Splashin’ Weekend

It was my youngest sister Anne’s  birthday and she wanted to celebrate it on a swimming day trip. Since she loves the water and adventure, we went to Splash Island last Sunday to have some family time. Anne purchased our admission tickets at megadeals.ph where we got a whooping discount :)

Spash Island Spa & Resort in Binan Laguna is a 1 ½ hour travel from Manila. If you get lucky on Sundays, make it a 1 hour travel time. We left Manila around 7am and by 830am, we were already at the waterpark.

One happy family

It was my first time in Splash Island and to be honest I wasn’t expecting that I would enjoy the rides and the slides. I’m feeling  already old for that. Haha.. Boy I was wrong! I felt like a kid again, wanting to repeat some of the rides – Rio Montanosa, Magellan’s Drop, and Tausug Trails are my favorites.

Erick at Tausug Trails

I hated the King Pilipit slide. It gave me a headache. As the name suggests, the slide consists of twists and some are really big twists with the most parts of the slide covered.

Agos Grandes was fun too with its machine-generated waves. I just wish I could play with La Union or Baler’s real waves. But Agos Grandes’ waves compensated for now.

Agos Grandes without the waves hehe

After a day of repeating all the rides and climbing the high stairs to take the slides again and again (which wasn’t the fun part), floating on a rubber in the Balsa River was relaxing. 

happy day

Other fun slides include Water Wahoo, Big Bam Boo…

Kids love the Water Wahoo!

It was a fun-filled day with the fam. To top it all off, we had Max’s Chicken-all-you-can for dinner. Busog!

Chicken-all-you-can!

"Umay" from all the chicken eaten

H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y  bebe gurl!

Happy Father’s Day El Capitan!

When I was a little girl, I really didn’t know my dad. I know I have a father but I’ve only seen him in pictures so I didn’t have any bond with him. My father was and (still) works abroad and seldom goes home especially when we were little. I met my dad when I was about two years old according to my mom. On our first meeting, I threw a tantrum when he tried to carry me. My mom recalled that I said to my dad “Go away, I don’t know you”. To appease me, he gave me lots of chocolates which of course any kid couldn’t resist from =)

My dad and I aren’t really close which I think is because of the long years of being apart, although he gets to go home for a few months in a year. Maybe because we are both quiet persons as well – we find it a bit awkward to express our thoughts to each other. I tell you, my dad is the quiet one compared to my mom, but when he speaks you should listen. I’ve been scolded a few times because I was a bit stubborn when I was young and til now though I’m a grown-up adult I’m still being lectured about many things – saving money, numerous out-of-town trips which they were not aware of, and all sorts. But instead of finding this annoying, I appreciate the small talks I (often) get from my dad.

The love, respect, and care will always be there in every father-daughter relationship. My dad may seldom say what he thinks but he never fails to express his love for us. I remember receiving greeting cards from him where he fondly refers to me as Darling. Well now with the new technology, he gets in touch with us via a satellite phone when he’s in the middle of the ocean. Everyday, I look forward to receiving short text-like emails from seahorse.069124, which by the way is my dad’s email address at the ship.

I will be always be grateful to my dad because he let me study away from home and allowed me to have my independence at sixteen. Both of us love travelling and he supports all my travels as long as I ask permission. He even gave me a really huge pocket money for my first out-of-the-country trip in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Whenever, I’m up for another travel abroad he shares to me the must-sees places in that particular country. It would be a shame admitting this, but he sends me money sometimes for my “pang-fx” daw. hehe

Papa, wherever you are right now – may you be in the middle of the Pacific Ocean or in Brisbane, as you said in your last email, we’re hoping you are sailing just fine! We love you so much and thank you for being the best father you can be!

Happy Father’s Day El Capitan!

Papa, on our Palawan trip