Of all the days in the week, Monday is my least favorite, and Saturday and Sunday are the best! Yes, I am referring to the weekend. For an average employee, working from Monday to Friday was exhausting. Not only stressed at work but also struggled to catch a ride as daily commuters and battle heavy traffic on the road. A lot of patience is needed.
That is why my work starts at eight in the morning; I was already up as early as five AM. I don't want to rush ; often, I arrive at the office no later than 07:30. Too early?
Yet, working and working is no fun. We need to unwind sometimes. Have a breath of fresh air away from the city.
Just more than an hour away from our place, my officemates and I decided to go camping at Antipolo (Philippines), "Gabby's Sanctuary"
We decided to rent a car rather than commute for health and safety reasons. It was just one of our officemates too. Somehow he gave us a discount.
What we wanted to do was to disconnect for a while from social media and reconnect with nature. So the place we choose doesn't have an internet connection or cell phone signal. No electricity, too, just solar lamps.
We reached our destination on time. No traffic on weekends, mostly. Since it was only a trail going to the camp, we had no choice but to leave the car. I forgot to mention that we already have food, water, and personal things. Holding on to something while climbing up on the trail makes me lose some air. It seems my stamina needs a lot of improvement. Added that it rained the other night. There is some portion that was muddy and steeply.
After settling our payments and registration, we decided to eat breakfast—typical Filipino food. Salted fish (danggit and tuyo), steamed lady fingers, chicken feet adobo, plus a cup of coffee. Oh, we added some hotdogs too.
It was a boodle fight, and we were only five to eat. With a mountain of rice. Asian thing.
When we filled our growling tummies and some energies were back, we assembled our tents. We had two, and we needed to share each tent since we were four. I was with my gay officemate, Jai.
I also took some photos of these good memories.
Wait, some native chicken was roaming around. Did you see it? Plus, some papaya , so I thought it would be great to cook some Tinola (a Filipino dish). Then maybe sipping its soup while sitting on a chair and listening to nature's sounds. The whistling wind, sounds of dancing leaves, singing birds, and even barking dogs. I would indeed have some peace!
Yet we didn't have time to cook, so I just sat there for a while until Ms. Mhel ( one of my companions) called me to say that we would be going to visit a mini falls. A few walks away from the campsite.
There was a tour guide who guided and helped us climb those steep trails and slippery stones. Sadly we haven't reached the main falls. Some of my friends can't. It was hard for them, so we settled on the lower part. Yet since it was shallow, the water turned color brown when we tried to have a dip.
After the tiring activity, we returned to the campsite as it was almost twilight. We just bought some milkfish. Covered it with aluminum foil and put some spices before grilling. Since we had a hard time lighting charcoal, it was already dark when we are done. The fish is not boneless! Glad there was a solar lamp, or else it would be hard for us to eat our dinner.
Chillin after the spontaneous meal, we lit a bonfire. With the hope to grilled some hotdogs with marshmallows. Eating again while having some chitchats. However, our expectations were too far from reality. The wood given to us was not ideal for born fire. It sparkled too high! There is no way we can grill without burning our hands.
With disappointed hearts, lol, we just sadly sat in there while staring at the fire, feeling its hotness until it subsides and turned to ashes.
That's how our Saturday ends. The next day we travel back into the reality of life. YES, back to the busy streets, but then we are happy as we recharged our minds. Prepared again for another week battled not only at work but in everyday life.
How about you? How do you spend weekends sometimes?
Lhes
Author's note:
I am just a week old here at Hive. Any comments in order for me to enhance my writing skills would be appreciated.
To know about me here below is my introductory post.
Introductory post
