The Beautiful Mountain By: Mia Herbosa We were often on this beautiful mountain range when I was growing up in the 1980s. My mom and dad helped managed Green Mountain Farm, RVO’s ponkan (mandarin orange) farm that used to be in this pretty area. There were also lemon trees, strawberries, and many vegetables growing alongside the ponkan trees. The only structure then was RVO’s log home, as well as the garage—which is now the location of the beautiful Clubhouse, where you find Bernie and Sienna today, always cheerful and ready to help with any odds and ends you may need. Weekends back then would see us speeding up here from Manila in that green Isuzu Trooper with large tires and gold mag wheels. I’d love coming up because it meant seeing those mountain ranges again. I often felt a high (literally!) when we’d come here. There were also a couple of small ponies to ride, a tennis court, and a rose farm in the valley below. And there was that one fun snakey and very narrow steep road that brought us up from Ambuklao Road through the tall iron gate and to the top of the mountain. It used to be wide enough for only one vehicle, so my dad would scare us some foggy nights going through those incredible hairpins. In the backseat, we would yell and scream as we felt the car tilt, already almost vertical. We all loved Baguio because of this. This was Baguio to me, even if I now realize it is Itogon, Benguet. It is one beautiful area. In the early ‘90s and decades to follow, I settled down in New York City. I heard that the mountain had become more private and I treasured memories I had from childhood of playing in the cool, sweet-smelling air of Green Mountain 12
Farm. Even while in the concrete jungle that was New York City, I would remember the beautiful mountain range behind the house and how the grand scenery never looked quite the same. I understood why Cezanne kept painting Mont Sainte-Victoire over and over again from his home. Some days it’s cloudy, and the soft clouds kiss the violetgrey mountain tops. Sometimes it’s a bright blue-sky day, and I can see all the undulations of the little peaks and crevices on the green cliffs, and watch blue cloud shadows float ever so slowly along the surfaces. It is always like a movie to me. And always, it is relaxing.
