It Is More Fun In Umingan!

      I came from this small town, near the high mountains and classic view of savannas and wide open spaces. I always remember, I used to ran to this open spaces like a free gazelle, with overwhelming excitement thinking that billions of people in this cruel world.. I had the chance to dance and caressed by the wind, feel the grace of the pouring rain, take a nap in a hammock lulled by the fresh air..

      There are thousands of reasons why I love my hometown, Umingan. Especially, when you spend lot of your stressful time in the city, with deadlines, traffic, pollution of any kind, crowded places and bad people running rampant on the streets.

      Last March, 2012. I'd planned to join a contest, featuring hometowns, but unfortunately due to busy schedules and lack of internet access, I failed to send my entry. Anyway, I really love to share photos I gathered last summer.

Taga Umingan Ka Kung...

Alam na alam mo ang slogan ng town natin.

Nanood, pumusta, o isa ka sa naglalaro ng basketball kahit tanghaling tapat sa plaza.

Na-try mo na gamitin ang C.R na 'to..

Isa ka sa mga pasaway na tumatambay sa kubo na 'to..

Tinitingala mo siya pag dumadaan ka sa park..

Tinatawag mo 'tong "CASTLE", tapos dito kayo tumatambay after class..

Na-amaze ka sa nag-iisang fountain ng park..

Kilala mo s'ya..

Alam na alam mong may kalabaw sa gilid ng park. Minsan sinasakayan mo pa.. Tapos di mo na alam paano bumaba..

Nagfa-family day kayo sa Children's Park around 3PM..

Nakapag- "indayun" ka na sa swing na 'to..

Isa ka sa mga batang pag nagsi-see saw na sumisigaw ng.. "Balance! Balance tayo!"

Isa ka sa mga taga UNHS, QMA, ICCS na naguunahan para makaupo sa silong ng umbrella tree na 'to.. Obviously, sila ang nauna this time.

Kilala mo sila, paikot ikot sa plaza.. Ang ating mga masisipag na LGU..

Binasa mo lang ang rules na 'to.. Pero hindi mo sinunod.

Kilala mo sila, mga marshals tuwing basketball tournament pag fiesta..

Isa ka sa mga nakikipag-agawan sa malaking electric fan na 'to tuwing liga sa GYM.

Bumibili ka kay ante ng candy, yosi, palamig at 5pesos na softdrinks..

Bumibili ka ng buko juice, tapos feel mo may magic sugar tapos bibili ka ulit..

Bumibili ka ng mani at di mo alam anong gusto mo kasi madaming pagpipilian..

Isa ka sa mga nagpuyat para manood ng Ms. Gay, Ms. Umingan, Variety Show, Barangay Night at iba pang mapapanood tuwing fiesta sa Auditorium na 'to..at madalas, "Audi" lang ang tawag mo dito..

Kasama mo ang tropa mo at nagliliwaliw kayo sa park... magka-akbay.

Alam mong mga Veterans ang naka-ingrave sa batong 'to..

Isa ka sa mga bumibili ng icedrop with different kinds of flavors, like buko, ube and cheese..

Nakapaghugas ka na ng paa sa posong 'to..

Noong bata ka, madalas mo antayin ang sundo/ service mo ng bandang alas-4 sa tapat ng school..

Bumibili ka sa "piyestaan" kasi "sampu, sampu, lahat ng mahawakan, sampu, sampu.."

      I know you're wondering why I decolorize this images because, we may not have SuperMalls, big stadiums, and hotsprings to make us colorful, but what we do have is our smiles..

     That smiles from hope, faith and perseverance. That smiles from every calamity that taught us lessons, from the tears, from the sweat because of the burning sun in the rice fields. The smiles that appears when our tatays visits his crop and seeing a very good harvest in the future, the smiles from our nanays when they saw us learned from school. If I'm a painter, I am blessed.. Because that smiles... gives the most fascinating burst of colors that you can see only on us, in Umingan.

     Feeling lucky? So am I. Why? Because it is more fun in Umingan! :)