Adventures Down South

I have always dreamed of going down south of the Philippines. It is one thing to go abroad, work or visit, but touring around home is something that had to be done. And I have. To top it off, my sister (who is in California) and I were able to plan that I take my parents with me on tour to visit my long lost cousins over in Bukidnon. I would say long lost because I don't recall an interaction between us (except at one of my cousin's weddings, where I have the faded memory of even meeting some of my cousins in person). Anyways, it was a grand experience.

Here is a picture of my sister and her daughter (my adopted daughter as well) with a small crocodile. This was when we visited the Crocodile park in Davao City. And then, on a Sabbath afternoon, we went to Eden Nature Park. It's on top of a mountain overlooking the whole of Davao City (which was a grand view too). Here would be, from the left, my Papa, my Uncle (he married my Papa's cousin), and then Rica. Now Rica is a friend of mine back when I was over at University. I've already graduated but lingered in the campus. She was my contact down at Davao City and she fetched me from the airport at 4:30AM. Imagine that. I stayed at their home before my family and I rented an apartelle. The funny thing was that my cousin, Neneng, who is beside my Mom (who is beside Rica), and Neneng's husband (farthest right) thought that I was going to propose marriage to Rica that's why I've gathered them for the reunion. We had a laugh about that all through out the trips we made. Down the line are my niece and nephew, and my sister and her daughter, Xynith. The park also had a beautiful mini-amphitheater that had a great view of the city. It was surrounded by a nice vine-laden trellis and beautiful flower beds. I told myself that this is a great venue for a wedding. My wedding. Hehe. After Davao City, we had to go to Bukidnon. this is where my cousins were born and grew up. I have only imagined what the place would look like. Gem, my cousin-in-law, drove us through zig-zagging roads and stopped by what looked like a very simple parking lot. But this is what I saw after a couple of steps: a vast plain surrounded by mountains, and it was green inside and out. It was a sight to see.

A day later I was also able to go to my dream school - Mountain View College. It was beyond what I expected it to be. I also had to deliver a package from a mom here in Palau who wanted to give his son a book. I met him and here he is, naive about what's going on. Hehe. What he doesn't know is that I am enjoying so much of this vacation.

My cousin thought of bringing us to this special monastery with a chapel that's shaped like pyramid. It was an awesome place. It had a very nice garden around it too. What struck us all was that when we were getting ready to go home, this beautiful sunset just set the clouds ablaze and the foggy mountain turned into a masterpiece of colors and haze. I'll post that one of these days, but first, let me show you the pyramid chapel:

The next day we had a picnic to a lake. It was a long drive but when we got there it was well worth it. The place was very quiet, and the lake was like a sheet blanket that only had tiny ripples in it. We got into a hut-raft and pulled a rope so we could bring the floater in the middle of the lake. The water area was not that big, compared probably to some lakes in the States. But it was a nice experience still.

I'll close this one with another picture, something that kind of inspired me to have my thoughts running all through out my vacation. It was my Papa's cousin, who, coming from the North found her love and life in the South, that gave us basically this connection. But I've never met her, nor seen her, or heard her voice. All I saw was this, her tombstone. Engraved in love. The grave is actually situated atop a slope that goes down to a river. The land is owned by Mountain View College, the place she and her children, along with her husband, Uncle Mike, devoted their lives to. I wish I could have met her, and thanked her for these moments I had with my family. I will see her in Heaven, I'm sure.

There are more about my adventures in the coming days.