Last week, because of the APEC meeting, relatives from my mom's side decided to spend an evening in Pangasinan to visit my grandmother. Mom chose me to go with her saying I wouldn't be of much help at home anyway since we no longer have any househelp. (Ah but she totally disregards the fact that among us siblings I'm the only one who is willing to wash my own clothes :P)
We left Manila late in the afternoon of the 21st. The whole morning was spent in the kitchen washing the dishes, cooking lunch, and preparing apple mint shake for our travel. I had to make sure that this time I would be well hydrated because the last time, I felt funny when we got home.
(Part 1 of our travel was a bit traumatic because I ended up with a bad stomachache and fever kept me from reporting to work. Because that week I suffered from intermittent stomachaches, I thought it might be something serious so I had to endure going to the hospital where they made me wait soooo long and any minute I could collapse because of headache. I had to endure the doctor reprimanding me why the hell I took Pocari sweat instead of Gatorade and why I didn't want to take meds. It was a bit awkward but I had to make it clear to her that I was only after the stool analysis to see if maybe I ingested something weird so I can take the necessary steps to eliminate it from my system.)
While part 1 was not enjoyable because there were too many of us and the introvert in me was screaming for solitude, part 2 is relatively tolerable because there were less people so I was in my best behavior. LOL. My cousins always ask me why I am always in a bad mood. Tsk. If only they knew how much I wanted to run away every time we have a reunion were it not for the wonderful food... Plus seeing my maarte cousins. O.o
It was pretty funny to be with just my mom and her sisters. I played mahjong with them. It's been a while since my last game so maybe that was why I won big time, gaining 70% more than my original number of chips. At night I shared the same bed with my 4th Aunt and they were all surprised when in the morning they commented how I slept like a log when throughout the night there was an orchestra of snoring women. LOL.
The following morning we visited Manaoag Church, my third time to do so this year. Traffic was really bad. Tsk. Roads are narrow in the provinces and yet many of the people there already drive cars. Sigh! It feels like Antipolo. Since I had to accompany my grandma, the two of us plus an aunt got separated from mom and two other aunts. The bad thing is that they didn't bring their phones so it was no use calling them. I had to rely on gut feel to find them while grandma and 3rd Aunt stayed on one place. So anyway we did come home all together.
And I'm happy to learn that my cousin's kids are doing well in school. Awesome! I just hope that they are not taught the same stupid traditional stuff we got in my generation. The youth of today should learn how to discern truth from media reports and to exercise critical thinking and not just take in without contemplation what is fed to them by the media, and by the elders for that matter. In short, I would want the next generation, especially in my family, to be freethinkers.
On the way home, we stopped by Cafe France for dinner. I finally gave in to their request to treat them except I didn't have cash with me and I had to use my CC. Guess what? Only one order was charged and the rest declined. So mom had to pay for the rest! BTW, I so love their seafood marinara. Yumyum! In fact, I love Cafe France's food because they taste like hospital food, you know, with clean taste so you don't feel so guilty afterwards.
We went home at 9PM, tired and sleepy. I miss reading my books. I brought Three Cups of Tea with me but never got around to read even a page.
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