Just looking back

When I was growing up in the 60’s, Manila was a summer destination we looked forward to. As Papa Celing was with William Lines, Inc. long before I was born, going by boat to anywhere was taken for granted. My first remembrances of trips were by boat…on cots in the bridge, away from the other passengers. Sailing to Manila at the time took two days at sea. As we were getting bigger in number by the time I was a teenager – with cousins tagging along – we girls would form a dressing area using blankets. Such fun it was to be sailing for days, eating, playing and sleeping together. It was like a picnic before the real vacation began.

Of course, I also have negative memories of the rough sailing in the sea of Romblon (and the Siquijor area in the south), when people were down with motion sickness all over the place. Fortunately, I have sturdy sea legs. An important point I learned is not to stand when the going gets rough. Stay prone and you will be all right. Be sure to have proper ventilation, too. This stood me in good stead when we were bashed by a maelstrom in the seas of Camotes a couple of years back, during our suroy-suroy Sugbo to Enchanting Camotes Islands in the month of October. I just closed my eyes – as we were all seated – and remained still. Any movement of the body will exacerbate the situation.

Manila meant staying with my mother’s auntie in San Antonio Village in Makati – with the Pantojas. Lola Sasing would make sure we had very hot pan de sal with fresh butter for breakfast (No eggs, please! This was my reprieve from yukky eggs at breakfast.) We would all go to the Luneta and ride on the top of what we called the Motorco. It was a breezy way of enjoying the bay area at sunset. Then, we would have a treat at Max Fried Chicken or at certain eateries in Chinatown.

Highlight of my earlier Manila vacations was going with the boat of Lolo Anto – who was chief engineer of Compania Maritima – to Bataan and enjoying the beautiful beaches there. The only reason why that stuck to me was the remnants of some black & white photos taken of our swimming excursion there. I also remember the trips to Antipolo, with attendant buri hats and matching handbags. The photos poke my memory of these excursions.

Baguio came later, when I was much older. The long land trips to the City of Pines were well worth the aches of cramped spaces in the automobile. Our hosts were Lolo Rashid Joseph and his wife, Lola Anita. We would rent a house for the week we were there. Horseback riding at Burnham was a must-do, just like the visits to Mines View Park and Miramar where we offered candles and prayers to the huge statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. Never mind how we huffed and puffed our way up those steps.

When I was a junior in high school, I took a plane ride for the first time. I had to! I was one of the facilitators for the Days with the Lord to be given to our counterparts in Colegio de las Hijas de Jesus in Iloilo City. I recall Tito Mario Ortiz making sure that we had our terminal fees paid (I think he paid our fees!) and tickets at hand, when I bumped into him at the old Lahug airport.

I got air sick in my first very short plane ride! It took me some years – out of the need to undergo air travel due to my extra curricular activities throughout college – to overcome the traumatic experience.

Well, I traveled the world when I was a junior in college, as Philippine youth representative to the World Congress of the Christian Life Communities in the Dominican Republic and the European Congress in Manresa, Barcelona, Spain. By then, flying had become a welcome activity – the way it is a common experience to me nowadays.

I wonder why I am nostalgic for this column issue – maybe because this falls on my birthday, today. I thank the Lord for another good year. 

Have a great summer, everyone! Travel safely now!