By: Becky Buenaventura

Last March 1, 2007,  26 members of the Fern & Nature Society were all welcomed  by our radiant host, Lita Salvador, in their beautiful Sabangan Beach Resort in Laiya, San Juan,Batangas. It’s truly a fantastic place to relax and enjoy! With a superb chilled buco-juice followed by an authentic Batangueno merienda  of lomi. ( just what I’ve been wishing for),  we were just ready to begin the day . Our meeting, held inside a “ bahay kubo” with a panoramic view of Batangas Bay, included updates on the  joint garden show with the Cactus Society on November 2008 and the planned travel plans for the Orchid Show in Johorbharu, Malaysia, on May 24 to 30,2007. The meeting was capped by a lecture on the conservation of the endangered Phil. Pawikan given by Mr. Ramon Flores, of the “Pawikan Conservation Project”.  The members signified their support to this advocacy . Our gracious host treated us to a sumptuous Batangueno lunch of pinangat na tulingan,  sweet sour talakitok, pinaputok na tilapia, dinuguan, katuray and singkamas salad, superb maja blanca and suman and ube, etc, etc.etc. We couldn’t ask for more. We ended up the meal with the famous  Kapeng Barako from Batangas  with the sand, the sea and the cool sea breeze for ambience. The afternoon was spent swimming and Noni Dolera’s group, who went fishing, brought back their catch for the day. After dinner, some of the ladies enjoyed their body massage while Noni kept everybody else awake with his “unforgettable” stories and anecdotes.

Day 2 turned out to be another full day. Starting with a delicious breakfast, again compliments of our host, we “invited” ourselves to visit the poultry farm of one of our members, Julie Hipolito, a genuine Batanguena from San Juan.We noted the thriving giant blue agave ( maguey).in her area and was very grateful for the instant Batangueno lunch she prepared for us. She also gave away sacks of fertilizers from her chicken farm ( which unfortunately were left in our next stopover. The cologne of Noni and Butch just couldn’t match the aroma of the chicken dung which filled their van, hehe,) Another brief stop over was made at Mang Mario’s place  where we tasted the sweetest mangoes and enjoyed the Harana songs of Noni Dolera and Siony Fajardo. Mang Mario is into propagation of bamboo, which is now the current craze in landscaping. Our last stop was at the farm of our beloved Mang Bert Ocampo, who introduced us to the Aveo fruit from Australia, but now thrived in his garden. After a quick tour of his 9 hectare garden, I can only imagine the height of its splendor during the days of Tita Belen, his beloved wife. I can only pray that I would soon see the garden back into its resplendence and glory as in the good old days.

We all went home tired but happy for the moments of togetherness and camaraderie. We sincerely thank all our hosts, Lita Salvador, Julie Hipolito, Mang Mario and Mang Bert Ocampo, for their hospitality and for making our day truly memorable.  Hopefully, the trip helped us to be more sensitive to our mission to be preservers and protectors of our environment and nature. Until our next sojourn!