Being at home during the christmas break, days can be dull and boring. To break from the humdrum routine activties at home, I and the hubby decided to go somewhere. We decided to visit Visayas State University in Baybay City, our dear alma mater.
Though Visayas State University is a an educational campus, visitors are welcome to visit tour around the place. It is considered one of the most beautiful educational campus in the Philippines. So let me take you on a digital tour around this beloved university.
It hits different when you come back after a long time. Coming back after 8 long years since my last visit, entering its portals once again, I felt a little nervous and excited like I was meeting a friend or loved one again who I haven't meet for a long time.
We had to present our IDs and logged our names on their logbook as we enter. The guard also asked where we were going and what was our purpose of coming inside. I guess ots for security reasons. Prior to coming here, I was worried that we might not be allowed to come inside the campus.
The campus is a haven for the Nature Lovers
Flanked by high mountain range on the east and the Camotes Sea on the west, the campus is a haven for the thalasophiles, orophile or the dendrophiles or whatever you phile! Lol!
By walking, we knew we could only tour around certain area of the campus. We were able to explore part of the upper campus, the area by the mountains. The campus is too wide, you need to spend at least four years to be able to explore every corners of it, lol! If you know what I mean.
Our hearts were beaming with joy seeing the campus still as beautiful the way we remembered it. The greeneries and the familiar trees seemed to welcomed us back.
There were creative lanterns hanging on the array of trees as we walked along the sidewalk. These were created by different college departments. I took a photo of some of my favorites along the way. The lanterns were made from indigenous materials. Which one do you like most?
I love the concept of this lantern maybe because I love the moon and the stars.
This resembles the structure of an atom and I love the colors.
How a traditional lantern looks like. There's the star, the ring around it and the tails.
I also like this one. Though it look simple and less colorful, I find it unique.
Since the campus is wide, the school buildings are not cramped in one area. They are strategically built all over the vast plains and hills. And in between buildings are trees, plants and just pure nature.
After a short walk from the main entrance, we decided to walk up to the admin building. It was rainy that day so the atmosphere was a bit dark, my photos cannot give justice to the beauty of this place. The majestic Mount Pangasugan was not even visible behind the dark clouds. 
Along the way, are some beautiful spots to marvel.
We stopped by this awesome garden arcs caving this aisle towards a gazeebo. Not sure if they allow wedding ceremonies here, but it looked like it was made for it.
Along every pathways are trees. Some of the trees are older than me. Perhaps the only witnesses to the struggles every students have to undergo to pursue education. 
I felt sad that some of the trees which were once witnesses to our experiences during our student life here were gone. The ones that provided us shade from the sun and rain as we walked along these pathways. The ons that provided a shade to hangout during class breaks. The pili nut tree in front of our department building was knocked down by the Supertyphoon Haiyan in 2013. We had fun memories of that tree. 
This was our college department building. Now, there are no more trees blocking the view.
Two stairways will lead up to the admin building and other department buildings.
This stairway on the right is less strenuous to climb. There used to have an array of palm trees covering the walk that make one feel like a royalty while talking every step. Now, its bare. 🥺
In between the two stairways are pathways for vehicles.
We decided to climb the stairway on the left. I heard students call this stairway to hell as it leads to the Department of Pure and Applied Chesmistry, Department of Mathematics and Physics and College of Engineering. The dreaded Math subjects and Science subjects awaits at the end of the stairway. Also, this stairway is steepier and longer too with 83 steps. I remembered how we run out of breath trying to catch up with our next subjects by climbing this stairways.
Reaching the end of the stairway is this view of a beautiful pine tree and the Chemistry and Engineering department buildings.
The pathways around this building are stunning too. I love walking around this area. The ambiance is so refreshing.
The old Engineering buildings are quite interesting too with design not the usual design I see in campus buildings.
Leaving the Science and Engineering buildings premise, we walked down this bridge where I found a incredible tree and bamboos.
I couldn't just pass this bridge without my photo taken under this lovely tree. I love trees. 
Crossing the bridge, we finally have a view of the admin building.
Some more beautiful nature view around the admin biilding.
Touring around VSU, we could not miss the iconic admin building. For tourists it's just a building above a hill but for alumni like us, it's an emblem of success. Every step towards it symbolizes our the experiences, the struggles and success of college life in search for knowledge and the truth that prepared us for life.
Some things never change- the beauty, the memories and the love for this dear university.
Another notable feature of the school is the The Search for Truth statue just across the admin building. This statue symbolizes the the principle of seeking for a vision.
And when you look down from the admin building, this is the view. We could see from here the sea horizon. Too bad my phone cannot capture that majestic view.
This is just a front area of the campus and there's more to see. I'll be sharing it on my next post.