1955 Sarao Jeepney

This 1955 Sarao Jeepney can be seen at the garage of the Sarao Jeepney Factory in Las Pinas. Last year, K and I went there because he told me wanted to check the factory after seeing it featured at a TV Show in England. The first time I saw this factory was lotsa years ago when the Amazing Race (season 5) visited the Philippines as part of its stops. Prior to this trip, I actually thought Sarao already closed its factory, but thanks to K's request, I found out they are still manufacturing jeepneys. Even more thankful were we when we found out the gates of the factory is actually open to people without paying for any entrance fee and without any written or formal request to visit. Of course, it would be good if you give them a call a few hours before your visit so they would know and wouldn't be surprised.:)

Late 1990s, I was able to travel to Malolos, Bulacan and saw jeepneys as small as this - something that could carry six passengers (three per each side). I am not sure if the jeepneys there are still as small as this, but times like this - with so much traffic and prices of petrol going up (and up and up), jeepneys are getting longer (longest I have seen can carry 20 passengers - 10 each side) to carry more passengers while saving time and petrol expenses.

Lampara

I took this picture December last year, while dining at Bacolod Chicken Inasal. It was December, the Christmas season, and the restaurant adorned the wall lamps with poinsettia. Bacolod (a capital city of Negros Occidental in the Visayas Region) is known for its Masskara Festival, hence the masskara (masks) wall paper.

It's still October, yes, but Christmas season here in the Philippines actually start the first day of September, and as early as now, different establishments have started embellishing their shops with Christmas decors.

Fan Adorned With Flowers

Last Saturday, mom attended a wedding celebration, which I unfortunately wasn't able to attend because of a tummy ache. When she got home, she quickly showed me this fan, which was given to the female principal sponsors so that they would have something to use to cool themselves as weddings here in the Philippines oftentimes require people part of the entourage to wear gowns. Well, I guess weddings at every part of the world are like that, too. The white roses were starting to wilt already; I took this picture the day after the event.

The color motif of the event was red, and sister told me the whole celebration felt so magical. Too bad I wasn't able to attend it.

The Chocolate Hills of Bohol

Normally, I'd pair my Green Monday post with Mellow Yellow Monday, and I would pair Red Hot Mondays and Ruby Tuesday with Orange Tuesdays, but when I took this picture, I knew I had to pair Green with Red. :)

By the time we reached Chocolate Hills, my camera's battery was already about to die. It was a bad decision for me to go on a city tour with 25% battery juice and taking only 1 pair of spare batteries, which I still haven't tasted how long its power would take. Thankfully, my cell phone was fully charged by the start of the day, ensuring me that I could still take pictures to my heart's delight.

I was able to take pictures of the hills, but some pictures - including this one, was taken using my cell phone. Taking the stairs to the peak, I saw this group of hills with reddish plant on the foreground, and thinking it looked cute, I stopped for a picture.

There are so many legends as to how the hills were formed, but one thing's for sure: this nature's wonder is proudly Filipino! :)

From Two Festivals

Another two-in-one post for me this week... I guess I will be putting these two memes together from here on out, and if my last week's pictures were taken from one location, this week's pictures were taken from two festivals here in the Philippines.


This was taken from the Panagbenga Festival in Baguio City last February. These girls were waiting for their turn to perform. For three years now, I have been watching the festival's grand street parade, and next year, I hope to watch the float parade, too.

This, on the other hand was taken from the Pahiyas Festival in Quezon last May. It was one of the most colorful festivals I have seen, but because there were so many people packing the narrow streets of Lucban, it was quite difficult to take pictures, too. Even if we walked around for two hours, I wasn't able to take much pictures because of the clutters brought about by the people's heads. :)

Both From Colinas Verdes

Shengkay invited me to join her color-themed photo meme, so every Tuesdays, I am going to share orange / red pictures. This week, pictures I am sharing are both taken from Colinas Verdes, but pictures were taken on two different days.

This type of hibiscus always gets my attention because it's bigger than the normal hibiscus I see, and I love photographing it while it's not fully open yet. When I saw this, I immediately came near it to photograph it.

With lots of green trees and grasses, this red tree truly stands out. I don't know if those are its flowers or its leaves, but whatever it is, it's just so beautiful!

Seeing the pictures I took from Colinas Verdes made me miss jogging there. It's been so long since I last went there, and I do hope typhoons would take a break in visiting the country so I can go back jogging there and take new pictures.