TWO GRADUATIONS

For this year 2008, we held two graduations for my two kids. The first one was held last March 19 for my five-year old daughter who graduated from kindergarten and the second one on the 30th day of that same month for my eleven-year son who finished elementary. Their graduation ceremonies were held less than two weeks apart… pretty much like their birthdays – one on the 18th of May and the other on the 6th of June. And as is the case during their birthdays, it is usually the first one who spends his/her birthday/graduation first that ends up being more lavish… while the last one to spend his birthday/graduation had to make do with the money that’s left behind.

We thought we had it all neatly planned when we decided to have kids six years apart. We figured we didn’t want the two of them in college at the same time because it would surely take a toll on our expenses… so we wanted one of them already finished and working, hoping he or she would help us in the younger kids’ education. But what we didn’t count on was the fact that most of the other important occasions in their lives would be in conflict, well not openly...

For one thing, we didn’t exactly plan that their birthdays would fall two weeks apart from each other. So that the eldest would often have to give way and not have a ‘big’ event if the younger sibling would hold a big bash. This became extremely difficult when we held our little girl’s first birthday – of course, this had to be a big event but what we didn’t count on was the fact that our son would also be holding his seventh birthday on the same year – another big event! By then, our expenses were already depleted by the first kid’s birthday … luckily for us our boy wasn’t overly demanding and was happy to spend his birthday in a nearby pool resort with the rest of the family and his cousins and friends for company. So we were able to manage just fine.

This year, we had another tough time with their two graduations coming just two weeks apart from each other. Although we didn’t have money to spend for both – we at least had some pansit, spaghetti, barbecued pork and inihaw na bangus during my daughter’s graduation. Plus both her lolas and two aunts were invited to witness the affair. While on my son’s graduation, we were the only ones who attended and we feasted on Greenwich takeout afterwards.

Sure it could be argued that they have two very different cases – the first one was special because my little girl graduated valedictorian in her class of ten kids. Then her ceremony was held in the afternoon – very plenty of time for the invitees to have an early dinner celebration and still go home to their place in Cubao. Unlike in my son’s graduation which was held at night and lasted until 11 pm so we had no choice but not to invite anyone coz it would be too late for the visitors to go home. We even had to change our original plan of eating at a restaurant after the ceremony since the ceremony took so long so the hubby decided to skip some parts of the graduation just to go to a nearby Greenwich and order takeout instead….

But at least, I guess I am just glad that we were able to hold both ceremonies without much of a hitch. Sure, my elder son said that he didn’t mind it much that his celebrations always seem to end up a little bit tamer/economical than his sister’s. I just hope it would not cost much friction between them when they get older. Or even cause him much insecurity later on in life… like my siblings did with me coz they felt that my parents seemed to give me more concessions than them as we were growing up. I try very hard to keep myself from comparing them or even pitting them against each other… but it’s quite difficult.

I admit that there are times when I would often favor the little girl over him because he is older and he should be the one to concede; or because he is already fat and so he should give more of the food to his very much thinner sister; or that he had his time when he was young and growing up without competition… but then, I realized that he didn’t really grew up with us but with his grandparents in Pampanga so I guess he would have his reasons to brood and act up. But thankfully, he does not… and I just hope he’d end up growing just as satisfied and balanced boy that he is right now. I just hope I would be able to give all my kids equal love and attention – coz they surely deserve nothing less!

PALAWAN: A paradise adventure you will never forget

Of all the wonderful islands and resorts that our country has to offer, it is Palawan that beckons to me the most. I’ve visited countless beaches before: Cebu, Bohol, Mindoro(Puerto Galera), San Juan-Batangas, Pangasinan (Hundred Islands) and much more but none has satisfied the fascination that I have long held for the islands of Palawan. Thus, when I heard that my husband will be taking a three-day seminar in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, I didn’t think twice and just withdrew my savings (not all!)/borrowed money from my mom just so I can follow him there.

It was a Friday when I took a half-day respite from my stressful writing job and boarded a plane that I knew will take me to paradise. On the plane, I specifically chose a window seat and spent the one hour travel taking pictures of the islands we passed by – who knows, one of them might just be that of Palawan. At last, after an hour the plane touched down and I was welcomed by the warm weather of Puerto Princesa. My husband was still at the seminar venue so he told me to go straight to the hotel room where they were billeted.

