atin-atin lang

after a few months of saving up and conserving my resources, i was able to bring my entire family over to Boracay for a vacation. why have the enjoyment all to myself when i can share it with the ones i love, right? so i got them packing and took the BUS to Caticlan (for experience and not to torture them). after around 13 hours of travel via the nautical highway and 3 hours standy at the jetty port, they finally landed on the powdery white sand of Boracay at boat station 1.

breakfast was waiting for them at our staff quarters here at Fairways, where they would stay until their 2pm check-in time at a White Beach place. soon after mama, papa, my brother lendrey & sister reina didn’t waste any moment and explored Paradise Cove at Lapus-Lapus Beach (at Fairways & Bluewater). i also gave them a quick tour around our project site. after lunch, they moved into their room at Serina’s Place near station 1; i went back to work as soon as they got settled.

it was my brother’s birthday the next day and my parents decided to throw a little luncheon celebration together with my workmates at our staff quarters. everyone feasted on grilled fish, pork liempo and fresh shrimps; my spaghetti was hardly touched (bad combination i guess). but nobody failed to have their fill of rocky road & halo-halo ice cream! there was enough even for seconds, and thirds…

since work for the day was done and it was a weekend, i packed my bag and roomed in with my folks to get into the "vacation mood" that they were in. even for just the weekend, i enjoyed the convenience of having air-conditioning, cable tv, hot shower, the works. that night, my sister and i hung out at one of the bars beyond station 1; gulping down a round of strong beer while enjoying the "sights."

a highlight of this vacation would be our trip to Puka Shell Beach where we had a little picnic , soaked up the sun, and practiced a few strokes in the water. it was also a good venue for a photo-op for the family. we were all spent after that side-trip and papa, lendrey and reina decided to sleep the rest of the afternoon off. meanwhile, mama and i went to church for Sunday Mass and had merienda at Jonah’s afterwards. for dinner we went to Attica/Paradiso Grill for pizza and seafood. the food was delicious! i’m definitely going back there.

we got up early the following day so we can have breakfast together before i headed back to work. they did their pasalubong and last-minute shopping afterwards at the new D’ Talipapa. after lunch, i picked them up and saw them off at Boracay’s jetty port. this time, they were taking the shorter and more glamorous(?) way home via airplane at Kalibo. i got their tickets over a month earlier to snag the cheapest fares.

that was the most recent real family vacation that i remember since my early college years and i’m happy that it went well. i’m even happier that i was the one who gave it to my family as sort of a gift. i hope that they appreciated it and enjoyed as much as i did to render months of living and working away from them well worth it. i’m looking forward to our next holiday.

as for me, i’m back to building up my savings for my other commitments and future travels (of course!). i hope to visit Mindanao in the near future.

care to join me?