Rice and recreation

Some local farming communities are foraying into tourism to boost countryside commerce.

In San Juan, La Union, villagers of Barangay Casilagan are showcasing a unique garden inspired by waste management.

Casilagan's garden of tulips on a farm reminds one of the famous Dutch flower only that the plants are not real. The tulips are plastic bottles handcrafted by locals as part of a waste recycling initiative. It took them five months to turn some 9,000 plastic bottles into mock tulips.

Visit to the tulip garden is free.

Meanwhile, a unique hideaway in Ramon, Isabela is attracting local tourists.

3S Island Beachpool Mini Resort offers traditional rest and recreation amenities like swimming pools, cottages, jacuzzi, rooms, a makeshift beach for volleyball and food.

When owner Prelan Valencia's resort was recently featured in GMA News' Dapat Alam Mo segment, she said the 4,000-square-meter resort was built on a farm given by her parents. The family previously grew rice and raised chicken, ducks and tilapia in a fishpond in the property.

Valencia recalled that her children used tilapia boxes as their swimming pool, so she decided to build a real one for them. During the pandemic, people looking for a place for family relaxation tried Valencia's place. Soon more people were visiting the place so the Valencias expanded it and built other amenities.

Since the resort opened to the public six months ago, it has become an attraction because of its unique location. The mini resort is like a desert oasis being in the middle of vast ricefields that gave R&R visitors a very refreshing farm ambience and pollution-free air.