Roots
So, as mentioned yesterday, i went back to my roots. The three places mentioned below was where i spent roughly the first four years of my life. Going back was such a trip, trying to remember things and places. I love going back to Mindanao. I forget, this girl is from Mindanao. And proud to be from the south. haha :) The cool thing about the whole weekend was Reg being with us - he got to see my roots, and we were able to tour him around and tell him bits of trivia. The rest of the family was pretty happy to share with him lots of little facts about the baby me. haha, it was great :)
So here's a rundown of the trip:
Cagayan De Oro
We took Cebupac's 4:40am flight last Saturday to meet up with my family who flew in the day before. My dad had our Expedition shipped over to CDO, because he's been wanting to drive to Mindanao for ages now. So, as a compromise, and to avoid driving all the way from Manila, he shipped it to CDO instead. We got in at 6am, went to the hotel and took a nap because we both had an average of 2 hours sleep lang (:p) and plus, we were gonna be picked up at 8am to go whitewater rafting!
Whitewater rafting was awesome. We all went. Including rachel, inna's childhood friend from jakarta (who happens to come from CDO too. Maliit ang mundo namin. haha). Well, the water wasn't so white because it just rained but it was awesome just the same.
After rafting, we went around CDO. It's a lot more crowded than i remembered. Went by the hospital I was born in, the first apartment that I lived in as a baby, the church my parents got married in, our old house when we lived there in '91. We also went by Pepsi, because my dad was GM there and I was a Pepsi baby. We went by Limketkai and ate at Cafe Laguna with my ninangs, their husbands and my kinakapatid. The same people we spent time with in '91. The same people my parents had been friends with since before I was born.
It's been 15 years since i went back to CDO. I couldn't remember much. But being there was nice. :)
Davao City
The next day, we woke up early and left at around 9am to make the five-hour drive to Davao City. We reached Davao at around 2pm and headed straight to a KFC at NCCC to eat. It was supposed to be Jollibee because Inna was craving Jollibee but it was too full. After eating, we drove around Davao, even checking out both of the houses we stayed in as well. As a toddler, I also lived in Davao (and Zamboanga as well). After driving around, we went straight to Marco Polo where we were staying for the night. Rested for a bit, went to church at the cathedral, ate at Dencio's in Hillside (sayang umulan!) and went back to the hotel to sleep. We were so tired, bagsak lahat agad.
Midsayap, Cotabato
The next day, we woke up slightly later to make the three-hour drive to Midsayap. Midsayap is our hometown. This is where my dad and his siblings grew up. Our so-called "ancestral" house is here. Most of my relatives from my dad's side are from here as well. My mom spent high school here, after moving from Samar after my lola's death. I also spent a a par of my life living here. I used to even visit almost every year. The last time I was here, it was three years ago for my lola's 80th birthday. Again, like before, I only stayed overnight. This time tho, it was because of work. My family is still there, as I write. As soon as we hit the main road, my sisters and i came to life, pointing everything out to Reg. My tito and my parents were also giving him bits of trivia about the places we passed. My relatives were definitely surprised to see our car turn into the driveway and see us all come down. My grandparents were definitely surprised too! haha :) It was so much fun having Reg meet my relatives, and some of my closest cousins. We spent the night drinking (they drank) and karaoke (they all love to sing, tunelessly or not, haha). Had lots of good food too. Reg got a lot of "take care of our baby" bilins before we left. :D
The one thing my sisters and I noticed was that the house used to be a lot larger when we were younger. Now we seem to tower over everything. haha :) And so, without my presence being really felt much, we left Midsayap yesterday and are back here. sigh.
I can't wait to go back and spend a little bit more time in each of the places we were in. Parang there were a lot of other things that we could do, we just didn't have time. :)
I do have pictures, but will post them later, gotta wait for my sister to come back. :)
So here's a rundown of the trip:
Cagayan De Oro
We took Cebupac's 4:40am flight last Saturday to meet up with my family who flew in the day before. My dad had our Expedition shipped over to CDO, because he's been wanting to drive to Mindanao for ages now. So, as a compromise, and to avoid driving all the way from Manila, he shipped it to CDO instead. We got in at 6am, went to the hotel and took a nap because we both had an average of 2 hours sleep lang (:p) and plus, we were gonna be picked up at 8am to go whitewater rafting!
Whitewater rafting was awesome. We all went. Including rachel, inna's childhood friend from jakarta (who happens to come from CDO too. Maliit ang mundo namin. haha). Well, the water wasn't so white because it just rained but it was awesome just the same.
After rafting, we went around CDO. It's a lot more crowded than i remembered. Went by the hospital I was born in, the first apartment that I lived in as a baby, the church my parents got married in, our old house when we lived there in '91. We also went by Pepsi, because my dad was GM there and I was a Pepsi baby. We went by Limketkai and ate at Cafe Laguna with my ninangs, their husbands and my kinakapatid. The same people we spent time with in '91. The same people my parents had been friends with since before I was born.
It's been 15 years since i went back to CDO. I couldn't remember much. But being there was nice. :)
Davao City
The next day, we woke up early and left at around 9am to make the five-hour drive to Davao City. We reached Davao at around 2pm and headed straight to a KFC at NCCC to eat. It was supposed to be Jollibee because Inna was craving Jollibee but it was too full. After eating, we drove around Davao, even checking out both of the houses we stayed in as well. As a toddler, I also lived in Davao (and Zamboanga as well). After driving around, we went straight to Marco Polo where we were staying for the night. Rested for a bit, went to church at the cathedral, ate at Dencio's in Hillside (sayang umulan!) and went back to the hotel to sleep. We were so tired, bagsak lahat agad.
Midsayap, Cotabato
The next day, we woke up slightly later to make the three-hour drive to Midsayap. Midsayap is our hometown. This is where my dad and his siblings grew up. Our so-called "ancestral" house is here. Most of my relatives from my dad's side are from here as well. My mom spent high school here, after moving from Samar after my lola's death. I also spent a a par of my life living here. I used to even visit almost every year. The last time I was here, it was three years ago for my lola's 80th birthday. Again, like before, I only stayed overnight. This time tho, it was because of work. My family is still there, as I write. As soon as we hit the main road, my sisters and i came to life, pointing everything out to Reg. My tito and my parents were also giving him bits of trivia about the places we passed. My relatives were definitely surprised to see our car turn into the driveway and see us all come down. My grandparents were definitely surprised too! haha :) It was so much fun having Reg meet my relatives, and some of my closest cousins. We spent the night drinking (they drank) and karaoke (they all love to sing, tunelessly or not, haha). Had lots of good food too. Reg got a lot of "take care of our baby" bilins before we left. :D
The one thing my sisters and I noticed was that the house used to be a lot larger when we were younger. Now we seem to tower over everything. haha :) And so, without my presence being really felt much, we left Midsayap yesterday and are back here. sigh.
I can't wait to go back and spend a little bit more time in each of the places we were in. Parang there were a lot of other things that we could do, we just didn't have time. :)
I do have pictures, but will post them later, gotta wait for my sister to come back. :)
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