White Kalachuchi

 Kalachuchi, Frangipani,Plumeria Alba Blanco

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.”~ from Mulan

“I won't regret, because you can grow flowers where dirt used to be.” ~ Kate Nash

Linking to Floral Friday Fotos

Today's Flowers

Stop overpopulation/Signs

 It's for the good of all of us, really.

Got this photo from my friend in NYC---thought I'd share the chuckle.:p

 

Linking with Signs, Signs

T/ABC Wednesday

T is for Topiary

I didn't see Edward Scissorhands around here but I admire the gardener who has a natural gift for topiary art.   These topiaries are part of the Zen-like gardens near the lagoon and chapel at Greenbelt Park, a park in the middle of a mall complex.  Topiaries are not as popular in the Philippines compared to other Asian countries that I'm always delighted to see them.

Topiary is the horticultural practice of training live  perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, perhaps geometric or fanciful; the term also refers to plants which have been shaped in this way. As an art form, it is a type of living sculpture. The word derives from the Latin word for an ornamental landscape gardener, topiarius, a creator of topia or "places", a Greek word that Romans also applied to fictive indoor landscapes executed in fresco. No doubt the use of a Greek word betokens the art's origins in the Hellenistic world that was influenced by Persia, for neither Classical Greece nor Republican Rome developed any sophisticated tradition of artful pleasure grounds.

European topiary dates from Roman times.  Elaborate figures of animals, inscriptions, cyphers and obelisks in clipped greens were first seen in Roman gardens.

The clipping and shaping of shrubs and trees in China and Japan have been practiced with equal rigor, but for different reasons. The goal is to achieve an artful expression of the "natural" form of aged pines, given character by the forces of wind and weather. Their most concentrated expressions are in the related arts of Chinese penjing and Japanese bonsai.

Japanese cloud-pruning is closest to the European art: the cloud-like forms of clipped growth are designed to be best appreciated after a fall of snow. Japanese Zen gardens  (karesansui, dry rock gardens) make extensive use of Karikomi (a topiary technique of clipping shrubs and trees into large curved shapes or sculptures) and Hako-zukuri (shrubs clipped into boxes and straight lines).  Wiki source

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Sleeping dog/Blue Monday

I followed the old adage "let sleeping dogs lie"---not a metaphorical dog but a  living, breathing black dog having a nap by the canoe.  I took a photo and kept my distance, in case he gets grumpy from interrupted sleep.:p

Linking with Sally's Blue Monday

Petunias

I was buying fruits at the Market! Market! when these beautiful blooms caught my eye.  I wonder how these petunias can bloom here so vigorously when the petunias I bought from this same flower shop died soon after I brought it home.  Is it the heat, or my black thumb?

So I stood there, admiring them for a little while, took some photos and left the market with spring in my steps and a smile.  Flowers have that effect on me.:p

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude. ~ Karl Barth

 

Linking to Floral Friday Fotos

Today's Flowers

Truck signs

Aside from the usual truck safety signs like "keep your distance" and "distancia amigo", I've spotted some interesting and funny truck signs while on the streets of the metro.

Loosely translated:  "No other vice but to love" 

Linking to Signs, Signs

Looks like autumn/MYM

We don't have autumn here---edited this photo to get the look of autumn.  But it's really warm right now...it's as if it's summertime!

Linking to Mellow Yellow Monday

Trumpet Vine

 Blue Trumpet Vine, Laurel Clock Vine, Thunbergia laurifolia

A native to India,  it is a fast-growing ornamental vine with showy violet, white or blue trumpet-shaped flowers.  It is locally known as kar tuau in Malaysia and rang jeud in Thailand. Thunbergia laurifolia leaves are opposite, heart-shaped with serrated leaf margin and taper to a pointed tip. Flowers are not scented and borne on pendulous inflorescence. The hermaphrodite flower is trumpet-shaped with a short broad tube, white outside and yellowish inside. The corolla is pale blue in color with 5–7 petals, one larger than the others.

