My Cloud Gallery

I am a cloud spotter. I hunt unusual cloud formations near my location – Bulusan. My usual cloud spotting adventure begins the moment I step out of my room– in the azotea to be exact.

Since I am home most of the time, all I have to do is look to my right and above the roofless azotea anytime of the day. Although the complete view is hindered by the roof edges of the poblacion’s residential buildings, I still manage to get some unusual cloud formations above the mountains and hills that form the backdrop on the west side of the town.

The east side of the poblacion where I reside has an expansive Pacific Ocean horizon. An entirely different panorama. To hunt the clouds here I have to walk to the ocean’s edge which is only minutes away for more unexpected cloud show. But sometimes the front window facing the east offers some cloud surprises too.

I am always on the look out for clouds above the fields and hills during my jeepney rides. I love the way clouds change its colors dramatically at the time of the setting of the sun behind the hills and mountains on the west side. The shifting intensity is like a real time-lapse scenes unraveling before my very eyes spreading a blanket of its colored reflection on anything on the ground. Pure wondrous sight. In moments like these, my shutter is on a frenzied mode.

Here are some of my cloud spottings.

Massive lenticular cloud formation above Mt. Bulusan

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The west sky view as viewed from our azotea in Poblacion Central.

Photos: Alma P. Gamil

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Saint Raphael: Angel of Joy

My visit to the Saint Raphael Church in Legazpi City yesterday (October 24) was not planned. I went to the city of Legazpi to do some errand for my aging mother. But the office where I was supposed to go was close. I was told the city is on a one day holiday because October 24 is a fiesta in this part of Legazpi City – the port district with Saint Raphael as their patron saint.

For me, fiesta means a visit to the patron saint’s image at the church celebrating it. Thus I immediately changed my direction to the streets leading me to the shortest path where the church is located. And as fast as my walking pace could go I traversed the city blocks finding the church of Saint Raphael easily.

It was around 2:00 PM but the devotees and visitors could still be seen at the church’s premises coming and going lighting candles near the entrance of the church.

After I made my offerings of lighted candles and said my prayers I took these souvenir photos of Saint Raphael, one of my most loved saints.

Saint Raphael in the litany of prayers to the saint is honored as the angel of joy. It is said that Saint Raphael delights in bringing happiness everywhere he goes.

Bas relief of Saint Raphael at the facade of Saint Raphael Church in Legazpi City

Saint Raphael, Patron saint of Legazpi City Port District

Saint Raphael the Archangel Church in Legazpi City

Photos: Alma P. Gamil

Related post:

https://bulusanruralvagabond.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/saint-of-happy-meetings-and-endings/

Kalunggay

 

Moringa oleifera

Moringa oleifera a.k.a. malunggay

Smiling malunggay/kalunggay

Moringa oleifera. Malunggay (Tagalog). Kalunggay (Bikol Bulusan)

I personally tested the oft-reproduced characterization made many years ago by the Trees for Life organization, that “ounce-for-ounce, Moringa leaves contain more Vitamin A than carrots, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, more Vitamin C than oranges, and more potassium than bananas,” and that the protein quality of Moringa leaves rivals that of milk and eggs.

This is good news for many of us who do not have the capacity to buy the nutritious foods mentioned as comparison. Malunggay locally known as Kalunggay in Bulusan  is a natural multivitamins available for free usually  from a neighbor’s fence. But we did plant our own sustainable supply at the back of our house.

Kalunggay is so ubiquitous in Bulusan that almost all the village backyard gardens has one or two growing within the garden or as border plant.

The good thing about cultivating kalunggay is the fact that it is so easy to grow.

Just ask from your neighbor a wrist-sized branch of Kalunggay and let it stand for a while in a sunny nook in your yard. When the shoots are starting to show in the standing branch, this signals that it is the right time to plant the stem cutting in your backyard or fence. Be sure to pick a sunny spot in your garden that is open to the sun the whole day.

That is my technique. Others plant the freshly cut matured branch of the kalunggay immediately upon cutting.  I tried this too with the same success.

Most important factor is the sun. Kalunggay is  sun-loving and like to grow on their own after planting. No need to water. Natural rainfall is enough for them.

For an authentic Bulusan recipe of Kinunot using Kalunggay as the main vegetable ingredient, you may visit my townmate’s Pamughaton post: http://pamughaton.wordpress.com/2008/07/26/kinunot/

Photos: Alma P. Gamil

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Happy and gray

Our town has quite a number of elderly population. So it’s not a surprise that the elderly week celebration was a big day in town. I was curious with what kind of activity these active seniors will whip up for the day’s event (October 11) hence this photo docu.

After the short parade with the youthful drum and lyre corps from a local high school, the participating senior citizens from the different villages proceeded at once to snack time while the DLC performs at the center of the cultural sports building. This made me take photos of some seniors. Many were wearing native costumes of kimona paired with saya, a loose printed long skirt. Some however prefer costumes that range from formal gown to Halloween costume (photo). The male seniors were obviously more ‘behave’ than the female seniors preferring to just sit or stand quietly observing the events.

