You haven't seen everything if you haven't been to this R18+ Enchanted Park in Bilar 😂

Last weekend, my family and I went on a trip to Ubay to take my brother back to the hospital he was interning in. Back home, we stopped by my mom's hometown in Sierra Bulliones where we found out through my grandpa that my uncle has been working as a craftsman and a mason in a developing eco-tourism park in Bilar. So hoping we would catch a glimpse of his work, we stopped by Bilar on the way home. If this was an ordinary trip from Tagbilaran City, Bilar Enchanted Park would generally only be an hour away.

When we arrived, I was lying down in a fetal position in the back seats of the family van in a very unflattering position 😆. Even though I'm in my twenties, I am still feel like that kid who could fall asleep in any position in the family van.

The park had an entrance fee of 120 PHP (~2.29 USD) per person, but since my uncle was the craftsman of several of the statues, we got in....

The park was relatively new, with a theme surrounding Filipino mythology. If you have watched or read Trese, you'd be aware of the many Filipino mythological creatures and lore.

---

In this park, we have giant frogs (higanteng palaka) and scandalous-looking centaurs. Perhaps, there are male centaurs around?

---

I didn't notice it at first, but even the entrance has a creature which I almost didn't catch if not for the label and description on the left-- a Diwata like the song by Sam Concepcion.

I would remember my grandaunts' stories about engkantos and diwatas residing in the trees back at our ancestral home in Cortes, Bohol. As a mischievous kid, they would warn my brothers and I that if we do not behave, engkantos and diwatas would curse us and make frogs jump out of our mouths, or hide us in the trees never to be able to return to the house again.

Well, for one. That story scared the shit out of 5-year old me.

---

DIWATA

_{Guardian spirits that either cause blessings or mischief to those around them}

---

Of course, no Boholano park is complete without an enormous statue of Bohol's most prized species-- the Boholano tarsier. If this guy came too life, they'd prolly gobbled up all the tourists mistaking them for yummy roaches.

---

But, nothing could probably impact the whole park the same way as the sculpture of the manananggal -- a type of aswang that has wings, and could detach from its lower body -- holding an enormous phallus. If Sigmund Freud was still alive, he would admire this glorious masculine-inspired piece of art 😂.

Aswangs by the way, in Filipino lore, are described as flesh-eating, shapeshifting monsters. Mananangals specifically are depicted as female and vampire-like, targetting unborn fetuses... though in these photos, I guess they changed it to emphasize the unfertilized unborn 👀.

I could only imagine what the more far-conservative and religious groups coming to the park would say about this enormous sculpture... and knowing the density of religious conservatives here in Bohol, they'd say a plenty 😂. I am just amazed at how adamant the owner of the park is about keeping art, art. Only if peopel here knew that there are far more risque places like Jeju love island or Japanese Thai and Bhuddist festivals, or the many ancient civilizations which worshipped and honored the phallus as a symbol, sometimes for dominance, most times, for prosperity.

Aside from that, there is this questionable water statue of Baylan Buwak. Baylan comes from the word Babaylan which were ancient Filipino spiritual leaders, similar to a shaman. Buwak is Bisayâ for flower. Baylan Buwak was called so because of her love for flowers, so much so that her urine was said to make flowers bloom. This sculpture of her urinating a mini-pond explains it.

To be honest, I have only heard of Baylan Buwak the moment I stepped foot of Bilar Enchanted. Talk about being a stranger to your own culture...

After that fun stroll, I managed to visit my uncle at work. In these photos, he is welding structures for the entrance lettering.