The plant flowers almost continuously throughout the year with flowers opening early in the morning and aborting in the evening of the same day. Carpenter bees are frequent visitors, creeping into the flowers for pollen and nectar while black ants are present probably as nectar scavengers. The plant develops a very tuberous root system.

  

In Malaysia, juice from crushed leaves of T. laurifolia are taken for menorrhagia, placed into the ear for deafness, and applied for poulticing cuts and boils. In Thailand, leaves are used as an antipyretic, as well as an antidote for detoxifying poisons. Several Thai herbal companies have started producing and exporting rang jeud tea. The tea has been claimed to be able to detoxify the harmful effects of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.

 Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us on a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object, and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it. 
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

 

 

Linking to Floral Friday Fotos

Flower Art Friday

Today's Flowers

Plaza San Luis/Signs

 Signs at Plaza San Luis in the walled city of Intramuros,

Manila

 

Linking to Signs, Signs

Ridge/ABC Wednesday

 R is for Ridge

 Tagaytay ridge is prized for its view of the Taal lake and volcano.  It's the edge of Taal caldera that stretches to approximately 32 kilometers  (20 miles) from Mount Batulao to Mount Sungay where the People's Park in the Sky is located.  Elevations range from 2,000 feet to 2,326 feet above sea level.  Not sure though if it's a crater ridge, a volcanic caldera ridge or a fault ridge.
A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance.

Taal Lake and Volcano Island from the ridge

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Moored @ Anhawan/Blue Monday

A banca moored at the shores of Anhawan Island.

Linking to Sally's Blue Monday

Sanchezia

Sanchezia

Cultivate peace first in the garden of your heart by removing the weeds of
    selfishness and jealousy,
    greed and anger,
    pride and ego
Then all will benefit from your peace and harmony.

~ Buddha

 

Linking to Floral Friday Fotos

Today's Flowers

Missing summer/Signs

 At a rustic beach resort in Pangasinan where we spent a stormy weekend in August.

 

Linking to Signs, Signs

Q/ABC Wednesday

 I thought I had no post for Q, but here it is---a quiet lake called Balinsasayao.  

The proverb "Still waters run deep" literally applies to this lake.

Lake Balinsasayao is one of the two small but deep crater lakes rising 1,000 feet (300 meters) above sea level in Sibulan town, Negros Oriental.  Swimming is not allowed in the lake because of its depth.  Lake Balinsasayao and the adjoining Lake Danao are located in a caldera between four mountains.  The twin lakes and the surrounding areas of almost 20,000 acres are protected natural park, home to an expansive ecosystem and biodiversity.
It was quite difficult to reach the twin lakes---the motorcycle ride through rough mountainous terrain was unforgettable.  But when you're on a quest for something extraordinary, the arduous journey was well worth it.  It's a perfect place for some quiet time to commune with nature.

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Pancit Palabok/MYM

Red Ribbon's yummy pancit palabok--rice noodles flavored with shrimp sauce, topped with shrimps, pork, pork crackling and boiled egg.  A twist calamansi for a zesty and citrusy flavor.

Linking to Mellow Yellow Monday

Wrinkled Pink Flowers

 A shrub with wrinkled pale pink flowers---I hope somebody can identify this plant.

Linking to Floral Friday Foto and Today's Flower

Manila Ocean Park/Signs

Signs at the Manila Ocean Park, an 8,000-square meter oceanarium that opened in 2008.  It features 7 sections/themes--from freshwater fishes, reefs, marine animals from the deepest parts of Philippine waters, various stingrays and sharks, to a 25-meter long walkway tunnel with 220-degree curved acrylic walls.

There's also a marine-themed mall with restaurants and stores, a concourse where events and concerts are held, and an outdoor swimming pool with diving facilities where visitors can snorkel and dive.

Aquatica Musical Fountain, the tallest musical fountain in the country.

 Linking to Signs, Signs