By 6 p.m. we were at the market place (walking distance from the hotel) to buy dried fish and their famous kasuy(for pasalubong). We asked the fish vendor a good place to have dinner and he referred us to Chicken Inato (translation: Chicken Inihaw) Expectedly, they had lots of grilled dishes and we feasted on grilled tuna, grilled chicken (their specialty), kinilaw and sinigang na hipon. All their dishes were great for they were cooked fresh from the sea. (that I almost forgot to take pics of the food) Even the ambiance of the place was great since the small huts for diners afforded each group some privacy to eat, drink and just talk the night away.

Over dinner, I was able to convince my husband to forgo the city tour(which is part of their seminar) and just go island hopping in Honda Bay. Good thing I was able to take the cellphone number of the trike driver (in picture) who brought me to the hotel since he offered to take us to Honda Bay the next day.

Second day – we awoke early at 6 am took a bath, had breakfast at a nearby Jollibee store and bought some needed supplies for our whole day trip (i.e. water, junk food, and don’t forget the bread to feed the fish). By 7:30 our trike driver was already waiting at the hotel and so we hurriedly took our bags from our rooms upstairs and left for Honda Bay. We made a quick stopover at a Pares resto to buy some grub for our lunch (soy chicken and sisig). From there, it was another 45 minutes to get to the pier where we had to register, look for a boat that would take us to the islands (P1,100 for the entire day) and rent some snorkeling gear (P100 only)

It was almost 9am by the time we took off in the boat with a reminder to our trike driver (Mang Tony) to come back for us at 3 pm. Our tour guide/boatman was some gentle guy named Rey and he patiently explained the names and told us a little bit of trivia on each island that we passed by. First island that we saw was Bat Island –so named because of the numerous bats that live in the mangroves that littered the entire island. Too bad for us it was still morning, they said the bats coming out to feed at around 5 to 6 in the afternoon is truly a sight to behold since they can make the sky literally black with their sheer number.

Next island that we passed by was Cowrie Island. It’s named after the numerous cowrie shells that once abound the shores but nowadays they say the numbers have dwindled since visitors regularly take the shells and bring them home as souvenirs. Now the island is closed to visitors and undergoing renovation/development.

After about 45 minutes, we reached our first stop – Pandan Island. We decided to disembark at Pandan Island although it was only to have our pictures taken. We did not pay anymore the required entrance fee – I think it was 25/person since we only spent a few minutes for the kodakan. The tour guide said it is also a good snorkeling site but the place is usually packed with visitors who take part in the island hopping tour.

They (the tour groups) usually choose this island over the others since their cottages are much bigger and can accommodate them all better. One good thing about the island though, it had the best sand among all the islands we visited with its white powdery grains that can almost rival the sands of Boracay. BTW, the island was named as such because of the pandan plants that could be found at the back of the islands. These tall grass-like plants can be used as roofs for houses and to make bags and baskets

Our next destination was Snake Island – nope there are no snakes there but the island was shaped like a serpent thus, the name. This island, according to our boatman is the most famous site for fish feeding since the waters are literally teeming with different kinds of fish. He says that despite the absence of many corals in the area, the fish keep within the area knowing that there will always be tourists willing to feed them. Even at waist-deep, one can see fishes of all colors and sizes. So, after choosing some fish and crabs for our lunch, off we went for our close encounter with nature at its finest.

Our boatman was a good swimmer and diver so he willingly guided us to where the fish can be found. The experience was simply awesome and totally indescribable – I found it difficult wanting to talk and point to the different colored fishes that I could see to my husband who was swimming beside me but I knew I can’t because of the snorkeling gear attached to my mouth. So I just made hand motions underneath the water and told him the kinds of fish I saw whenever we come up for some rest. It was at first a bit frightening to see schools of different fishes swarming around us eating right out from our hands but after a while, I began to get used to it. What was a bit shocking were the fishes that would at times bite at our legs which Rey said were just territorial fishes snapping at anything that would seem to threaten their space.

And so after I think more than an hour, we emerged from the water fully satisfied with our experience with the fishes of Snake Island. We only regret that we weren’t able to bring the kids with us but we vowed to return with them sometime soon so that they too can experience what we did because no amount of words can ever describe what we just had. We also vowed to bring an underwater camera the next time around plus more bread for the fish.

