Weekend Birthday at Samal

My eldest son, Leandro turned 10 today. Time flies really so fast, for the last 9 birthdays fancy places were booked for him and his sister, classmates and other friends to enjoy his day, but today we opted, and he suggested in fact, to have it low key so we have it held in a beach at Samal Island.

We woke up raining so hard, so we thought of cancelling the trip, but an hour later the sun showed and we decided to go. Typhoon Ondoy in the area of responsibility of the Philippines so the seas were so disturbed, although Davao City is quite far from Luzon, we still got a bit of its fury, the crossing of the channel was an experience, big waves tossed the boat up and down, and every time it goes down, I just thought to let the angels in the heavens forgive me for all my shortcomings. I frequent this route, but it was the first time I crossed with humungous, raging waves, I said to myself, if this experience of 15 minutes crossing a raging sea made me call all the gods and goddesses to save me, how do those people that survived the Super Ferry 9 and other sea tragedies been feeling? Ohhhh… thank God, it wasn’t my time.

The children enjoyed the waters since it’s a cloudy day, soaking in the water was as comforting as it is warm and really inviting. We had chicken….. ang walang kamatayang chicken, crabby pattie was shoving dead and land our plates with coconut milk and lots of ginger…. Etc… etc… and a cake courtesy of Tita Bergette, a mariachi Samal Island style, a stroll, a nap and a cool, firm sea breeze completed the day.

The going home part was again another experience on a wild sea, if this is normal then this might just be a coping mechanism of the people on board the boat, that instead of a frightful gestures towards what we are experiencing … wow…. We all had been shouting …. yeheeeyy everytime the boat goes up and down … indeed yeheey, we all knocked down tired on our soft beds at home. Thanks. It was a day, really I swear.