Last weekend was the most laughter-filled vacation I’ve had in a long time. I cooped up with my parents and three sisters at Ben’s house for three nights in Roxas City. As in sidesplitting laughing like there was no care for tomorrow. Joking about inheritance, weight gain, and the ever-ubiquitous beauty competition among the sisters. Such is our bonding—pure, unabashed, hilarious, and most of all, affectionate.
When we were small children, we were just like friends. Our age gap was only a year, so we were practically like quadruplets. We studied in one school from kindergarten to high school. We slept in one room. We attended parties together. We served in the church together. Our clothes were mostly considered communal, and yes, we shared toiletries and even (gasp!) undies. Everything was divided into five (our baby brother, included).
Papa's angels
Looking back, we realize that we didn’t have much, but we never complained nor wanted more than what were shared. For us the most important thing was that we were happy together as a family. And we know no matter where we are, no matter how many pounds we gain (and hopefully lose!), what we had was the tightest bond no distance nor time could break.
‘Nuff of the drama. Let’s get back to our Roxas sojourn. So we met last weekend at my sister Ben’s in the “Land of the Best Seafoods in the Philippines”. I arrived there via Bacolod-Iloilo on Saturday after an almost two-and-a-half-hour drive. My second sister, My, was already there from Manila, who arrived in the morning via Roxas airport. Time went by fast as we tried to catch up stories on our mundane lives. We sang “Dios De Salve” in the car as we drove to pick up Ben’s daughter. It was a procession song we sang when we were teenagers in Las Pinas, chanting for Ben’s slow (ok, cautious!) driving. Come dinner, we only had salad with grilled chicken, because we were anticipating to pig out the next day with caloric-filled seafoods when the other “contingents” arrive.
A couple of hours after dinner, we got ‘serious’, and danced zumba in Ben’s room—in full pantied glory! Hahaha!! Our fats were jiggling here and there, we were giggling like little giddy girls, as we danced the hour away. As expected, we were so exhausted after, that we were able to sleep soundly.
The next day, we prepared for the big feast ahead of us. Ben was assigned in making the maki. I volunteered to cook gambas. One of Ben’s friends offered to cook a delightful recipe of crabs in gata. Ben’s helper cooked the sinigang na pompano. And My? Hmmm…I don’t remember her doing anything! Hehehe!
Papa, Mama, Midette, and our neighbor in Las Pinas, Tita Lydia arrived from Iloilo with Neil (Ben’s Papa Hunk!). After tight huggies and kisses, we were ready to dig in those delectable seafood dishes.
After eating lunch, where else did we go straight but--to bed! Haha. No wonder?? But honestly, the Manila contingents were dead tired because they went to the airport at 1:30 a.m., took off at 4:00, then travelled from Iloilo to Roxas for 2 hours. So they had to recharge. But before taking a siesta, some bed photos please.
Maria Benilda
Maria Belinda
Maria Bernadette
Maria Benilyn
Ang sipsip!
At 5:00 p.m., Neil and Ben brought us to San Antonio Resort for some boating activities. Unfortunately, the lagoon was too shallow at that time, so we were not allowed to ride the boat. But they couldn't stop us from taking some pictures, right?
Sa bigat nila, di kaya sila lumubog?
Sayang, the lagoon was so inviting!
Pati sagwan, hindi pinatawad!
But they don't look like they were rejected from boating, right?
So we settled to do some jump shots instead..para naman hindi kami umuwing luhaan. And what a laugh it was!!!!
After tiring ourselves of laughing and jumping and making a fool of ourselves, it was time to go to church together. We went to the Cathedral of Roxas City. As etched on its entrance, the church was built in 1954.
We were late, so we had to hear mass from outside. The Church was brimming with people.
Midette, stop taking pictures na!
The four of us slept in the living room and yakked until 4 a.m. Mama O even joined us at about 3. The next day, Papa asked us if we never ran out of stories to tell. We said there’s always something to talk about—the precociousness of our kids, the quirks of our hubbies (and shh, the bedroom stories that go with them), homemaking tips (and our lack of it), even ghost stories of our past and present. When the four of us meet, time seems to zoom past us—it isn’t always enough.
We overslept the next day, as expected. The plan was to have lunch at Coco Veranda Restaurant. So we just lazed around the house doing, what else..telling more stories!
Then, it was time to go to out for lunch.
After stuffing ourselves with more seafoods (What? Roxas is not the Seafood Capital for nothing!), the wicked sisters decided to go shopping for pasalubong at Gaisano.
The host buying more food for tonight's dinner. Kailan ba sila aalis? Hehehe
Pati yan, gustong mong bumili sa Roxas?
We bought tubs of ice cream for Ben! That's why we were smiling here!
Dinner at the house. The sisters had to chip in to cook. Midette and I cooked the kare-kare; My did the tahong soup, and Ben? She rested because she got a stomachache from too much stress, er, maybe from the talaba she ate at lunch.
First time that the sisters gathered in the kitchen? Kaya masaya si Mama O!
We had a lot of crazy activities planned for the night—like raiding though Shangy’s cosplay costumes and wearing them, or posing for pics in our old high school uniforms, or dancing zumba again. I even brought facial masks for some beauty spa downtime.
Cosplay wig-aloo. Bagay 'to sana sa akin, kaso sasayad lang sa lupa!
But none of them pushed through because of Ben's tummy ache (excuses! excuses!). Besides, I still had to take off at 3 a.m. the next morning to be in time for the 6 a.m. trip from Iloilo to Bacolod. So we all retired quite earlier than was expected.
The three-day vacation was tiring and stressful, all right. And we must admit it's always a little bit expensive to reunite the whole family again. But was everything worth it?
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