When the Sirao Flower Garden craze started last year, I have never intended of visiting it mainly because I didn’t want to go mainstream. I also saw how people made the garden a mess and it saddened me how they couldn’t give an ounce of respect and care for the flowers just so they can keep up with the hype and have something to post on their social media profiles. I know that I finally gave in because I was purely just wondering, would the long drive be really worth it?
My friends (hello Dani and Cams!) and I took a habal-habal ride from JY Square Mall going to Sirao. I’m not exactly sure how long it took us to get there but maybe around 45 minutes to an hour. Going up there honestly scared the shit out of me because the driver of the habal-habal that I was on drove like crazy! I was so scared that I honestly lost count on how many Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Angel of Gods I prayed!
So when we arrived there, it was I think around 1PM, I saw the sign “Pictorial Garden and Camping Site“. I was not sure if it was the “original” Sirao Flower Garden so I asked Kuya driver, “Kuya, asa diay tong isa?” (Kuya, where’s the other Sirao Glower Garden?). But he answered me with, “Wala naman lain mam. Mao raman ni.” (This is the only Sirao Garden, ma’am.) I thought I was wrong so I believed Kuya. Then we went inside and paid an entrance fee of Php 30, roamed around, and of course, took a lot of photos.
Sirao Pictorial Garden and Camping Site was actually a nice place to visit and I was happy to finally see the famous Celosia flowers. The flowers were indeed very photogenic and I’m glad that decent pathwalks were provided to prevent the visitors from stepping on the flowers. The land was actually muddy so I recommend you wear sneakers or something closed and comfortable.
What I liked about Sirao Pictorial Garden and Camping Site is how they arranged the Celosia flowers into terraces. And they surrounded the flowers with sticks and nylon wires (I think) to avoid people from getting in between the flowers. Thank goodness they did that because seeing those flowers being stepped on is really disheartening.
Anyway, so when we exited Sirao Pictorial Garden and Camping Site, I saw that there was indeed another Sirao Flower Garden a few meters ahead. When I arrived home, I read The Tiny Wanderer’s blog and there I knew that Sirao Pictorial Garden and Camping Site was actually the new Sirao Flower Garden and is under a different ownership. It’s quite sad actually that the “original” Sirao Flower Garden was kind of overshadowed by the Sirao Pictorial Garden and Camping Site most especially because PGCS is situated before the “original” Flower Garden. And just like us, we went in there because it was the first Sirao Garden that we saw and thought that was it.
Nevertheless, we still enjoyed our visit at Sirao Pictorial Garden and Camping Site and my answer to my question, is yes it is indeed worth the long drive. I did not regret visiting Sirao Pictorial Garden and Camping Site but I regret not being able to visit the “original” garden since our time was limited. I hope I can go back there pretty soon though!
For Your Information:
1. Entrance Fee is Php 30. For prenups and photo shoots, the fee is Php 500. These fees already allow you to take as many photos as you like.
2. The flowers in Sirao PGCS are available all year round.
3. Sirao PGCS is open from 6AM – 6PM for all visitors, and 6:30PM – 6:30AM for those who want to spend the night in their camping site.
How To Get There:
1. You can ride a private vehicle going there and once you see the Veteran’s Drive road sign, just turn right from there and follow the road until you reach Sirao Pictorial Garden and Camping Site.
2. Or, you can rent a habal-habal/motorcycle going there for Php 200 round trip per person. Haggling is a must because some (or most) habal-habal drivers tend to overcharge. There are a lot of habal-habal in JY Square Mall that can take you to Sirao PGCS.