JARDIN GAUDOM (A Mini Forest)

Jardin Gaudom (a mini forest) is a crude garden occupying an area of about 2,000 square meters. It has around 30 species of plants planted without following any orderly pattern. Its pathway is crooked and uneven, purposely made that way to avoid walking under coconut trees, thus keeping the walker safe from falling coconut palms and nuts.

At one corner under a huge Narra plant is a man made Wishing Well (actually a concrete basin surrounded by various ornamentals, orchids and vines entirely different from any wishing well one have seen somewhere else. There is an area for Floral Concoction, side by side with the Rock Garden and the Mini Fishpond, near a screened Bahay Kubo, also called Hut for Amicable Settlement.

Slogans and quotations are everywhere; one will feel as if plants were talking to him.

Walking a bit further one will encounter a Rosary Corner curtained by used cards of all kinds. Beside it is the Meditation Site where one could just sit, relax and listen to the voice of God through the sounds of nature.

More interesting, is the Scream Out Area inviting everyone to let go all negative vibrations while allowing all impurities, emotional, psychological and spiritual to flow with the water beyond coconut, bamboo and 'kabo negro' plants to be purified and diluted in the vast ocean of goodness.

Nearby is a small circular Grave site where the garden's owner wish, his ashes when he dies, shall be scattered around a cypress plant.

A few more steps bring one to the Counseling Corner, supposedly the most pleasant space in the garden. It is shaded by bamboos in "full bloom" and is also used for socialization and drinking sessions.

There are plots for vegetables as well as a long driveway bisecting the garden to the parking area.

Also available is a Terrace of Merriment that could accommodate 20 persons casually. Adjacent to this is the Drinkers' Nook for those who enjoy being tipsy or drunk sometimes. A secret tea is also served here at times.

There is a Balcony of Reconciliation for quarreling lovers to patch up their misunderstandings under the shade of 'duhat' and 'bignay' trees. Below the balcony is an interesting portion for those who enjoy and are at home with street and neighborhood noises.

Strolling through the maze of Jardin Gaudom gives one a quick experience in "ecozoic" living, a peaceful and healthy symbiotic existence with nature. It takes only five hundred steps to make a complete round of the unique garden.

Gaudom is coined from the names Gaudencio and Dominga, the couple who originally owned the ancestral home where the backyard is converted into somehow weird and unconventional place to experience during this age of modernity and sophistication.

In this era of computers and cell phones, of global blunders and political stupidities, of terrorism and criminalities, a visit and a stroll through Jardin Gaudom is a very relieving experience.