My Travel Experience to Tagaytay: In-Betweens (Part 2)

Engines off.

“Loud pooooof, taxis’ barrrrrrrrk, belly’s bang, brake’s screech-psssssh,psssssh, and whirrrrrrr”………….

Everybody was taking off their seatbelts, handed out their carries, and fall in line in the center pathway.

We were still waiting while the others hurriedly foot out to the stairs down to the landing area. We waited for my mother who went to the comfort room for a stomach rest.

As we were on the way outside, the pilot’s showcase looked elegant and comely. I could sense how courageous they are in their field.

“Loud pooooof, taxis’ barrrrrrrrk, belly’s bang, brake’s screech-psssssh,psssssh, and whirrrrrrr”…..these sounds kept worming my ears again as we were alighting from the airplane floors. It took me the last person to go to the shuttle bus because I slightly felt dizzy in seconds.

When we were in Terminal 3, we walked around five minutes across floors, across people, faces, to reach the baggage carousel area. There, we waited again for a few minutes to see our luggage. Then, the soon-to-be-wedded waited us outside the terminal and picked us up. We directly rode in his rented van and headed to Tanza, Cavite where they live.

The ride took about three hours, and I did not fully enjoy the area passed by because I fell asleep. But, in the middle of our journey, I was awakened by hunger, and we stopped by a cafeteria to eat because we felt hungry; anyway, that was around 1 o’clock in the afternoon already. There, I tasted a different kind of sinigang na tahong, pork torta, and a uniquely delicious, battered shrimp.

_{This was where we stopped by after a hungry stomach called our attention. Excuse my face, I think I was not informed by the camera. Haha.}

After the short meal and break from the long way, we continued the ride even though the air-condition of the van could not fully accommodate all our hot feelings that day. And to overcome my motion sickness, I had to strategized by sleeping again.
“We are now entering the gate of Lumina Homes,” my brother added. I was so happy because finally I could sleep well in Kuya’s house. Actually, I easily get tired, eventually, whenever I travel.

Five minutes later, I was surprised by the how narrow the lanes are. And the surroundings look green. There were lots of plants and trees but mostly it was covered with buildings. Many starting foundation posts were standing.

Finally, we were in Kuya’s house, but I was surprised seeing how brutal and scary their territorial dogs are. My sleepy head had abruptly turned my replenishing cells into a forced recovered one. The dogs recognized us as strangers that was why they barked at us heavily, deafening our ears. My parents and siblings also felt the same as us. So, Kuya brought the dog at the back of their house, but still the bark continued.

We could now finally enter their house, but it was crowded due to the wedding essentials, apparels, accessories, and many more. We sat on the sofa and chatted with the family for a while. After an hour, we were sent to their other monthly installed house which is just around four kilometers away from their old house, so that there we could take our good rest from travel lags.

_{My dream photo is here. This was where we stayed for a night before we went to Tagaytay.}

Resting about 10 minutes, thereafter, we went shopping in Tanza Mall for our two-day meal. Mother did not come us because her knees trembled already. She badly needed a nap, after all.
As were on our way to Tanza Mall, our music inside the van was so pleasing to ears-the cry of the family’s favorite-Baby Eros. But, as we arrived at the mall parking area, the cry finally stopped. It was all due to traffic jams and the humidity of the temperature around.

Gosh, the pocket almost got empty with the prices, yet we enjoyed the window shop most still, especially the hide and seek stories when my elder sister was lost in a distance. We looked for her in minutes while she looked for us. HAHAHA. Maybe if I was the CCTV monitor, I would be laughing out loud. After around ten minutes, we finally met in the parking lot.

_{Our Tanza Mall Christmas decoration entry was here! Just late published. Hehe. But, it was fun after all.}

It was around 7 PM when we got home. We sent the groceries to Kuya’s house and luckily the dinner was ready. Hehe. We just took the dinner right away and went back to the other house.

The next day, early in the morning, we packed our things up to get to the exclusive family house we rented where the wedding reception was near. It took around three hours to get there-TAGAYTAY. This time, I never fell asleep because I wanted to savor every piece of the way to maximize my vacation.

In a four-laned street, it seemed like every vehicle was running out of time. And of course, the unfinished part of the road was still visible as we passed by. Bystanders could still be seen in corners. Informal settlers were more than we thought. Spaghetti wires turned like pancit canton along the streets. Few unsettled posts happened to be part of the lane. Barely labeled curved roads, speedy drivers…along our way…. BUT, amidst the judgmental eyes I have, it was all erased as I was thankful of the new breeze I felt, the serenity of the environment, the cleanliness that surrounds as we finally get to our destination.

_{Others including me failed to be in the photo because we were preparing for the dinner in the kitchen.}

We were the ones who cooked for meals from lunch to dinner to breakfast. We served the families of the bride there too. We were having busy feet as the family of the groom. We sought water refill in the market, and I had quite fun there interacting with Tagalog vendors. My siblings even laughed at me as I asked, “Wala bang tawad nito, te?” (Is there a discount for this?) Yet, we were really happy traveling then even though I am not used to traveling on machines.

At night, we were chatting with families and waited for my older brother’s family to come. The groomsmen and bridesmaids including me also practiced the wedding dance. Later, I had to force my eyes to sleep because we needed to wake up at 4:00 o’clock to be at the reception area for the make-up and picture-taking session. Of course, I also needed to beauty rest so that I would look beautiful on Kuya’s big day.

Dawn came, it seemed like I had not fallen asleep. I only heard non-stop conversations worming my ears. Knowing the time clocking, I had to wake up and went to the comfort room. Arrrrrrgggggh, the water was damn freezing. It felt like I did not want to take the shower, but I badly needed it. I already finished doing my thing and so my parents who need to be there early.

As we arrived at the reception area, we went straight to the room reserved for us. My soon-to-be-sister-in-law had been distracted with the early fuss since the make-up artist did not show up on time as well as the cameraman. They arrived at 5:30 A.M. But, the show must went on. Amidst the delays of the personnel, we finished at around 8:00 0’clock. We had our breakfast and changed outfits. I was one of the bridesmaids.

But, as we were on our way to the church, which took us around thirty minutes to travel, we were slightly lost with our turns which caused traffic to our vehicle and allowed us to just walk on foot to catch up with the entourage. But, prior to that, my cousin was having a hard time going uphill from the reception’s parking lot to the main road. He could hardly balance the clutch and the accelerator. It was scary to think because we ran backwards twice. The bride’s mother could not help but shout in the midst. I was in a little mishap too because my sandals were brought by my mother, so I needed to hurry up.

Yet, I was happy hearing the prayers made by my co-bridesmaids which were my brother’s classmates/workmates. They were continuously praying as we journeyed onto the church. Finally, we were able to catch the time but hurrying to wear my sandal since the wedding coordinator called my attention. It was ten minutes later when the bride also came.

I felt teary-eyed as my brother was waiting while Ate May was walking in the aisle. I was in awe as the ceremony has ended successfully with the blessings of God. With lots of gratefulness and success, we went back to the reception area afterwards. The program started right away, and we all happily celebrated the newly-weds big day.

_{This was my family with my cousins after the program. Behind us is the Taal Volcano.}
That is all for today’s blog. Please spare time to read how my life in Tagaytay went out. See you in Part 3 as I will share the roller-coaster moments ahead.