mY sUMmer vacATion

Hahaha … just remembered this title when I was in grade school. All right class, get one whole sheet of paper and write down your summer vacation… hahaha…

1 – peaceful Cagayan

Well, I went there but it wasn’t a vacation! My wife called up and told me she was admitted to the hospital because the doctor said she might have amoebiasis. What? In a matter of only 1 day? Well, I told her what she ate…kinilaw sa lunch, ice cream sa hapon, then Bailey’s sa gabi. End of story. Ha! Now I know. I told her it might just be diarrhea. But anyways, I went there on a Friday night and because it was an emergency, I was in economy class. ????? well, I just dozed off that evening. I was in Madonna and Child hospital that morning but we didn’t get on the plane coz there’s only one flight every day at 10am and there was no time.
So we were accommodated by this very nice couple (I won’t mention their names to protect their privacy). And Wow! Are they rich! As in super-rich! And I told myself if there are more rich people in the world like them, soft-spoken, kind, hospitable, humble!!!! But sad to say, only a handful exists! So, there we were enjoying their hospitality. Cable TV, split-type aircon, bathtub… and by the way, if you plan to buy a 1,000 sq. m. lot in their village, you better be ashamed! The houses there have a minimum of 1,500 sq. m. lot area! The neighbor has all their cars parked several meters away from their house. Para bang mag-jeep ka pa to get to your house? Imagine? And this couple we were staying were super-hospitable that nakakahiyang magstay but they told us they were used to many people in their house specially the wife was born in a political family. And their specialty…we bought pastel for pasalubong. You know the bread with special yema at the bottom? Sarap! That was sort of an emergency vacation for me. Glad my wife got well without taking any medicine. It was just plain stomach wiggies! Thanks to Gatorade!

2 – not so Enchanted Kingdom

We went to Manila last May 27 with my kids. My wife has a convention and so pinagsamantalahan na namin. We went to our relatives and enjoyed our small reunion. I met Auntie’s Lata and Laya, Uncle Nemesio and Auntie Sita, Ahia Steven and Ache Sandra, and Philip. Ache Angeline my cousin was sooooo accommodating, nakakahiya talaga! Almost 8 years since I went there and my how Manila changed. We lived in a hotel in Makati near Greenbelt. Wow talk about Seattles Best, Café Havana, Global, Starbucks. That was coffee galore!
In the four days we stayed, we went to Divisoria, Greenhills, Market Market, and man did I bought basketball jerseys, gameboy game cards, shirts and boy it was cheap! Magnegosyo kaya ako? I also went to my fathers grave but sa laki ng Chinese Cemetery, my cousin Angeline and us only located the mausoleum of our grandparents. We didn’t know where my father’s mausoleum was. Paikot-ikot kami. Well, good intentions.
And the way bit too far…not so Enchanted Kingdom. When you watch it on TV, it was like fireworks and everything. But man was I disappointed. Ang layo niya sa Ocean Park! When my wife went there it was like P300 lang converted to peso. Sa Enchanted, it was just like plain old carnival ride. And how unprofessional the guards and entry people were. My wife and I bought our tickets at the bus station and were told to get the kids tickets at the gate. The guards told us to get our kids tickets at the left side of the entrance so we went there and bought them. Then when we went at the entrance, the people told us to convert our tickets bought at the bus station at the left side booth. What? Ba’t di nila sinabi kanina? Pabalik-balik kami sa entrance? Di nila sinabi ng buo! Puro putol-putol. After telling us to buy tickets, they didn’t even tell us to convert our tickets bought at the bus station and convert it to another ticket para di na kami pabalik-balik? Grabe! And the worst thing, every time we went to the entrance, inspection na naman! So 3 times ini-inspect ang bag kong dala and the guards didn’t tell me right away where to deposit the chichiriyas we bought along the way. So sa galit ko, hinampas ko yung chichiriyas sa box nila. Para charity daw? How will I know they’ll not bring it home with them? The staff there were very unprofessional. When they saw our tickets and chichiriyas, they should’ve told us everything, convert our tickets from the bus station and buy tickets for the kids at the left side of the booth, then deposit the food wherever they want us to put it. Not that isa-isahin nila tapos pagpunta mo sa entrance, balik ka na naman sa booth para I-convert yung tickets mo. Nakakainis!
Then when we went inside, there was no magic! I was very disappointed. It was just another carnival. I thought there would be fireworks, dolphins, fast and long rides, balloons, popcorns you know the usual. But to my dismay, ang mahal ng pagkain dun. Ang init pa, and to top it all, umulan ng pakonti-konti. The only one I liked was Rialto. At least the kids enjoyed it since it was their first time in a big carnival. Pinagpawisan kami the whole time and not only physically, also walletally. Toink! Even our wallets sweat like pigs. Mahal talaga. Oh well, half of it was fun. Half of it, well, not as expected. And the bad part was on weekdays, the bus was only available at 10pm. So we waited, sweated, took pictures, went in the souvenir shop for aircon, sweat again…and again…I felt dehydrated. Hay, at least I’m back in Cebu. Thanks to my cousin Angeline, Manila was fun and if you know where to buy, marami kang mabibili. To my relatives…kudos! To Manila…thanks for the fun time. To Enchanted Kingdom…hohum.