We ate an early lunch (around 11:30) because we both got hungry after seeing the fish eating. The fresh seafood we ate with our boatmen tasted real great although Rey said we could have gotten them cheaper if we bought them at the market and just had the food cooked for P50 per dish. As it is we paid 200 for a kilo of the fish and the crabs(including the cooking). Well, at least we’ll know better the next time we return. I also promised myself to next time visit the famous sandbar which gave the island its name since by the time we finished eating, we were too full to move our butts.

After lunch, we proceeded to what our boatman said was an encounter with more fishes at Pambato reef. Along the way we passed by Starfish island. And expectedly, it boasted many starfishes – both big and small ones. We didn’t get down anymore because we had to pay another entrance fee (Snake Island BTW had a free entrance but you have to give a donation to the DENR staff for the upkeep of the huts) but we did see some big starfishes being held by the swimmers we saw as we neared the shoreline.

But it was just our luck, though, that the waters at Pambato reef were a bit cloudy so the boatman decided not to make us jump anymore… too bad. But at least, we’ll have another place to return to when we go back to Palawan with our kids.

Final island destination was Luli Island. It was called Luli to signify its unique feature – lulubog lilitaw – depending on the tides. They say the island becomes completely submerged during high tides hence the structures located there were all on stilts. It had a Korean restaurant and some rooms that were not anymore open to the public. Rey said it would soon be developed and turned over to the owners of the Dos Palmas resort who recently bought the island.

The restaurant also offered banana boats and kayaks but we decided not to rent those anymore coz I’m sure they would cost an arm and a leg. (The entrance fee to this island was the steepest by far at P50 though there weren’t much fishes to see) So we just contented ourselves swimming and enjoying the peaceful serenity of the sea. My husband even jumped off a rickety diving board just for kicks and we whiled the time away taking pictures at a nearby sandbar.

We decided to return to Honda Bay early (2pm) since we figured there would be long queues for the common bathrooms located near the pier. But surprisingly, there were few people waiting to use the showers and we were able to get dressed early. Knowing we still had time to spare before our trike driver returns for us at three, I spent it well browsing through the shops nearby and found some small trinkets (bracelets) to buy for my daughter and a shirt for her and myself.

When our trike driver arrived, we left for our own version of a city tour. We visited the butterfly farm and marveled at the many different colored butterflies there. Of course, we busied ourselves taking pretty picture after picture. After a while we visited Mitra’s farm called the Rancho Sta. Monica which looked a bit like Tagaytay since it overlooked the entire Puerto Princesa City. The place was also cool and windy and afforded a pretty cozy picnic place for the visitors.

Our last stop for the day was Baker’s Hill also located at Monica Road. We gorged ourselves with their numerous baked goodies – like the hopia, piaya, choco crinkles, tuna pandesal and many more. We also brought home some for pasalubong. Baker’s Hill was quite a visitor’ s spot by itself. It was not only a bakeshop but it also had a garden, a mini-zoo (with some ostriches and peacocks), a playground, and numerous statues for the kids’ delight. Soon, it may be offering a venue for possible accommodations or even for large gatherings like seminars or parties (since there were still buildings/areas under construction)

By the time we finished touring the said places, we did not have anymore time to visit the Crocodile Farm and the Iwahig Penal Colony. Too bad! Anyway, we decided to forego the visit to said places since we have seen quite a number of crocodiles already (just recently in Davao and even in the streets of Metro Manila, he,he,he)

So back to the hotel we went and after a quick dinner of chao-lung at Bona’s, we rested early to restore our energies for another hectic day tomorrow. What we did not know was that the best was yet to come!!!

The next day we were once again up early for our tour of the Puerto Princesa Underground River National Park (PPURNP) with the Topstar Agency (P1200/pax). Although some internet advisor trips mentioned a cheaper way (via trike to San Jose terminal, jeepney to Sabang, pump boat to the entrance of the PPURNP, and paddle boat for the actual subterranean tour) we decided to go with a tour since it would be easier for us not worrying about where to get the next vehicle for the next leg of our trip.

The van picked us up early at 7 and along the way, we picked up a family of five and a foreigner who will be joining us in the van. This is another good reason for joining a tour, at least we’ll have other people to talk to during the two hour bumpy and dusty ride to Sabang. First stop-over is the Buenavista Viewdeck where we were able to use the toilets and the others bought some trinkets at the souvenir shop. We busied ourselves taking pictures of the breathtaking view of the Ulugan Bay.

