Peck

In the photo: Franzia at Malagos Garden Resort

Lasang Pinoy, Sundays: Colorful

It’s been said that this colorful dessert truly captures the “east-meets-west” culture of Filipinos. The ingredients of Halo-halo, our traditional summer cooler, come from a wide variety of influences---leche flan from the Spanish, garbanzos from the Indian, red mung beans from the Chinese, and the shaved ice was introduced by the Americans.

Halo-halo, from Tagalog word halo, “mix-mix” is a mixture of shaved ice, milk and sugar made flavorful by a variety of fruits and beans caramelized in sugar, fresh fruits and topped with leche flan, purple yam or ice cream. Other ingredients may include fresh jackfruit, nata de coco, pinipig, sugar palm fruit, sweet corn kernels, gelatin, macapuno, sweetened bananas, kiwifruit, avocado, sago, and ripe mango. I even had a halo-halo once with mandarin orange.

My halo-halo was served at the Malagos Garden Resort in Davao City.

More colorful gastronomic treats at Spices.

Sky-watching at Lon Hua Temple

Lon Hua Temple, Davao City

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...We need silence to be able to touch souls.

~ Mother Teresa

More sky photos from around the world at Sky-Watch Friday.

Litratong Pinoy: Tanso (Copper)

Sa temang "tanso" ngayong linggo, ito ang aking lahok.

Ito ay isang higanteng Haring Ibon (Philippine Eagle) na kulay "tanso". Matatagpuan ito sa People's Park sa Davao City at nilikha ng Dabawenyong iskultor at pintor na si Kublai Millan. Sa ilalim ng pakpak ng inukit na aguila ay pahingahan ng mga tao sa plasa at tagpuan ng mga magkakaibigan.

Ang Haring Ibon ay sagisag ng Pilipinas at pambansang ibon.

This is my post for this week's theme, "copper".

This is a gigantic copper-colored Philippine Eagle at the People's Park in Davao City. This sculpture was created by Davao artist Kublai Millan. People who come to the park have found a resting place under the eagle's wings, it is also a place where friends meet and get-together.

The Philippine Eagle is a national emblem and the Philippines' national bird.

More "copper" photos at Litratong Pinoy.

Wordless Wednesday: Trees in Eden

Tall trees rise to the sky at Eden Nature Park

A visit to Davao Museum

A stopover at museums is one of the things I enjoy when visiting a place. It’s usually useful to look into the past to have a perspective of a place and its people. Davao City, a melting pot in Mindanao, is inhabited by various tribes and migrants from all over the Philippines, not to mention the large expat community. Ethnic tribes such as the Bagobo, Mandaya, Manobo, T'boli, B’laan and Mansaka contribute to the city's arts and cultural heritage. Tribal arts, local costumes and jewelry, handicrafts and other archeological artifacts of these tribes are preserved at the Davao Museum.

Davao Museum is located at Insular Village in Lanang, about 12 kilometers from the city, a walking distance from the Waterfront Insular Hotel.

Davao Museum
Zonta Bldg.
Insular Village Phase I
Lanang, Davao City
Open on Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5 pm

Beside the gate of Insular Village is a cafe, a great place to catch your breath and have a cold drink.

Warning: My travel companion/cousin is trigger-happy so you'll be seeing a lot of me on the following photos. Enjoy the background!:D

the lobby of Davao Museum

a T'boli weaver

T'nalak is an intricately-woven handloomed fabric made from abaca fiber. Abaca fibers are woven and tie-dyed by T'boli and Manobo women, designs are usually inspired by nature. Traditional T'nalak weaving is a fast-disappearing craft.

Franzia learning to play the kulintang

ancient weapons

a mother-of-pearl inlaid chest and a "kutyapi", a tribal musical instrument

The Maguindanao kutyapi is one of the most technically demanding and difficult to master among Filipino trational instruments. Of its two strings, one provides the rythmic drone, while the other has movable frets that allow melodies to be played in two sets of pentatonic scales, one containing semi-tones, the other containing none. (Source: National Commission for Culture and the Arts)

i'm the vocalist in this rock 'n roll band :D

a "kulintang" beside me; on the wall is a welded wrought iron decor by designer Ann Pamintuan

The Kulintang is a set of eight knobbed gongs in graduated sizes, layed-out horizontally on a wooden frame. Made from either brass, wood, bamboo, or metal plates, it is played with a pair of wooden sticks.

These were taken at the Waterfront Insular Hotel.