Jamos the Explorer : Metro

I've been planning to visit Antipolo City before, but the time was not fit for the adventure then. But in May this year, I won gift certificates from an online contest that gave me the opportunity and the "need" to visit the bakasyunan city of yesteryears.

From Angeles City, I rode a bus and a jeepney to reach Antipolo City in the province of Rizal. A bus left Angeles City and dropped me in Cubao Metro Manila. From the drop off point, I had to walk towards Farmer's Market and rode a jeepney. The trip was quite long. It was a two hour ride on the bus, and another 2 hour jeepney ride from Cubao. The long travel time from the jeep is mainly caused by the Metro "traffic" in Manila going to Antipolo. Finally, I reached Antipolo at 10:00 in the morning of a Saturday. Lucky is what I am because a good samaritan offered me a ride to get to Bosay Resort, the GC sponsor. The kuya wore all black from his jacket down to his shoes. Thank you again to kuya if he ever reads this post.

I left my baggage at the resort's office given that my stay will only start at 5:00 in the afternoon. Therefore, as suggested by my friend who hails from this city, I went to Pinto Art Museum. A tourist destination that is not quite far but has a quite pricey transportation cost just to reach the place. So if you plan to tour around Antipolo City, please do bring extra budget for your transpo expenses as the tricycles here will charge visitors more than what is required by the local city government.

The Pinto Art Museum is located inside a gated subdivision. The entrance is very miniscule in comparison to the museums total land area of responsibility. When you enter the small entrance, you are required to pay the entrance fee of 200.00 per head as of this date of posting. Not too small for the budget traveller. hehe. But since it was THE only place that I have planned to visit in Antipolo, I nevertheless paid the fee and enjoyed the best ever Art Museum experience I had in my life. The National Museum is the other museum that I have so far visited since 2010. I have yet to visit the place again given that it's almost a decade since the first and only last time.

Pinto Art Museum is a grand exhibition of all kinds of Artistic Works in the Philippines. It showcases living Art legends and not so living ones too. But what makes the Museum memorable, is the landscape and the series of interconnected buildings and structures that houses the great works of art. Aside from these, Pinto Art Museum is a big garden to explore, although not into a full blown garden with different flora species, but a very good presentation of garden landscaping as an art form of its own.

The buildings and structure of Pinto also showcases Architecture as an art form too. From the external design of the houses and building, down to the internal execution of structures and design including the furnitures and fixtures, the Museum truly maintains and greatly emphasizes its essence as an Art Museum wherein you will discover that there is Art in every step that you take inside its perimeter. The best and most memorable works of Art that I encountered in the Museum are the metal sculpture of a pregnant woman, the collage of paintings on canvass in the first gallery, the paintings with bubble-wrap overlay design, the stone structures scattered around the garden and definitely, the Rollete Artwork by Leonard Aguinaldo that is made from rubber, the orangy rubber that we use in rubber stamping. So if you intend to visit the museum, don't forget to look for the Rollete and try your luck. I got "Kuripot"...that is stingy in the english language. haha! But still, people say that artworks displayed in the Museum are rotational. They don't stay forever in their places in the museum. The artworks are changed after a period or two. Nevertheless, you will definitely find and see interesting artworks at Pinto Art Museum.

Untitled artwork made in Rubbercut material by Leonard Aguinaldo

Early in the morning of Sunday, the next day, I woke up to leave Antipolo City. I went to Binondo Manila to visit my nephew and niece. Luckily, my brother was there to allow me to see them and play with the kids. Linus and Lilo are the best pamangkins in the world.....that is because they are the only ones I have. yeehah!

I decided to go and see this year's Hortikultura plants fair in Quezon city. The event is organized by the Philippine Horticultural Society at the Quezon City Memorial Circle(QCMC). For a non-Manila resident like me, I had to ride the bus from Pampanga and reach Manila the other night. To help you know how to get to Quezon City Memorial Circle...here's the way i did to get there. First, from Sta.Cruz Manila, walk to Quiapo Church and pass through the underground junction leading to the other side of the road facing Quiapo Church head-on. From the roadside, ride a jeep with the Philcoa route. As of this writing, jeepney fare is 17.00 pesos to QCMC.

If its your very first time to go to the park, you may ask the tsuper(jeepney driver) to tell you if you have reached QCMC. The jeepney driver will let you alight at the roadside just opposite of the park. Look for the Underpass sign and follow the steps leading to the underground passage. Upon exiting the passage, you will find yourself at the QCMC. It is as if you are in a distant island at the center of the sea, facing the main island. Ask the roving guards for directions leading to the event.

The Hortikultura event area consists of several plant booth sellers and a few food stalls. On the side, you will find the seminar area where speakers are invited to give a talk on popular and interesting topics in Horticulture and plant care. Some of the topics are "Staghorn Propagation" and "Landscaping with Native Philippine Trees". I forgot the original and complete list of seminar titles since I did not attend any, given that I have to go back in Pampanga in the evening.

Most of the stalls sell cacti & succulents. And these items are the cheapest plants sold at the fair. Other sell Bougainvilleas and flowering ornamentals, while some stalls have native Philippine Tree seedlings. I was able to buy one Crab Cactus plant or Schlumbergera species. You will also find famous Plant Traders like Purificacion, Wilson's and King Louis Garden. In my opinion, prices of plants are above average compared to other plant fairs and plants traders. It is a good event for plant enthusiasts like me. However there are some points for improvement that I would like to share. First, the stalls are arrange in a one-row format. I believe that having two rows or more is more enticing for the buyers and this will project more traffic in the selling area. Second, the provided streamers & banners are insufficient in my opinion. More presence and more visibility will attract more visitors. Lastly, there is no music being played in the event. Music in events give life to the shopping experience. It will brigten up the mood and the surrounding area.

Unsatisfied with my loot, only one Schlumbergera seedling, I went around asking people how to ride a jeep back to Centris or Edsa corner Quezon Ave. From that journey, I stumbled on the permanent plant traders in the park. There, I was able to get a Passion Flower Vine. It was a good find given that its the purple species with fragrant blooms.

Riding a jeep back, I stopped and looked around in Centris Market, yet another Plant fair that happens weekly at Centris Sunday Market. I ate Baked Macaroni, Takoyaki and drank a papercup of Lemon Cucumber drink. My loot at Centris is far more than what i got in Hortikultura. I got a Coelygene orchid, a Sanggumay, yellow sanggumay and native Cymbidium.

Got home in Pampanga at around 6:00 in the evening. It was a nice and fulfilling plant shopping experience. I'll definitely go back to Centris for a Paphiopedilum orchid and others.

I am inviting you guys & girls to visit Hortikultura at the Quezon Memorial Circle on or before February 10, 2019. Then fill in the gaps by passing-by on to Centris Sunday Market. Remember, the Hortikultura is only until February 10 while Centris Sunday Market is a weekly event.