Garin Farm Visit

May 30, 2005 -

My husband had been enjoying my family's company since the first visit he made. So, this was another one of the few outings we made within Iloilo, - my hometown.

Garin Farm is at least 40 minutes away from Iloilo city by vehicle, located in Guimbal, one of the provinces in Iloilo. This was just a short visit (about 30 minutes) so, I can't discuss and share much about the farm, except from the observations I had during the first 30 minutes :)
Actually, this was my first visit to this place. I admit, being an Iloilo resident for 20 years, I am still a "foreigner" in my own native land. LOL!

Anyway, Garin farm is also classified as a resort, they say, probably because it has been considered as the first modern farm dubbed as the farmer's paradise, where it is an ideal sanctuary for family retreats. It is a 10-hectare area.

One memorable thing in there was when we tasted their farm-processed dairy, ice cream made from buffalo's milk. It was tasty!

We missed boarding the "caromata", a cattle-pulled sled that could carry 20 people. They can't find the carabao I guess :))

Me, hubby and family

Me and hubby @ Garin farm

Cavite and Tagaytay Trip - November 02, 2004

Bamboo Organ - Las Pinas:

Our first stop:

The Las Piñas Bamboo Organ is one of the Philippines' national treasures. It's home is the Parish Church of St Joseph located in Las Piñas City. The organ, the church and the surrounding buildings have been restored to their 19th century state by Architect Francisco "Bobby" Mañosa and associate Ludwig Alvarez, making a trip to the site a popular excursion for Filipinos and foreign visitors alike.

The bamboo organ has been restored several times. Due to it's oldness, many ways habe been done to save the organ. The organ has been under repair when we had our tour. How I wished I could have heard its music, but I guess it was not our luck that day :(

Parish Church of St Joseph Entrance


Parish Church of St Joseph Old Bell

Our second stop:

SARAO Motors - Jeepney factory in Las Pinas, and and preparation of body parts. Some are photos of jeepneys being assembled from scratch to welding and final assembly. We also got some shots of old models that are being preserved and kept.

Tagaytay - TAAL Volcano.

Getting the experience of taking a peek at Taal volcano, the world's smallest active volcano. It is actually a volcano within a lake within a volcano.

Overlooking Taal volcano.

Hong Kong Trip Tour - DAY 3

DAY - 3 - 10-28-2004 MACAU

We went to Macau for our last day of tour, this time it is a one full day tour. How we wished we could stay there by night, but since it's a tour, we can't choose to stay. Anyway, we boarded the ferry boat and we arrived at the port with another tour guide waiting for us.



Our first stop was the A-Ma temple which is the oldest temple in Macau. The A-Ma Temple is a destination offering silence and spectacular views. The temple contains six main parts, all of which make up a series of classical Chinese architectural treasures, and this is all guarded by stone lions. We were not able to take a shot of the entire temple, except for photos of me , one inside the temple, and another couple photos outside.


Ruins of St. Paul:
The Ruins of St. Paul's (also known as Sam Ba Sing Tzik) stands adjacent to the famous Mount Fortress and Macau Museum. The front façade and the grand stone stairs are the only remains of the greatest church in Macau.First constructed in 1580, St. Paul's Church caught fires in 1595 and 1601. However, reconstruction started in 1602 soon after the church was burnt down. Completed in 1637, the church became the biggest Catholic Church in East Asia at that time. Unfortunately, a violent typhoon hit Macau in 1835 and the church caught fire for the third time leaving its glory a history. According to historical materials, St Paul's Church, built with white stones, had a grand vaulted roof. It had three magnificently decorated halls.



Institute of Civic and Municipal Affairs Buildings:


Choi Heong Yuen Bakery:
We dropped by here for a "free taste" samples of Chinese homemade biscuits which are actually ideal for "pasalubongs." Biscuits are tasty, too :)


Statue of Kun Lam & Ecumenical Center, Macau:


Taking centre stage along the outer harbour waterfront is this breath-taking statue of the Goddess of Mercy. Kun Iam is the most popular goddess amongst Buddhists and plays a special role in protecting children, as well as bringing affluence.

Hong Kong Trip Tour - DAY 2

Day 2 - 10-27-2004

Our first stop was Kowloon Waterfront. Kowloon is located on the edge of the mainland of China and just across the water from the central part of the city of Hong Kong. This section of the Hong Kong sprawls down to the Victoria Harbor - the promenade provides an impressive view of the Hong Kong skyline and the numerous ships gliding up the channel.

Down the harbor are some shops and museums. Since this is the tour's first itinerary for the day, we didn't have much time to go around some shops and see museums. They said catching a ferry boat ride is fun, but we didn't feel like doing it.

Next stop was TSL Jewelry Factory. They offer good prices, much more affordable than a typical jewelry store in the market.

Aside from the store, inside was where you can see the actual carving and polishing of diamonds.

While on our way to our next stop, we were able to take some shots of the typical way of living for many of the people working in HK...the ones they call lower middle class income people. This is one side of HK that seems to be hidden covered by the big skylines of the city.

The whole building are mostly apartments where people rent for an affordable or cheap rates. Still, much better than Philippines!

Factory Outlet was our 3rd stop. We didn't take shots, but we got a lot of things for "pasalubongs." Goods were cheap and tax-free, so we got all worth taking, hahaha!!!

The rest of the whole afternoon was a tour to Shenzhen City, but unluckily, we were not able to go with the group because currently at that time, it so happened they won't be accepting US citizens' passports going inside...we were wondering why?...our tour guide said it was politically motivated?! Instead, we were given an option to go Ocean Park and Middle kingdom. It was worth fun going there...no regrets! It was my first time seeing dolphin shows, large aquariums, Pandas, etc...

Our Ocean Park Adventure:
We were only given 4 hours to tour the park since our tour guide will be picking us up at a designated time and place outside the park entrance. So, off we go running inside the park. :)

Hong Kong Ocean Park is located on the south end of Hong Kong Island. With an area of 170 miles, it's one of the largest ocean parks in the world. The two entrances to Ocean Park (Tai Shue Wan Entrance and Main Entrance) are connected by cable-car.
And speaking of cable car, it just scared me to death riding in it. I have a phobia of high places, but going to the Middle Kingdom is only accessible by cable car. So, what the heck? Everybody's in there, so I joined the thrill!! I can't look up or down, close my eyes, whatever...I only opened my eyes when my husband was getting me a photo. Aside from that, hubby was able to take some shots while we were up there in the cable car.

Other trail photos going to the park:

I was so excited to see the dolphin show, so we proceeded to the Ocean theater. Ocean Theater is the most famous and popular spot in the whole Ocean Park. It is an open-air theater in which dolphins and sea lions stage a wonderful performance in a huge pond. Under the guidance of trainers, adorable dolphins and sea lions stand in a line or jump into water and raise theirs heads out of water. It was a good experience :)

I wasn't sure but we were in an underwater viewing tunnel where we viewed dolphins and other aquatic friends during their swimming fun :)