Living Things

We passed this place too many times in the past. A road sign planted at the corner where we turn right greets us every time we go to the mountains. Today we finally turned that right corner. The road is small but passable. We turn another right and we've arrived. We alight from our vehicle.  The air is cool. It is quiet. Water pouring from the clay pot fountain sounds.  We walk the tiled steps onto the veranda overlooking rich foliage, mountains and a river down below. The dining area is small, enclosed by glass windows floor to ceiling. We enter and homemade cheesecake greets us at the door,  Halo-halo too. We order lunch. I go outside again and explore the place. Numerous butterflies flit from one plant to the next. Fragrance in the air permeates from different herbs and spices. Citronella leaves are in a clay pot filled with water. Underneath, coals unlit rest. I walk gingerly, swaying this way and that,  careful not to disturb the green living things.

  

I look up the archway and see a spider has woven her web, beautiful and intricate. She is too, her body a sheen of green and blue.  Wooden signs mark a corner, exquisitely handwritten on them - Rosemary, Parsley, Coriander, Spearmint, Basil, Lavender, Marjoram. 

 

I linger at the veranda. Flowers line the arches over the steps down the path to the river. Bright pink, orange and yellow clumps against a backdrop of green leaves. I gaze on further down. Boulders outline the river. Some are in between. The water flows, inviting. I close my eyes and remember our river trek many months ago. I wonder what it would be like to trek this river below me. I become excited at the possibility.

I go back inside. In a short while,  Butterfly tea is served. Purple liquid, blue flowers float along with lemon halves. It has ginger too. We sip our tea. It is pleasant and light to the taste.   Salad comes next, another burst of colors. The sweetness of mango, textures of lettuce, apple, cucumber fill our palates. Our main course comes next. Chicken Skewers with Pesto and Vibrant Vegetables, Barbecued Pork Belly with Fragrant Herbs with Vegetables cooked in Savory Broth. We take our time relishing each dish, loving the individual flavors at the same time giving our bodies time to absorb and process everything. I imagine some may find the servings small. But the flavors are unique and organic. We glance up around the space every now and then. Teapots are displayed on glass shelves on one counter. Hand painted art and calligraphy are mounted on the counter wall-- Herbs and their uses. The name of the place's owner in purple and blue blended colors.

90's music fills the room. We laugh as Side A belts out "Forevermore", Freestyle plays next, and last but not the least, David Pomeranz.  It is as if we are back in high school.  And yet, this place we just passed by too many times in the past, with its small road, small space, but with all its colors, smells, flavors, the quiet, and the cool mountain air we have partaken grounds us to the present, allows us to look inward. There is no fanfare here, makes one ask the question, "Why are you here?" It is impossible not to see the place and its overflowing possibilities that awaken all of senses, that is if one chooses to be awakened. 

How does one describe this place? With the plethora of green things, four-winged creatures, flowers and flavors bursting vibrant, I find this place to be full of life. The kind of life that speaks less of artifice or pretentiousness. The kind of life that is simple yet exquisite, small yet magnanimous because as with most if not all truths, it is authentic, it is resonant, it is real. 

Ormoc Herbs 

San Lorenzo Village

Barangay San Pablo

Ormoc City, Leyte

Philippines