Forty-five minutes more of travel finally took us to another stop where we were to secure permits to enter the underground river. We saw that the other vans had to disembark their passengers to register each one while our guide took care of everything for us (payments – 150 for locals, 250 for foreigners) as we stayed inside the cool comfort of the van. A few minutes more and we reached Sabang where we will take a boat (700 for six people) that would bring us to our final destination. Once again, we all stayed in the waiting area while Marlon haggled with the boat operators to get a ride. Finally, after a twenty-minute boat ride and beautiful vistas of limestone cliffs we reached the Puerto Princesa Underground River National Park.

To get there we had to pass by a 10-minute forest trail which they said was littered with monkeys and monitor lizards (although we only saw the lizards, no playful monkeys to snatch our bags/cameras). After that we had to wait a while because only a few boats at a time could be accommodated inside the caves. After a few more minutes of waiting, our names were called and we were give life vests and hard hats (to protect us, not from falling rocks but from bat droppings,he,he,he)

Then, we entered the deep dark entrance of the Underground River and inside, it was like entering a different world- an amazing glimpse into the underworld where mighty beings once roamed millions of years ago and carved different formations inside the deep caverns of St. Paul’s mountain. The boatman/tour guide advised us to look not with our eyes but with our minds. For indeed, you really need to stretch your imagination a bit in order to see the different rock formations pointed out by the guides. There were giant mushrooms, corn husks, a banana’s heart – in a cavern aptly named fruit and vegetable’s cavern. The main highlight of the tour was the so-called cathedral where the cave had a high-domed ceiling and rock formations of the face of Jesus, the Holy Family, and even a giant candle. There was also a nude lady and a long stretch that seemed like a highway.

Inside the caves, it was eerie, mysterious even a bit frightening at times with only the sound of the swishing of the water as the boatman paddles our little boat into the darkness inside. One can also hear the sound of bats flying and screeching as their sleep is roughly disturbed by the flashing of our lights. The Underground River tour allows tourists to traverse only a kilometer or so of the entire river, and this took us about 45 minutes. The boatman said it will take about three hours to navigate the entire 4-kilometer stretch of the subterranean river, but only those given special permits are allowed to do so. Anyway, the 45-minute tour is more than enough for us since we were given a glimpse into an amazing world that used to exist only in movies and in one’s deepest imaginations.

Finally, we reach the light at the end of the tunnel. And we are welcomed by the calm blue waters at the mouth of the caves. Carefully, we disembark from our boats and hike back towards the cove where the motor boats await to take us back to Sabang Bay. But of course, before we leave, we took photos first to crystallize the wonderful experience we had here at the Underground River, truly deserving of its title as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In Sabang Bay, we had a buffet lunch at the Taraw Beach Resort (still part of the tour package). The food was quite good and we had fun eating with the Tauro family amid the ambiance of the crashing waves and salty sea air. Expectedly, we all ate plenty and it would have been perfect if we could take a nap amid the soothing sound of the sea. But we only had an hour which we just spent chatting and lazing around before the tour van takes us back to the urban jungles of Puerto Princesa city.

Last stop of the tour was a visit to the Vietnamese village where we had a chance to sample authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Twas here that we realized that the chao-lung dinner we had last night was a fake for it was nothing compared to the real thing cooked by a true Vietnamese cook. It wasn’t even called chao-lung but something like pho bo kho (I really can’t recall the name) But it was served the same way – with a side dish of togue, mint leaves, and French bread. Too bad though we weren’t able to taste their halo2 coz by the time our tour guide told us that their halo2 was among the best, we were already full. (Actually, we were still a bit full with our lunch earlier but we just can’t forego tasting the real Mccoy, so to speak)

Truly, this Palawan experience is one that will last me for a lifetime. From its pristine white sand beaches to the dark mysterious caverns of the subterranean river and the exotic flora and fauna that abound wherever you may go. The province literally teems with many places to see and do and is bound to satisfy a person visually and even spiritually. In fact, an entire weekend is not really enough to savor all the gustatory and visual delights that the island had to offer. Indeed it is one place that I will never get tired of and would surely return to, when time and money permits.

