E. Hubbard once said that “No man needs a vacation so much as the man who just had one”.I guess every one who has indeed spent days away from the city can relate to the fact that being alone in a beautiful place as Boracay is refreshing, if not liberating. And that going back to the mundane makes one long to go back to that vacation mode again.
I have been in “vacation mode” for almost a year now that it has become the humdrum for me. So what to do? Take that plane and take off-for a break!
I thank God for the freedom that He has given me to be free from the nine to six attachment that keeps a lot of people unable to appreciate or discover the most amazing sites the city has to offer-sunset at the Manila Bay or the way the city lights glow at night (I guess it isn’t fair to have the Bay and the Mall of Asia as one’s window view hehe J), that feeling of traveling back in time in old Intramuros or getting lost at the Binondo and Quiapo areas or discovering that cheap eat all you can Mongolian bowl inside the UP Campus.
However, going away from my “vacation mode” for a break was a much needed breathing space for me.
Celebrating my 32nd birthday gave me the “excuse” to go to Boracay alone for 4 albeit short days. As it always rains on my birthday, the hard downfall on my first day in the island was not a surprise but I did not allow it to prevent me from getting that incredible massage somewhere in station 1-I was so happy when I heard my back cracked-saved me from finding a chiropractor hehehe J…then, i discovered this little coffee shop owned by a European lady who at that time was being interviewed by Drew Arellano. No, I did not pose for a picture nor asked for his autograph. I just drank my coffee while reading The World Is Flat intently. Okay, so I did look, the place after all was practically a small nipa hut hahaha. 
On my birthday the next day, God gifted me with the most amazing sunny day and on that day He was my “date”. For the first time in months (if not years), I had turned off my cell phone, fasted, read a Christian book from cover to cover, meditated on every chapter, wrote my impressions down, praised and thanked God, prayed-while facing the blue shores under the protection of a big umbrella of course J It was perhaps the best birthday ever.
That night, I discovered the best pasta at Arya’s-next to ate Nellie’s and my creations of course hehehe J their coffee shop also made me not wish that there was a Starbucks this side of bliss. Talking with my cousin Vida whom I shared a lot of birthday moments with when we were kids was a fitting way to end my night (or so I thought, no thanks to my sexy friend Via who just had to call me up at midnight J )..i was surprised at my cousin’s fiery reactions to some of the things we discussed until my cell phone’s battery gave up on us- but those are so not for a blog entry, after all, there are things that one has to keep personal in this flattened world where sharing of information is the norm and keeping secrets an exception.
Of course, I wou
ld not miss a tour of the island so that was how I spent my 3rd day. I did a lot of risk taking that day: I took the tour with new acquaintances, Max and Jin from Beijing, and with strangers; I wore Abi’s two piece gift ( inside my board shorts and transparent top that is J ); and most significantly, I jumped into the middle of the ocean and snorkeled at every chance albeit with life vest ( so you see, as much as I would have wanted to learn how to dive, my fear of the water is as of the moment greater than my desire to see what lies beneath).
I badly wanted to go para sailing but I kept seeing my mom’s face and how she would go crazy if I die doing it so I walked away from the challenge. Going to Boracay alone was enough scare for her, at least for that month hehehe J
I really don’t know why, but after the tour, all I wanted was to eat burger and fries-and it was a surprise to dig into the best tasting burger I’ve ever had in my life at a small burger joint in D Mall (somewhere near the ferris wheel). Just thinking about the food makes me want to go back! No wonder I’m packing in the pounds-the downside of being in “vacation mode” 24/7 hehehe J
At the end of it all, my Boracay holiday was God’s way of letting me see His perspective on my year long “vacation mode” phase and has made me remember once again that if my heart is set on the things of God, the things of this life does not seem so crucial to my happiness for God has ordained where I am to live and work out my daily life; He orders whether I will be rich or poor; He has designed my physical asset or lack thereof and the state of my health; He has determined if and when I will be single or married and whether I will stay in this vacation mode or dive completely into a busy stressful world that is full time work.
To remember that God has drawn my boundary lines was so essential to someone like me whose slowly paced life was becoming more of a burden than a blessing. To remember that God is and always will be my eternal hope which transcends this life made me conclude that my boundaries at the moment are pleasant
