In one of our previous blogs, we wrote about a multi-million dollar private garden, owned by one of the wealthiest businessmen in the Philippines, Michel Lhuillier. That garden is now the main feature of Cebu Safari and Adventure Park and despite the accessibility to the public, it is still a great place for a family getaway. You should check out our other blog if you are interested in that location as well. That brings us to the topic at hand, the most private garden in all of the Philippines, which is owned by the same business owner, Michel Lhuillier. It has been said that he owns more than 1/2 of the entire island of Cebu, through his multiple properties and businesses and has recently renovated this garden as one of the most beautiful properties in his portfolio.
When our baby, Cora was only 6 months old we took her to this private garden, which remains one of the most beautiful locations in the Philippines (though our experiences are mostly limited to Cebu Island). The garden is located in Talamban, Cebu, and is home to over 2,000 koi fish, which are incredibly expensive and high-maintenance. There are even aquariums in the bathrooms so you always have company (haha). Anyways, we got the invite to vlog for our YouTube channel (Pamilya Abilla) at the garden and to fly our drone in order to showcase what the spot has to offer. The day started out with a drizzle, which was doing little to dry the already soaked ground under our feet. The week prior a tropical storm hit the small island of Cebu and it was raining incessantly for almost a week straight. The non-stop downpours were all that it took for the soft mountain ground to give way and cause several landslides and flash floods. One of those flash floods took the lives of several people earlier in the week. Back to the story. We were nervous because the thought of bringing our daughter to a place that was prone to landslides was daunting, to say the least.
On the short drive there (we live fairly close to this landmark) we noticed the rain slowing and the roads becoming less slick. Although, we did see a small landslide on the way to the front gates of the garden which crushed a jeepney. Sorry to the owner as those things are constantly breaking down and must require a ton of maintenance which has led us to the conclusion that a jeepney business isn’t the play, especially during covid (which will seemingly be here forever). We have also seen firsthand the hardship that the owners face as one of our neighbors owns several of these old public transportation vehicles. After passing the landslide we made our way to the giant front gates which were in the shadow of a tree-covered mountain on the left. As the gates opened it revealed a well-manicured driveway that stretched several acres up and down a windy road (very wide, completely private, no traffic) until you hit the final stretch which veered to the left and down to the secret garden.
Once we arrived at the garden a security guard on a motorcycle greeted us and made sure we were who we said we were. This level of security was comforting as we were the only people on the entire property. Completely private, exclusive, and needed getaway from our day-to-day lives. When we arrived, Cora had just awoken from her nap on the drive over and was waiting with bright eyes and a smile for the adventure that was in store. We unloaded the car. Readied her stroller. Assembled the drone and our filming equipment. Once we were ready, we embarked on the short pathway to the garden. The first thing we noticed was a giant structure that was recently placed there for a private wedding. Did I mention that this place offers exclusive rental for private events? It is fairly expensive to rent the place out so you better have some extra cash lying around or a good cause to shell out that kind of money. Anyways we passed the structure and made our way through the foliage, which was thick, towards the 3 connecting ponds that held thousands of koi fish. At this point, the day was already waining and the sun was headed around the other side of the planet so the day grew dark. We then asked the guard to turn on the lights that were lined throughout the garden, which he did. They illuminated the entire property and it seemed like a heavenly oasis in the middle of a jungle or a giant Christmas tree amongst the dark forest from the view of our drone. This made seeing the koi fish easier.
There were thousands of koi fish. Too many to count and way too many to track with the naked eye. Hopefully, our pictures do them justice but trust us there were plenty more than we could show in the shots we got. They also had a smaller pond that housed the baby fish until they were ready to join the larger schools in the deeper pond. Apparently, they are maintained by a small staff and it costs over a million pesos per month to feed them. Pretty expensive for something very few people get to see. They even added aquariums to both the male and female bathrooms which made up the entire back wall. These fish homes, however, held different kinds of catfish, which is suitable as catfish generally live in dirty and muddy places so the bathroom fits them well. It's safe to say you would have a few friends to talk to while you handled your business.
After we brought Cora around the garden it came time for us to fly our drone and get some much-needed shots of the place. We got some great shots of the fish which loved to swim in circles together and eat anything that touched the surface of the water. Cora was amazed at the swirling orange circles in the water and laughed a ton. Overall the Talamban Garden is a great place for a short getaway or family picnic if you have it to yourselves. You can also rent the location out for your events if you so choose. We would definitely go back and if you want to know more please ask in the comments!
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Señorito’s Cocktail Garden [//]:# (!pinmapple 10.384551 lat 123.914229 long d3scr)