Noticeable also was the fact that there were more women attendees than men. This does not necessarily mean that elderly men died ahead of their  wives. The most likely reason is that the women seniors in Bulusan are more outgoing and tend to be more sociable than their husbands.

It felt nice seeing the elderly having some fun and be young again even for a day! However, my mother, already 87 this year opted to just stay at home. She is the introvert kind.

Happy and gray

Checking out photos on the phone

Parade ends in front of the event’s venue, Bulusan cultural/sports building.

Early Halloween

Sea of grays

Younger set of seniors performing the chicken dance.

The ubiquitous ‘abaniko’ (fan)

Growing old in the age of instagram

Kimona and saya costume details

Elderly in wheel chairs are present too.

Bright colors for the day include orange and pink

Colorful Filipiniana gown

DLC from the local high school lends sound and colors to the event.

The elderly queen from the village of Dapdap

Participants from the village of Sabang

Kimona details

Elderly male in stripes standing straight and healthy

Refreshing drink after the parade

Women attendees outnumber the men

Slow walk for the parade of the elderly in Bulusan

Another queen wearing an embroidered costume

Kimona and saya costume

Checking the names of participants from their village

Elderly queen from the village of San Vicente

Photos: Alma P. Gamil

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Market day mosaic

Saud is how we refer to market day  in our town. Held twice weekly every Saturday and Wednesday at the plaza (public market), these events always have the feel of a weekend market rural style where every kind of merchandise appear from villages and nearby towns and provinces. Some are just plain utilitarian while some are simply kitch. From farm tools to folk remedies on common ailments, condiments, local vegetables and fruits and ukay-ukay (second-hand clothes) are to be found in separate corners of the plaza grounds that occupy the streets fronting the public market.

Here are some of my snaps during  my  two consecutive saud visits.

Clay toy pots and pans from Tiwi, Albay

pottery crafts from Tiwi, Albay

Sampaloc candies from Albay

Dalandan fruits are called’mandarin’ in Bulusan.

Assorted marine catch from Sabang, Bulusan

Common condiments in Bulusan : hipon and kuyog

Bamboo shoots from Mapaso, Irosin already chopped

Popular candies/cookies from Albay

Live seashells (kadudodudo shells with the lighter color) from Gubat, Sorsogon

Dependable farm tools from neighboring town of Bacon

Handmade bolos and knives also from Bacon, Sorsogon

Kumpletos rekados (Complete spice) with 3 kinds of spices in one package

Kamanyang and Dadyangaw are traditionally used for ‘tuob’ rituals.

Photos: Alma P. Gamil

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Villa Luisa Celeste

More than a decade has past since the last review of Lonely Planet about Villa Luisa Celeste appeared in its widely followed web site. It favorably recommends the homestay/bed-and-breakfast with this review:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/philippines/bulusan-volcano-national-park-around/hotels/villa-luisa-celeste

View from Villa Luisa Celeste hall

View from the side of the beach resort’s hall.

Fast forward to 2014 : As to the latest count of Bulusan Tourism office, the town boasts of the most number of homestays in the province of more than 15 homestay/ bed-and-breakfast/hotel operators.

Villa Celeste as the locals simply refer to the homestay/resort is to be credited  for raising the bar of tourism services in town.

Photos: Alma P. Gamil

Bulusan, Sorsogon

If You Forget Me

Lake Aguingay in the Mist, BVNP, Bulusan, Sorsogon

If you Forget Me

by Pablo Neruda

I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.

Marvin and his carabao in Odikin’s Pili Grove

“So what is the name of your carabao?” I asked Joseph, Marvin’s father. As an answer he laughed out loud and quipped : “We don’t give names to carabaos here. We don’t have to. It is enough that we take good care of her (the carabao is a she) — with lots of grazing areas to feed on and refreshing swamps and river to cool off.  It is our daily ritual from morning till noon to check on her needs.”

“A great help to my farming chores. The carabao carries the heavy load of copra, pili, banana produce from our farm around a kilometer from here (center of the village). I have a small ricefield to tend to and the carabao does the plowing prior to my planting.”

Mang Joseph is an upland farmer in the village of Odikin also known as Barangay Santa Barbara. Marvin is the youngest in the family. The rests are all grown up eking out a living elsewhere as urban laborers and household helps. Two teenage daughters are currently living with us in the Poblacion with one studying at the local Tesda vocational school in Bulusan.

Four days before Glenda (Typhoon Rammasun) visited the region our province included, I asked Mang Joseph if we could have a photo shoot of their family’s carabao while the weather permits it. It was a clear day and everybody was in a picnic mode. They were actually more amused about my giving attention to their utilitarian carabao as a photo subject and can’t stop giggling at the thought that I will be actually riding their “no name” carabao.

