Bee is used to having people from school drop by their family's farm in Bulacan for camping, field trips, or just hanging out, that she was surprised to learn that I haven't been there before.
She was insistent that I visit and didn't mind if Jon came along. We visited their farm yesterday afternoon.
Bee met me and my brother at Trinoma around lunch time, then she drove us to their farm, which is located in Bulacan.
First to greet us was Bee's older brother Raymond, who waited for us in his car at the gate. Raymond and his wife Rowie live in the farm and manage the place. It is actually just a small rice farm with fruit trees, whose produce is just enough for family consumption.
Next to greet us were their dogs.
Since they were expecting us, they served lunch and I was surprised that they ordered lechon. We ate at the veranda where there is a large table that could accommodate all four of us (Rowie slept late). Apart from the lechon, their cook served lomi, pakbet and prawns.
We took a short rest after eating before Bee toured us around the place.
Sora, Rowie's golden retriever, tagged along. He seems to like Jon.
Rowie would later say that Sora isn't usually friendly with people he'd just met.
In front of the house is a small lake. Bee says they once placed a turtle on the island at the middle. I'm not sure if the turtle is still alive since they left it to fend for itself. The lake is home to tilapia, and Bee used to like fishing at the lake when she was younger.
Near the lake are a number of trees, young and old, but these are not fruit trees. The fruit trees would be found on the other side of the farm where the cows and chicken are. We didn't wander much since Bee told us that there are snakes in the area.
This is Sora looking at the rows of chicken coops:
If he was a cat, or Balki (or was it Bingo?) - our dead dog who caught and killed chickens who wandered in our backyard, I would be worried. He he he.
This was the first house built on this farm before the bigger one was built.
No one lives there now.
This is the main house viewed from the side. The pool is a late addition. Bee said that the area where the pool is used to be the place where visiting students would camp... I'm guessing they were scouts.
The path from the gate to the house.
The garden in front of the house:
Bee's mom loved orchids. When she died, their cook took care of the plants.
Raymond told Bee that there were ripe tamarinds that we could pick... when we finally found a tamarind tree (Bee is not familiar with the fruit trees herself), we could not knock a fruit from it. We then gave up then made futile attempts to knock down fruit from star apple trees. Bee's brother probably had a good laugh at us. He then told one of the workers on the farm to get a ladder and pick some ripe star apples. We ate some for merienda, Jon and I would later bring home a handful.
We had planned on going fishing but ended up spending the rest of the afternoon in the pool.
When night came, the bamboo torches near the pool were lit up. The torches have citronella which drive away mosquitoes.
Since we would be going home to Laguna, Jon and I prepared to leave before 8PM. I was first at the shower, then Bee was next, so Jon and I spent the waiting time taking pictures at the veranda.
We have a big bell like the one above at home, which we only ring to greet the New Year. Bee's folk use this bell to call workers to the house.
We left the farm around 8PM, passed by Bee's house near the main road to drop off lechon leftovers, then passed by a store selling what Bulacan is famous for: chicharon. We ate dinner at Trinoma before parting ways: Bee back to Bulacan, Jon and I to Laguna.
