_{Image created in Canva}

Birthdays are overrated. Strange, but for me that's how it seemed this year. Don't get me wrong, It was amazing being home as I finally get to see my family most especially my son but despite of it all, it still hits differently.

Is it because I'm getting old?! Now I wonder. LOL

You see every year I usually prepare foods and drinks then would invite and celebrate with family if I'm at home and with friends if I'm not.
As an OFW (Overseas Foreign Worker), that's how it's always been.

To avoid the usual celebration and to push for a change, I rescheduled our paragliding trip for the 18th, rather than the day before as originally intended. I even thought about going camping or paraglamping for a few nights, but my son, cousin and two friends refused to join me. One friend was terrified of spiders, and the other two couldn't sleep until they were in their own room. Namamahay daw! My cousin has duty at work and my son has to meet with the girlfriend next morning. Hell yeah, even on my birthday, defeat was inevitable. LOL

_{Masoc road nearing Ambaguio}

So, at around 9.45 a.m., we left for Nueva Vizcaya paragliding. Call time was around 11 a.m., and Ambaguio, Nueva Vizcaya, was just about 30-45 minutes away from my hometown of Bayombong. My cousin was behind the wheel, and my son sat in the back seat. My two friends followed us in a different car.

When we arrived, I couldn't help but giggle after reading the CLOSED bit. Closed means Sarado. OO nga naman kasi people. Wag kasi makulit! Hahaha!

We were then invited inside for the orientation. Aly, one of the paragliding pilot showed us the Do's and Dont's then eventually told us that the chance of flying was 50 percent because the wind was pretty high and it was foggy. She did tell us yesterday that it was 70. I started to feel sad right then but I pushed it aside as its only 11am ish and the weather may change its mind. Aly asked that we wait for further instructions and the last call will be around 3pm. She then handed us passes for us to show at the sky escape viewpoint area so we don't need to pay the entrance fee. As we head out I quickly snapped more photos from the inside.

These are the pricing in Philippine pesos, and a downpayment of 500 pesos per person ($9) was required to confirm reservations for the paraglide.

The famed photography window with a breathtaking view.

A few minutes later, the fog decided to hide the view. It wasn't as exciting any longer. I felt like crying! LMAO. Aly then says that we still had a few hours to observe and that she hoped it will clear shortly. Honestly, I don't think it will happen, but I gave Hope a chance. It's my second name anyway. 🙄

We then head up to the sky escape 360 viewpoint. I started feeling cold and realized I forgot my windproof jacket in the car. It was bearable still anyway so we continued walking around trying to enjoy the view despite the fog.Of course taking photos and a quick video around was a must.

Not that long, it started to drizzle, we had to quickly walk back to our car and decided to go down town to eat while waiting for the clearing. As we go down, my hopes to be able to paraglide went down too. My son hugged me to comfort. I almost cried but then laughed when he said at least you were able to save your seven thousand pesos mama. Let's just go and eat which we did. hahaha!

After we had meal, it stopped drizzling. We head back up to the flying site but as it was still early we stopped by at this place called Cafe Juan, an Italian inspired restaurant. Since we are still full we just each had a coffee. We kept chatting as we await and finally a message from Aly came. It was to confirm that the weather did not clear up and paragliding needs to be cancelled. She did ask if I can do it the week after Christmas but told her I had to leave before the new year so its not gonna happen. It was soooooo sad but I guess nature had a different plan on that day.I will certainly try my luck again next year. I'm hoping that by then, the weather will be on my side.

As we were preparing to leave, I noticed a car wheel hovering in mid-air. I wasn't sure, but it appeared like a zip line of some kind, so I asked the kids whether it was rideable. They highly advised me to try and told me that it was safe. They even showed me how to ride it, which I did. LOL.

At the very least, I had a ride on my birthday. It is not as extreme as paragliding, but yeah I had to admit I had fun as I rode it three times. Hahaha!

Despite the paragliding frustration, I am grateful for the chance to have my special day with my only son, who matters the most in this universe.

Massive Thank You Lord for my 43 years of existence 🙏

And Cheers for more!

Thank YOU for reading and a Happy New Year dearest Hivers!

♥️
chichi18