My Childhood Sea

When I was a kid my father used to bring us, my sister and I, to Bataan often. My grandparents lived there, I lovingly called them Nanay 'anda and Tatay 'anda otherwise known as Grandfather and Grandmother to most people. When I think of Bataan, the sea comes next to mind. I remember being so excited to look at the sea from the bus on our way to Cabcaben, my father's hometown. The very first place that I'd go to was the seashore of the South China Sea. Walking barefoot along the sands was like the most exciting to do. My sister and I used to chase the tides and then runaway from it afterwards. I remember picking up shells and odd looking pebbles from the shore, we gathered enough shells and stones to fill up our sungka. Running along the beach and playing sungka, I think, are the only things that my sister and I didn't argue about.

The reason why I'm bringing this up is because last weekend we (my kids and my husband) went to Bataan along with some brethrens to relax and experience the summer in a different place. The date was planned a month earlier so there's no way we could've known that some storm will hit Luzon. The trip has been well-planned and well thought of so there's no way we're going to cancel it. Besides riding the storm was far easier than explaining to my kids why the trip was cancelled.

Maps were made so as not to get lost but we got lost anyway and because of that we ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere! It's bad enough that we're spending our summer outing in the middle of the storm but getting lost and stranded mid-way...IT'S JUST TOO MUCH! But amazingly I didn't get mad or anything that night, I even felt a bit like a cast member of "Lost," or I probably was too sleepy and too tired to feel anything. We made it to the resort safely after a few hours.

The very last time I went to Bataan was in 1987 or 1988, it was when my Tatay 'anda died. So you could just imagine how I felt to be back to the shores of my childhood sea.

The morning was expectedly gloomy, just a little rain but the wind could really pack a punch. I kind of felt a bit like Geoff Mackley, the Dangerman, running towards the storm while everyone else were running away from it except that I was far from danger and I wasn't chasing any storm. I also felt like Anderson Cooper waiting for a hurricane to landfall except that it's not a hurricane but only a signal no. 1 typhoon and I'm not Anderson Cooper. I headed toward the sea and instantly, I felt connected to it. It felt like we were friends, it was exactly the way I remembered it. The water was brown kind of muddy but it's not, the sand was grey and the tide was high and strong even the smell was the same. The only thing that I didn't see that day were the jellyfish, the waters of Bataan are full of those as I remember it. I think I might have spent a few hours watching the tides, I could do it all day and not get tired of it.

I wasn't able to swim that day, some summer outing it was! but the trip was well worth it.