in the land of pineapples

in the land of pineapples down south of the philippines, there are thousands of pineapples (of course) as far as your eyes can see. everywhere you look, pineapple plants surround you and it will probably make you think you're in pineapple heaven.

and this kind of heaven may not be as far as you think. 

welcome to the province of bukidnon!

after spending two days in cagayan de oro and a neighboring town in misamis oriental, we made a quick trip to the adjacent province of bukidnon. again, we were lucky to have someone to do us a favor of providing us a free transportation in reaching bukidnon. fame's aunt and uncle were visiting a relative in the nearby province and we happily tagged along.

what i can remember about bukidnon in my "civics and culture" subject in primary school was that the province is a plateau where plantation of pineapples can be found. at a young age, distant places amazed me and i dreamt of these places within a child's infinite imagination. 

Del Monte's Big Pineapple Replica

our benefactors were kind enough to do a few stops while we excitedly leapt out of the van for some photo opportunities.

this huge pineapple is not sponge bob's house in bikini bottom but this is del monte's imposing welcome for everyone coming to bukidnon.

Camp Phillips, Bukidnon

we were treated with several welcome signs but we didn't complain either. welcome signs may be the next best thing for a photo opportunity.

del monte's vast pineapple plantation is located in camp phillips. entrance is for free since within the plantation is also a provincial road where a local transport seldom ply.

Provincial Road in Bukidnon

Pineapple Plantation in Camp Phillips

A real pineapple

we unintentionally stopped in the middle of the plantation for quite a long time because our van stalled and we had to wait for someone to come by to help us with our predicament.

Goofing around the plantation

our hopeless situation led us to take plenty of photos and most of them were just pure folly. we had photos that we tried picking a pineapple and all sorts of flakiness that we could think of. when we eventually got tired, we went back to sit in the van with its door wide open, our chins languidly resting on our palms, depicting despair in the middle of nowhere. yes, we were definitely in the middle of nowhere and there were no signs of human life in sight, save only the few vehicles that made past at us.

imagine the vastness of a desert but instead of sand, imagine pineapples! thousands of 'em!

oh we made it alive from the land of the pineapples and mind you, we didn't bring any illegal souvenir.

o-O