family trip to hinigaran

i brought husband to hinigaran, my home town, for the very first time. he was game to all of the food and i was thankful that his stomach stayed strong despite the amount of oyster he had consumed. he thinks that fetching water from a well was cool. he also thought that most of my neighbors and family are shorter than lesli (my sister). we find this really hilarious because my sister barely reach 5 feet.

this trip was a relief and did so much to bring back the light atmosphere we had the first days we arrived for my brother's wedding. what happened in between the wedding and our trip to hinigaran was, an accident. our rental car was hit by a passenger jeepney and the headlight on the right side got smashed. i was so scared of what will happen that i almost cried. thankfully it was all sorted out. we paid an amount much lesser than what i originally thought, which was huge (this was the reason why husband scolded me for almost crying because of the amount i thought we would have paid).

so like i said, coming home to hinigaran was really great. yummy oysters, tasty coconut pie, family bonding and being home made up for all the scary moments the day before.

i know i have downplayed the accident a bit and my extreme reaction to it but in that case i was truly grateful because ranley remained calm and encouraging and keeps the focus on the important things like the fact that there was nothing else amiss with the rental car other than the headlights (which can easily be replaced), that all of us inside the car was safe - no scratches, or dent, that we have not bump into any other living things like humans or animals perhaps. so i admire hi for his fortitude and stillness. 

road trippin'

there is always something so majestic about being on top of a mountain and looking out to a great expanse of greens and sky and sea. 

the great minds in mcof combined powers and decided that we should do our annual retreat in negros occidental. i immediately opposed the idea for two reasons:

first, i am from negros occidental!  if we are going on a tour it should be on a place i've never been (selfish self is of course subtle. saying things like, "we cannot travel typhoon is coming!)

second, i am still recovering from a mini pneumonia and still feel weak even though i already have missed work for more than 5 days.

i was thinking, maybe a nice resort around the island would be good or a quick over night stay in some place outside the city. no chance.

we left for bacolod city at 1 am. some of us did not sleep at all. we did all the crazy stop over stuff on top of don salvador mountains and take crazy amount of photos and then went directly to campuestohan highland resort. we headed down to civilizations again and rest for an hour, then eat dinner in diotay's place and head to a carnival area in the city and stayed there until 11 pm.  i was already a walking dead. i was swaying as we find our way to the car. 

when my body hit the bed, i was out but when i opened my eyes it was morning already! not fair!

when all my complaints is done, i would say that we had a really super good time together. relationships deepen, laughter comes easily, conversations are abundant to the point where someone has to do referee duties for everyone to have their time to express opinions, ideas or just 

fart/burp. 

a windmill. a prominent stracture in campuestohan higland resort

pretty girlfriends

hand holding walks

paddle time on a small lagoon. 

spring water meeting with salty huge one

spotting a cacao fruit after many many years.

the amazing view of cebu city from a million miles away.

river rafting

a very late post. again.

this one was taken the first week of june. my friends and i went to cagayan de oro to try their river rafting. officially the thing is called "the great white river" but it rained so hard the night before our adventure so the river was chocolate brown. the water was really cool though that we decided to jump and swim for a bit in the middle of the trip where the current was not so strong.

it was four hours of river swaying, rocking, bumping, swimming, etc. i was the only one not wearing a ruched guard or any sleeves so i think i look as chocolate as the river at the end of the trip :-) no regrets though.

the yellow thing was bing. accidentally pushed by jore 

that paddle was the only thing we saw of her for a couple of minutes. we thought that she would never make it. 

thank God she resurfaced again! 

the teams