If I ever go to La Union, I would want to go to the Rice Terrace!
The young people are leaving. There are less and less to maintain them. The terraces may be gone.
I don't know about botanical gardens, but enjoy your trip!!!

Hi!

How lucky for you to be able to go to the Philippines. I was just there this summer after 17 years since my family immigrated to the US.

There are some places within Metro Manila you can visit: Manila Zoological and Botanic Garden near Manila Bay, Japanese Garden near Rizal Park and even the Greenbelt shopping areas in Makati are attractive. There's also a orchidarium that I didn't get to during my two week stay. I would also suggest a trip up north to Baguio and even up to Banaue to see the rice terraces. Baguio has a lush Botanic Garden and various other parks that are well landscaped.

Oh gosh, there might be some special fruits in season when you arrive. Do hit up the local markets!!

Please try and refrain from taking clippings from public gardens. It is a terrible practice. You will also have difficulty bringing back plant material into the US. Once you arrive at your first port of entry, they will be confiscated and you could be fined. It's not worth the risk even if you hide it very well, they will find it, sadly.

Your best bet is getting in contact with a nursery in Manila that ships plants worldwide and they might be able to make arrangements for you with proper documentation. If you're lucky, they might be able to inspect your own collection of cuttings and such (from gifts from gardens or relatives) and provide you with documentation to be able to take plants with you on the plane back home. You might also consider getting a import permit from USDA. It's fairly quick and painless.

If you'd like more information let me know. It's a huge hassle, yes, but it's so important to monitor the movement of specific plant species, particularly orchids, to discourage illegal trade and potential pathogens that come from imported material.

Enjoy your trip!!!!!

Riz

We are going to see the rice terraces, that's going to be really exciting. I'm glad to hear there might be odd fruits in season!

I did look into getting an import permit but I'm leaving in less than two weeks so I don't know if I could get one in time. Are there really nurseries that can ship to the US? Maybe I can just buy from those.

There's no way I won't enjoy the trip. It'll be my first time going.

Andrew,
I'm so envious that you're going home to visit. The last time I went home is 1999. I don't know any botanical garden other then the one in Luneta and the zoo, however, if you go to Baguio city, the strawberry field is just wonderful. There's a lot of nice places with gardens that you can visit in Baguio. La Union have a lot of beaches you can enjoy. I have heard though that where Subic Base used to be is now a sight to visit. Iloilo is a nice old city. Visit Tagaytay, Matabungkay, and if you want to go diving, go to Palawan.

Remember, wherever you go, I can assure you, there's a lot of food. Enjoy, relaxed and have a good time. As what Riz said, it's not worth sneaking some plants/cuttings. If you want some sampaguita clippings, let me know and I can send you some when you get back. Mabuhay!

Easy ka lang sa Pinakbet! hahahah

"Pinakbet" is a traditional dish we Filipinos eat. Be sure to have some during your visit Andrew.

Import permit doesn't take too long to process. I'd apply anyway and see if it arrives before you leave. If not, it's still good to have and will be valid for a few years.

Your best bet is to write down the names of some plants that catch your eye and let us know what you've found and we can direct you to reputable nurseries here that carry the plants or even gardeners that might even share a cutting or two.

Have a blast and update us on your trip when you're there!

Cheers,

Riz

Will do. Thanks everyone.

Pinakbet, suprisingly, my Home Depot sells sampaguita, but thank you for the offer.

I will try to keep you guys updated!

Have a great trip. I lived there for many years till Mt Pinatubo destroyed everything around us.The rice terraces where beautiful when I last saw them and try Pansaginan falls.La Union beaches are really nice.I remember going to the market and getting this special fruit only in Jan/Feb around there.I wish I could remember the name[starapple?].
Baguio and the pine forests are really nice.If you go down to Subic, take a nice day trek to Grande Island and catch some lapu-lapu.Have a fun and safe trip. Take pics of the plants...

I forgot to add to have a San Miguel beer and balut.

Hi everybody...kamusta! This is my first time in this forum. Sure reminds me of home...sighhhhhh! I wish I came here earlier to advice Anakaleki on where to go if she wants to see plants. She must be in the PI by now. Anyway, the Philippine Horticulture Society's Annual Garden Show, usually done in January/February in Manila is a "must" for you to see. They have both an exhibit area showing prize winning ordinary and rare plants and a commercial area where you can buy plants too. The Philippine Orchid Society conducts their garden shows twice a year. One in February and one in August/September when PI's world famous Vanda Sanderiana or Waling-waling would be blooming.

Hi, I'm finally back! Still recovering from the jetlag though. It was such a wonderful experience; I didn't want to leave and now I want to go back. I can't believe how many family members I met!

We ended up going to from Manila to Baguio, then to Hundred Islands, and back to Manila to take a flight to Iloilo. It was amazing to see the places where my grandparents grew up. We even visited the very house where my lola and her family hid during WWII and we still have relatives living there. I also got to see my family's rice and sugarcane fields which we surprisingly still own.

Plant-wise, we visited the Baguio Botanical Gardens which was a bit of a dissapointment. We also visited San Fernando Botanical Gardens which was hidden up in the mountains and was a fairly large place. Some of the plants that stick out in my mind are the mango plantations on Guimaras island, all of the beautiful coconut palms along Manila bay, the ubiquitous bananas up in Baguio and this huge ylang-ylang tree in the lola Neli's backyard. If you'd like to see some of the pictures I took in the Philippines, my online album is at this web address:

http://photobucket.com/albums/f343/AndrewBennett/Philippines%20Trip%202005/

Welcome back!

Great photos!! I sure miss it now!

I miss the smell of ylang-ylang.

What fruits were in season when you came??

Riz

Hmmm, there weren't any mangoes (darn) but we bought kamanchili (sp?), langka, star apple, and bananas (of course). Someone we visited had chico and another person had a guyabana. There were also papayas everywhere. Oh and I remember eating tamarind but I don't know if it was grown in the Philippines. And there was something which I thought was bilimbi at first but was told it saw something else. We ate it cooked in stew.

Balimbing fruit has like 4 or 5 corners to it...a little bit sour. If the fruit ur talking about was really sour, green and a little bit bigger than a thumb, it must be Kamias or Kamiyas. It is used to make the soup or stew sour like in "sinigang". This fruit can be used in replacement for unripened tamarind in cooking specially when the it's not tamarind season. My grandmother used to make us go up the tamarind tree and get young leaves and flowers of the tamarind to use for cooking if there are no fruits. They make the soup sour too.

That's it, kamias. I don't remembering it being sour though.

Someone told me it wasn't good if you were called a bilimbing but I don't remember why. :)

"Balimbing">>>>"Disloyal". It all started during the Marcos regime turnover to Aquino government. Some so called "Marcos loyalist" suddenly changed side to "Cory" to save their political careers. From then on persons who become disloyal for whatever reason where called "Balimbing". Why? I haven't quite figured it out but thinking about it now is that maybe because of the Balimbing's taste, sometimes sweet...sometimes sour.