Checking out the neighborhood

Today was a lazy day.  I woke up with swollen tonsils and the weather forecast says it's going to rain in the afternoon again so we decided to just stay put. This doesn't mean though that we have to stay inside the house all day long, do we?

So after dropping Eric at Kindy, we took a stroll around the neighborhood. It was a quiet place. While walking, my sister and I were imagining what our mother would say, "Asan ang mga kapitbahay?  Wala ka man lang makita! Wala ka man lang makakwentuhan!"  Yes, you couldn't see anyone.

The houses were a mix of new and old, bungalow and double storey structures.  Almost all had gardens and lawns.  I was like a kid who couldn't contain her excitement seeing unfamiliar trees like lemon, grapefruit and olives.  Yes, Im used to seeing guava, mango and narra trees but not the aforementioned ones :) There were also Sakura which were in bloom, but the majority only had buds.

Sakura tree in bloom

Red Sakura

Neighbor's grapefruit tree

Neighbor's lemon tree

 

Pretty red-necked birds

Random pmushroom patch along the sidewalk

The best discovery for me that day was the paper tree.  It is a tall tree with a huge trunk but when you look closely at the trunk, it looks like an interwoven ream of paper.  Im sorry environmentalists but I even tried tearing out the "leaves of paper" one by one to see how far I could go.  It's amazing :)

 

Paper tree from afar

Taking a closer look

Tearing off the 'paper'

Just like in Singapore, we passed by tons of "junk" thrown out of people's houses.  I guess that's how it is in wealthier countries, when things get broken, people just throw it away.  They don't fix it. They just buy a replacement.  In one of the houses, Ate saw a keyboard but it was no longer working.  In another house, I saw a bicycle, complete with helmets and gloves.  The tires were flat but the break was working.  So I took it haha Bote, dyaryo, garapa ang peg!  On a more sosyal note, come on, let's reduce, reuse and recycle! Im doing my bit in saving mother earth!

 

Me with my loot

Ate trying out the keyboard

An old lady saw me and she said I just need to go to the petrol station to infuse air into the tires.  She was pushing a grocery cart and seems like she's also on the lookout for thrown but still useful things.  I don't know if she's homeless but I was thinking, siya siguro ang version ng magkakariton dun.  I had a short chat with her and she bid me good day after.  Hay, people in that place seem so pleasant.