TAGAYTAY: Our family’s fave weekend getaway [March 1-2, 2008]

Twice a year or at times even thrice (if my Dad is feeling generous), our entire family hies off one long weekend to spend some time together in a totally relaxing place out of town. One such favorite place we often retreat to is a big house on Rodeo Hills, Tagaytay. Aside from its cool weather (definitely a plus), the house is quite spacious that allows our entire clan to fit in – no matter how many we were!!! (This time around there was only 27 of us, around 6 families. But during last year’s holy week I guess we were around 40 – 10 families with lotsa, lotsa kids, truly a raucous affair!) Sounds crazy, huh? But to tell the truth, the house only had three bedrooms, but it can accommodate all of us easily since they had many cushions – around 15. And they had wide open spaces, particularly the veranda surrounding almost the entire 2nd floor which allows just anybody to grab a cushion and sleep outside. No need for an electric fan either because as I said, the place had its own natural air conditioning. We only need to bring our own sheets and beddings, if you don’t want to freeze your ass off.

And as is our usual routine whenever we go to Tagaytay, we don’t usually wait for them (my Dad and Tita - coz he still plays golf in the morning while she goes to the market to buy enough food to tide us for the weekend). Instead, we go ahead (since we have the car, uhm this time the CRV was lent to us) so we can take in some sightseeing of our own and eat their ever famous bulalo for our lunch. This time, we had my two sisters as our co-passengers (coz my eldest kid had work) and we picked them up at their house at past ten. By the time we were at the SLEX, my husband and Keith were already hungry (not really surprising!) so we stopped over at the Shell select station to buy some hotdogs, candies and junk food to tide us over till we reach Tagaytay.

By 1 pm we arrived in Tagaytay and we decided to eat at this bulalo place near the Tagaytay rotunda where my husband ate with some officemates a couple of years back – The Diners. The restaurant itself was not spectacular – a little more like an improved version of the carinderia – definitely no view of the Taal volcano here because it’s smack in the middle of the city. But their bulalo tasted better than the one we had last year at that overlooking resto (whose name and taste is quite forgettable!) Even the other dishes we ordered tasted great – the inihaw na pusit, crispy fried tawilis, and ensaladang talong. My sisters and I agreed to split the bill and we ended up paying about 170 or 180 per person – quite cheap!...considering how full we all were. We were all quite satisfied with the food that we ate and our entire dining experience would have been quite satisfactory if not for the haughty attitude of the restaurant’s crew – especially the ladies taking our orders. They are the front liners of the resto and they should be more courteous to people coz their snobbishness really is a turn-off. Good thing we were already hungry at the time, so we didn’t decide to just leave and look for another place to eat. Definitely, it’s not a place we would recommend to others if only because of the discourteous staff.

After eating, we wanted to work out a sweat to taper off some of that totally fattening food we all ate, so we visited the picnic grove. My youngest sister also wanted to have her pics taken with the Taal volcano as background (for her Friendster account). So off we went to walk about a thousand steps - we paused by a bridge to have our pics taken; a halfway viewdeck – to have more pics taken; a hanging bridge where we had to walk slow otherwise we might fall off until finally we reached the top where we were able to get a truly breathtaking view of Taal. The spectacular view and the cool fresh air that greeted us at the viewdeck was so worth it! It seems no matter how many times I’ve seen Taal, it still never ceases to amaze me.

When we’ve had our fill of pictures with Taal, we left for the house. But before getting there, we chanced upon a sign just past Splendido and before Rodeo Hills that said Sonya’s garden… and I told them that I’ve read about how pretty the place is on the internet and so we decided to make a detour to check it out. And we weren’t disappointed!!! Just check out the pics and you’ll see how truly made for relaxation and comfort the entire place is …there were pretty flowers everywhere in various colors and arrangements… the relaxing lull of water fountains, the smell of roses and freshly baked bread, and very pretty nooks and crannies to lounge around in, have tea or coffee or even sleep… well, we didn’t get to do that because we didn’t have that luxury of time. Heck, we didn’t even have the budget to savor the smell of all the organic and backyard-grown food that was wafting from their kitchens or to sample the therapeutic massage services of their spa. We just contented ourselves with taking picture after picture after picture in every cozy corner of the place and with buying their bread at the bakeshop/panaderia and some organic beauty items at their country store. I would’ve wanted to buy their soaps but alas I didn’t have any money left… maybe next time coz surely Sonya’s garden is one experience you’d want to experience completely – it will definitely be on my list of places to come back to if I had more money to spare or if my daughter decided to have a garden wedding in the future (very far future, that is!)

