From time to time, my family and I would go to Sta. Rosa, Laguna to visit my wife’s 84-year old mother. Due to the distance, we are not able to visit often. But as we are able, we make it a point to visit especially during special occasions like Christmas or on November 1 which happens to be the day when my father-in-law died.
We would often bring my mother-in-law to the Eternal Gardens memorial park where my father-in-law was laid to rest. And most often after that, the whole family would spend time and have something to eat at Nuvali, a beautiful place which keeps on getting better each time we visit.
In this photo at Nuvali, I was able to shoot a photo of my mother-in-law together with her great grandson as they were sitting on a wheelchair late in the afternoon. They were watching the fishes and boats passing by. But as I took the shot, there must have been something else that they were looking at haha! The place is getting to be quite a nice park where people can enjoy family time together.
I can’t forget one pastor from UK who stayed in the Philippines for about 10 years. He used to jokingly say that “in the Philippines, there are only two seasons: hot and hotter”—and we would all laugh about it hahaha! The poor pastor and his wife had to endure our hot climate which to them was really warm for a decade.
Now that it’s March, I guess that the Philippine summer season is now beginning to arrive since people are now back again using their umbrellas haha! Filipinos use umbrellas not only to protect themselves from the rain but also from the hot scorching sun. To me, it is interesting that in some other countries, I only see umbrellas used when it rains. I never saw—unless I missed it—people in the US and in Japan using their umbrellas under the sun haha!
Another interesting thing about summer in the Philippines is that it’s no guarantee that it won’t rain haha! So, rain or shine, get ready with your umbrellas because summer is here!
Having grown up in Mindanao, one thing that caught my attention when I first came to Ilocandia, the northern part of Luzon, was the farm hand tractor commonly called locally as the kuliglig. It is a Tagalog word for the cicada insect. I don’t know why it’s named after the cicada but I think that it’s maybe because this little machine can really make a lot of noise.
I haven’t really noticed this kind of farm hand tractor in Mindanao. Not even in the Visayas. I could be wrong. Maybe I missed it but it’s not so common as it is here in these rice-planting provinces of Luzon. There’s just so many all over the place and it can even slow down traffic on highways and in every town you pass by.
It’s interesting that this kuliglig is not only a farm hand tractor but as I noticed all over central and northern Luzon, farmers are using it as an all-purpose vehicle. They use it as their family vehicle transporting all kinds of things including people haha! Another amusing thing about this is when this vehicle needs to turn left or right. I often see the driver get off on the left side or on the right side (depending on where he’s going) and in perfect timing, hop in back again as soon as the vehicle is already in the right direction. Really amusing to me haha!
One thing that I’ve noticed in my travels all over the Philippines is this: Filipinos surely love basketball. In most barangays, one can surely see a basketball court and usually it is near or next to a barangay hall. It’s typical all over the country. Some are covered courts, open courts, some are paved and maybe some are still dirt basketball courts.
Some are built using government funds and some are built using funds from private donors or some rich politician running for re-election. In this photo of a barangay basketball court, I was actually driving by—drive-by shooting haha!—and I happened to see smoke all over the place which gave the place some kind of scenic effect. I took some shots and I was glad it turned out quite dramatic. I love the effect brought about by the smoke. I was also able to freeze the boy’s motion as he shot the ball. The tree with its shadow and the tricycle gave the view a sense of a typical Filipino life in the barangay.
Last Sunday, I attended a church worship service. One of the ladies gave a testimonial about her trials and tests as she prepared to take the teacher’s board exam. Thankfully, she passed the exam and succeeded. It was another wonderful milestone in the life of this young lady and she was sharing it with us. There were two who passed the board exam. They both passed and they both gave their testimonies. It was a happy occasion for this local church.
Everybody Loves Flowers and Kids
But what was amusing to me was when the first lady gave her testimony. A little boy from the back of the hall went to the podium when he saw her aunt speaking haha! That’s when I took my camera and took shots. In this photo, the boy got amused with the fake flowers and even tried to smell it haha! What perfect timing! Flowers and kids sure are good photo subjects.