I did. And these beautiful photos of Marvin and his carabao are my souvenirs for that wonderful day!

Note: Pili trees are typhoon-resilient trees. Its buttressed trunks are designed to withstand typhoons that annually visit the region. Century-old pili trees can still be seen around the village of Odikin.

Photos: Alma P. Gamil

Barangay Santa Barbara, Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines, July 12, 2014

A close bond because the carabao is family says his father, Joseph.

Marvin and his carabao dwarfed by the magnificent pili trees of Odikin.

Marvin demonstrating how easily he can mount on top of the carabao with a ‘siya’ – an indigenous contraption for a rider to sit on the back of the carabao.

Marvin and their family’s carabao grew up together says his father.

A Pili grove in the village of Odikin in Bulusan provides an imposing backdrop for Marvin and his carabao.

The wonders of gumihan

I was intrigued by a comment from a reader of a posted article about gumihan in a Philippine online site (Philippine.tambayan.com) that says: “Gumihan is a not-so-common fruit desired for its aromatic, fleshy and sweet taste. This tree grows well in Bicol, existing as natural stand. As there is no attempt to commercially propagate it this tree is fast vanishing. Compared to marang, a gumihan fruit is smaller but it tastes far superior to the former. We should save this tree species before it goes extinct.”

From another botanical site gumihan was also a recent topic.  Derek Cabactulan a resource person and member of the plant id site, Co’s Digital Flora of the Philippines, also added: “According to CDFP from the old records, this tree is indigenous to Borneo, Philippines, Sulawesi, and Moluccas. LUZON: Quezon to Sorsogon, MINDORO, BILIRAN, SAMAR, MINDANAO. I think this tree is underutilized in some parts of our country. It is a good tree in the backyard that provide us food, shade and as ornamental backyard plant. Better save some seeds and gave those who were interested in planting this tree.  It is a valuable ethno-agroforestry species.”

These interesting tidbits of information  prompted me to test taste the fruit. Fortunately, the months of  May and June to July is  the fruiting season of the gumihan tree and ordering from Joseph a villager from Odikin was just a text (SMS) away. He brought four(4) ripe fruits from a gumihan tree not far from their house. “The fruits are just falling from the tree and anyone is welcome to partake of it. It is for free, ” Joseph told me.  No wonder that no one is planting the gumihan. Sadly, fruit trees are only valued as an agricultural crop if the fruits are given monetary equivalent.

Gumihan fruits from Odikin, Bulusan, June 2014

In terms of appearance the gumihan looks like a small marang with scruffy hair (above photos). Its seeds are more packed and dense and  less fleshy than marang fruits. It is devoid however of the heavy scent associated with marang. The downside of eating gumihan is you won’t feel full while eating and the jaw will become so heavily worked out. In the words of Joan a young mountain maiden familiar with the fruit: “mangangalay an imo panga ate sa kasusupsop (your jaw will get tired from sucking the pulp out of the seeds).” True enough, my jaw felt like it had been to a work out after finishing the four pieces of gumihan straight in one sitting.

Wild grown and fruiting gumihan tree along the mountain trail of Kapangihan, an outlying mountain village of Bulusan.

Wild and delicious. The gumihan is an example of an underutilized endemic forest fruit tree that needs to be reintroduced and cultivated for future generations.

Gumihan’s scientific name is Artocarpus sericicarpus.

Photos: Alma P. Gamil

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

A time to plant : Photos of rice planting season in Bulusan

Rice field ready for planting, Bulusan, June 2014

How can I forget the passing and cycle of seasons? It is hard not to be mindful when the beauty of the landscapes of the countryside is the default mode. Its beauty assault I cannot ignore even if the glimpse will take only a second to snap from a passing jeepney. I have to be really fast during these shoots when I have to position my camera inside a running jeepney oftentimes myself occupying the front seat.

For almost two (2) years documenting the fields along Bulusan route from a jeepney passenger perspective, these images (rice field photos) seem to appear like a slide show flowing flawlessly in a perfect cadence  in my mind. The borderline between my memories of past unending cycles of sowing and harvesting in these familiar routes seems to merge as I snapped away the landscapes of my town and its neighbors  from a jeepney — a habit probably now familiar with the local jeepney drivers in my hometown. Thanks to these rural jeepney drivers, they don’t mind this quirky habit of mine at all! In fact, they tend to follow the rhythm of the sound of the clicks of my camera during my shooting mode and sometimes give the go signal nudge for me to snap a view  and  to quip unexpectedly —  “that too, that is beautiful!”

Rice planting season with Bulusan Volcano as backdrop, June 2014.

Countryside scene, 19 June 2014

Photos: Alma P. Gamil, Bulusan-Barcelona, Sorsogon  road view,  June 19, 2014