By four pm we were already at our ‘house for the weekend’ and surprisingly despite all the places we’ve already visited, we were still the first to arrive. The others slowly trickled in as night settled in and we all feasted on bbq chicken and pork, chicken tinola, and pork binagoongan for our dinner. After gorging ourselves with all the delicious food (esp the bbq, my aunt will kill me if I don’t mention her famous bbq!) we chatted the night away – just talking about old times and doing our usual bashing of others who weren’t around (sorry guys, it’s your fault for not coming!!!) It was way past midnight when they started singing (coz they were also getting quite drunk with all the drinks they consumed!) and I took that as my cue to go to bed (coz I can’t really sing!)

The next day, I was up early again to indulge in one of my favorite past times – taking pictures of sleeping people in crazy positions (he,he,he check out my latest collection!) We ate breakfast in a while and since we all decided not to go to the beach, we just retreated to our own fave nooks of the house and do our own private things – the aunts continued with their chatter; dad was at his laptop at a spot in the veranda outside his room (the only place with a signal!) to check out the daily news and his emails; my stepsister and his husband were watching DVDs (their fave past time!); the guys played cards; the kids ran around and played in the slide in the yard; I brought the laptop but I didn’t get to use it coz my sister was playing Luxor. Good thing I also brought a book and so I was able to retreat in my own little corner to read in peace.

After lunch, the kids were once again getting restless –they grew tired playing outside and with the laptop so we decided to take them out to visit the new zoo near Mendez – Paradizoo. We got lost a bit going there coz the signs were quite confusing. But after a few hits and misses we finally got there. Entrance fee was a bit steep at PhP 199 for adults and PhP 149 for the kids but the tour took more than an hour and we were able to see unique animals (not quite your typical zoo) and experience first-hand life on a farm - so it was quite worth it…We even had a tour guide who explained to us little bits and trivia about the ten-hectare farm/ranch.

First animals we encountered were the miniature horses just after the restaurant and souvenir shop which the kids can actually ride (but did not coz it’s costly at Php 150 for only a few minutes). We continued with the tour instead and saw varied kinds of exotic animals which the guide said were imported from different parts of the globe. There were dromedary camels (with one hump) from Australia, some Kalahari goats (which we can pet and feed with all the grass readily available), dorper sheep which the guides showed how to milk (we can actually milk them and even the kids had fun feeding a baby sheep from a bottle). There were also fallow and russa deer, alpacas and llamas, fierce racing greyhounds (just too bad there was no race scheduled for that day so we didn’t get to see them in action), race horses and miniature ponies. We also visited a butterfly farm (my third for the year), a bee farm, an organic garden (with lettuces, tomatoes, carrots, even strawberries harvested and sold at the resto near the entrance), a fish pond where one can actually catch fish with a rented rod for PhP 100 (but you have to pay for the catch if you like to take it home otherwise it goes back to the pond), an orchid garden, a mushroom growing facility, a piggery where we saw Big Brother’s Peggy and her piglets, and so much more.

All in all, it was truly a very different but still fun experience because it wasn’t regular zoo animals in cramped cages that we saw but farm animals in wide open spaces. But what made the experience unique was the fact that it allowed visitors to interact and experience first-hand the kind of life in a farm. The ones who conceptualized this type of zoo should really be commended because they were able to give us – both kids and adults – a truly unforgettable experience… plus, if the kids still wanted to see more regular zoo animals, they offered a visit to the Residence Inn zoo – for free! (I guess, it’s already part of the Php 199 package) And so off we went to visit the other zoo where we got to see the regular animals like tigers, monkeys, a scraggly lion, different crocs and lizards, snakes, large fishes and birds, eagles, even a porcupine, etc.

It was about 4 pm already when we returned to the house and the kids were bursting with stories to tell of their various encounters with animals we saw in the two zoos we visited… they regaled the oldies with their stories as we ate spaghetti and cake. After a while, it was time to go home and bid goodbye to this wonderful place that we have come to call our very own ‘home away from home’… till next time!!!