In Another World

I just spent a really fun holiday last lunar new year! Usually on a holiday i just visit home and sleep all day. For 2 days i don't go out, i'm literally inside the house the entire time. I eat complete meals, I sit on the balcony for hours when it's too hot in the afternoon, or I force myself to sleep because there's really nothing to do.

But this holiday was different. And it's longer than the usual holiday that our company allows. Lunar new year was for 5 days, from Saturday to Wednesday. I hadn't made a concrete plan for the first 2 days, Monday was for canopy walking at an inland resort in my friend's hometown, and no plans for Tuesday and Wednesday again. So on Saturday i just stayed at my boarding house, prepared my backpack, and slept most of the time. Then on Sunday a friend suddenly called for a small gathering, so another friend and i traveled there for an hour and thirty minutes. We went to a swimming pool, we brought some foods and beer, we ate and talked and laughed and sang and danced. We were only allowed to stay until 10:30 so we just proceeded to another friend's house who lives in that town, and we continued drinking there. Everything went well, and we were complete.

*others were not in the photo

The next day we woke up feeling so dizzy and exhausted and we wanted to sleep more. But we had a planned activity for that day. So we prepared breakfast and had coffee. It was a good morning to start with, but the sad thing was most of them suddenly just cancelled the plan. Originally, 10 of us planned to go for a canopy walk. But Nico had to accompany his sister to the city, Giselle's boyfriend called and they had to meet, Therese and her boyfriend also had to cancel because she and her father had to meet a lawyer for some settlement. Bev and her boyfriend had to go home because her mother had been looking for them since Sunday night, Lovely and Ram already left early in the morning because Ram had an appointment. So only Anne and I could make it. We’ve been planning for a month and we didn’t want to just miss the chance because we knew we wouldn’t have a long break again in a long time, so the 2 of us continued the plan anyway. We ate late breakfast and had coffee, and readied ourselves. 

We took a tricycle to get to the resort known as Damires hills. It is an inland resort located in Janiuay Iloilo, about 15 minutes from the center of town. It features 2 swimming pools, bamboo and wood-made cottages, cafes and restaurants, some shops that sell local products and goods, and the beautiful nature view itself. Outdoor activities could be enjoyed such as zip line, swimming, ATV biking, fruit picking, and canopy walking (which was the very reason why we wanted to go there). We paid 100 pesos for the entrance fee. 

As soon as we got there, we took pictures and filled our eyes with the nice view. The place was really 'pretty'. The aura was different once you’re in, the air was so cool and clean since the place is at a high elevation. The landscape was very neat and organized. I felt so peaceful, and I was happy that I spent the third of my 5-day break there. 

After taking some pictures at the main area, we decided to go for a canopy walk. First we had to walk for about 20 minutes to reach the canopy. There was no guide so we just followed the trail. We were in nature! We saw different kinds of plants and trees along the way, and from the top we could see a village below. 

*Anne

The weather was so hot we were sweating and running out of air. So we had to stop many times to sit for a while and continued walking again. As we neared the starting point of the canopy, we got excited even more. 

 

  

Finally we’re here. 

We just walked the usual way, except that we’re quite slow. Then when we reached the middle it started swaying heavily from side to side. We realized there were some kids following us and they were running. It was crazy because I felt I would fall anytime. Also I imagined the wood would break when I stepped on it and I would fall 90 feet below. Anne was annoyed and she started screaming at the kids to stop running. I couldn’t take a lot of pictures as I had to focus on my steps and I wanted to reach the end of the canopy as fast as possible. It took about 15 minutes to finish the 240 meter long walk. We were catching our breath when we reached the end, we stopped a little and we walked down back to the main area. 

 

We’re a bit scared but we enjoyed anyway and we just laughed with what happened. We stopped at one of the cute canteens and treated ourselves with mango and buko shake. 

We just sat and relaxed and talked about so many things…friends, career, life, future and everything. I was feeling different emotions at that time. I was happy and glad, I was confused and sad. I was tired but excited, and I had many things mind. We were alternately talking and silent. We just seized the moment. 

We took some more pictures...of course...

And i just could not resist this before we left...

It was quite a tiring day but i had so much fun. For a while i felt nothing could harm and nobody could hurt. I thanked nang Anne for the great day I bade her goodbye. I was very grateful to her because she’s really a good company. As I went home, I kept thinking about what I did and what I saw. My heart felt very light.