in a recent trip to davao, we made a stop at the aldevinco shopping center. i scored a lot of good finds there and one of my fave finds was a scarf. and since i couldn't decide on the colors i wanted (read: i wanted a lot!), i settled on buying 4pcs of scarf. talk about indecisiveness! lol!
well, here's one of the scarfs i bought. i was teasing nelo on how i should wear it and he snapped this photo. it's actually a nice way to accent your shirt, if you want a little oomph to it. i think i should have worn it properly in this photo. :)
anyway, last sunday we bought books at fully booked in rockwell as a gift for nelo's inaanak. i was trying to keep nikko entertained while we wait for nelo. and yes, i was wearing my scarf at the time.
well, nikko found a different use for my scarf. he found it an amusing tool to play peek-a-boo with mommy! he was so cute, toothy smile and all, as he played with my scarf. i think i will have to use/bring my scarf more often when we go out. :)
sometimes, a spur-of-the-moment decision brings better results. and that's exactly what happened with us last saturday.
early last week, we were planning a weekend pictorial with nikko at the park for his birthday materials. nikko will be having a western-themed party, and the park was best option at the time. then, last friday, nelo mentioned about possibly going to tagaytay.
ting! light bulb moment! i said why not tomorrow (saturday)! there were horses at residence inn and it will be the perfect touch for nikko's pictorial.
we invited along my sil and her family and planned on a picnic right after the pictorial. this was also nikko's first time to travel with us outside of the city. i have no idea how to gauge his possible reaction. i forgot to mention that my 6-yr old niece aly was with us. and she adores nikko a lot!it will be riot trip!
we were ready by 6:30 am and waited for my sil. they got to our house at 7:30am, we packed all our staff in the car and we were on our way by 8am.
you can see nikko's excitement on the road. same thing with aly as she wanted nikko to stay with her at the back. but, no can do. we just made a short stop at the shell station at south superhighway and we were off again. we told aly to take a nap first and i breastfed nikko also so he can sleep en route to tagaytay.
we reached our destination by 9:30am. nikko woke up just in time. it was a smooth drive until we hit a snag on the way to residence inn. it was traffic for about 30-minutes or so. turns out there was a vehicular accident along the way. but past that, we were at residence inn by 10:30am.
after parking, we got ready to change nikko's outfit. meanwhile, nelo and myla asked around for the rates. we did not go inside residence inn anymore but just stayed outside where they had a horse track for those who wanted a horseback ride. the rate was a steal at P50 for a 3-round ride at the tracks!
nikko was ready by that time and nelo asked the horseman to bring the horse near the car. we placed nikko on top of the horse and you can see that he's cautious but he likes it. he didn't budge a bit and he was well behaved. nelo was just behind him keeping him steady just in case. then it was pictorial time.
after that, he took a ride with his ate aly around the tracks. love his expression! he was enjoying it but he was oh so serious. he probably knows that if he budges a bit he might fall from the horse.
after 2 rounds of horseback riding at the tracks and 3 set-ups for the pictorial, it was a wrap! picnic time! we really enjoyed the pictorial and i can sense that nikko did as well.
after the picnic, we dropped by tierra de maria for a church visit. we had to say thank you for a safe travel and for a smooth pictorial session with nikko.
we just dropped by the good shepherd sisters, rowena's and loumar's to buy pasalubong for the family. then it was time to go home. a very fruitful and fun weekend!
it's been a week since we came back home from our company outing in davao. we had loads of fun in that trip but we also experienced a mishap in one of the extreme sports adventure we tried...
you see, one of the highlights of our trip was to try out the white water river rafting at the davao river. we were divided into two groups, with each raft carrying 6 of us plus the riverguide. we started off traversing the river with a bit of nervousness but still in high spirits. it was actually fun going through the rapids... that was until we reached one of the major highlights...
they called that part of the rapid as "the washing machine" or "the whirlpool." by the name itself, one can already imagine how the current is moving in that part of the rapids -- spinning round and round!
the first group went past that rapid "smoothly" and i can see them cheering after going through that rapid. when it was our turn, deep inside i was praying for a "smooth" passage as well. unfortunately, it did not happen for our group! as we went through it, something went "wrong" and our raft capsized! all 7 of us in the raft were "thrown" out of the raft.
some would have loved that adrenaline rush and revel in the water as they were carried downstream. but for someone who doesn't know how to swim nor balance or float in the water (and that was me!), panic will definitely set in and survival mode will kick in more than anything!
let me just share that apparently, it only took 3 minutes from the time we capsized to the point when we were rescued by the other riverguides and our officemates in the other raft. but it seemed like a lifetime!
the realization over what happened did not sink in until after a few kilometers away from that rapid point. and it was then that i started to cry. i suddenly realized what that little accident could have impacted on my life, my family and my little boy who is barely a year old!
the result could have been worse. we didn't have any control on the situation. it was nature against us. and within that 3 minutes, i could have lost everything!
it may be an exaggerated reaction, but that was how i felt after all the fun had subsided.
i'd be a hypocrite to say i did not enjoy that river rafting. oh yeah, it was fun traversing and conquering that 12.8 kilometer stretch of the davao river! it was fun going through the other rapids aside from "the washing machine." it was great experiencing it with your friends and colleagues. it was a high to have done something as radical as that at least once in your life. oh it was really fun!
but that experience made me realize a lot of things about my life. and it was such an eye opener. there were a lot of life lessons that it has reminded and taught me, among them...
...to always thank god for everything, as in everything! the good, the bad, the little things and the big things. they all play a part in our lives and that is how we learn to face life. so next time, just simply say "thank you lord!"
...sometimes, you just have to take a risk. but when taking that risk, learn to trust in him! trust that he will be there for you no matter what. believe in his power that everything will be okay.
...that any decision we make, every step we take, not only affects us but the rest of those around us.
... face up to your decisions. some people may not like what you decided on but be man enough to stand for it. accept it and what other people may say about it. just take it all in, then move forward.
...appreciate life! appreciate the people around you. take nothing for granted. life is short. anything can happen in an instant. live life and embrace it!
...that, no matter what, my family will always be my priority!
