Summer is the time that the family would go out of the country to have the much needed family bonding and rest, as what my parents would tell us. Since I was four, my parents have been taking me and my brother to this yearly adventure. My parents had been telling us that they wanted us to be exposed to what is happening in the outside world. Learn from what we see and hopefully to apply the good thing that we learn later on, in our life.
Last summer was a summer that was different from all the other summers in the past years. For the first time we would be out of the country for almost a month. And also for the first time we will be boarding a cruise ship to the Caribbean. This, I gather is sort of a graduation gift to me.
Our first stop is Los Angeles. We stayed there for only three days. There, we meet with friends who are also going to the cruise. We were also able to visit a friend from Davao who already migrated to the States. Since they also have children who are of our age, I was able to play Nintendo Wii at their house for the first time. Wii is an interactive sport game. If you are playing tennis then you have to move your body as if you were playing the actual tennis game. It's not the usual computer game. It requires physical activity. Our stays in L.A. were mostly trip to home furnishing shop to buy décor for our new house. We have it shipped through the balikbayan box before we leave for our next stop.
Our next stop is Orlando, Florida. We went to Disneyland and Universal Studios. The theme parks there are bigger than the ones in L.A. I like the rides better in Universal Studios. There are four theme parks in Disneyland, but because of the limited time that we have in Florida, the park that we chose is exactly the one we have been to in L.A. I'm not really that adventurous in term of extreme rides, but I still had a good time. The weather is almost as hot as the summer in the Philippines.
Miami, the capital of Florida is an hour plane ride from Orlando, which is the take off point of our cruise. We will be cruising on the Eastern Caribbean for a week. There would be four drop off point. First, Puerto Rico, then two of U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Thomas and Saint Marten and the last stop is Bahamas before sailing back to Miami. I never imagine a cruise ship to be like a five star hotel or even better. Other than the usual amenities of a five star hotel, there is an ice skating ring, video arcade, library, chapel, gym, library, shopping arcade, painting gallery, a whole deck of sports activities such as basketball, badminton, tennis, mountain rock climbing, swimming and even a mini golf course. There is a nightly gala show. There are several restaurants within the ship and you could order and eat what you want since this is part of the package. We normally treat ourselves to a formal dinner every night eating all sort of exotic food. Food is very delicious. We felt like we were living in a castle and having a life of luxury. The stops over islands are all famous for their beaches. At St. Thomas, because it is tax free, electronic item are cheap. I bought an Ipod Video at a shop and then, we swam at the sandy beaches for a while. At the Bahamas, we went to a place called Atlantis Hotel. The motif of the hotel is the re-creation of the supposedly sunken continent, the lost city of Atlantis. The hotel is full of Aquariums. The fishes were divided to two groups, the predators and the other fishes. The first part, we saw many fishes, rays, sharks, jelly fishes and many more. The second group was the predators, with a lot of carnivorous sea creatures like sharks, piranhas, moray eels and other fishes similar to them. It was a very enjoyable and educational tour.
Our final stop is San Francisco. We shopped for more home décor items again. Before we fly home, we stopped by the Fisherman Warf to savor the famous clam chowder at a restaurant in Pier 39 .We ordered a little too much that we couldn't finish all the food. We had a long plane ride to the Philippines that was for 14- 16 hours. We arrived very tired but also very happy to be back at home. Our cousin and grandmother greeted us from the airport when we arrived.
Then, I, my brother and my cousin went to a swimming lesson for two weeks. We enjoyed it although it was a little tiring. I like the swimming lesson but my brother was sort of force into it, because of a bad experience before. But my parents told him that if there is a sport that he should not do without, it should be swimming. They want us to know how to swim for our safety and advantage. I also went for a short trip to Manila with my mother to buy stuff for our stores. It was an unending meeting with supplier. I was so tired that I got sick for a day.
The last part of my summer was spent on endless sleepovers with friends. We slept at my house and went to the other's houses, then go biking and play basketball from early morning until late in the afternoon. Then, we would take a bath and go to sleep. The very next day we would eat breakfast and go biking early morning. That was the best time I got to spend with my friends before classes. Then, summer ended. We all had to prepare for PSHS. We went to the freshmen field day and the enrollment. And now all of us are all in one section in PSHS.
