2018 Calayan Adventure - Day 04 - A Birthday/Family Reunion Celebration and a Sunset Tour in Punta Magsidel

03 April 2018

Traveling to my Dad's hometown is actually pretty insane considering the distance, modes of transport and time required to reach it.  But we made the journey out of love, out of familial responsibility and of gratitude for the people we consider our own.

One of the reasons for this trip happened today - a celebration of birthdays for Uncle Angel, Auntie Biyang and my Dad...




The first order of the day is a Celebratory Mass for Uncle Angel who turned 70 years old.  Auntie Biyang and my Dad, who have their birthdays on March 23rd, were also included as co-celebrants in the Mass. 

Photo by Lynne

 After the Mass, everyone was invited back to the house for a whole day of revelry.  There was food for adults.  There was food for kids and teens.  There was a station for drinks and beverages.  Everyone was involved in making sure that all the guests and visitors had a bite to eat before more of the activities started.

When everyone was recharged, the games started.  Games for kids were organized by age so that smaller kids would have a chance at prizes without having to be crushed or swamped by the bigger kids.  There were also individual games where winners chose their own prizes from a big box of surprises. :)

Adult family members and guests were also given a chance to participate in the games.  They had a "Bring Me' contest and some parlor games that were, shall we say, rated PG, like who can finish a bottle of beer the fastest. 

In between games, we also served snacks to replenish everyone's energy :)

Photo by Lynne

Later on, more stuff were brought out - clothes, shoes, slippers, vitamins, candies and school supplies.  These surprises took months to prepare and I have to give props to my family for being able to pull it off.  The logistics of bringing over so many balikbayan boxes filled with these goodies is quite staggering!  All of it done to share our blessings...

Eventually, all the prizes were gone (although my aunts, uncles and cousins got caught up in the games and the energy and just started giving out monetary prizes as well haha)  But of course, things started to slow down and the guests eventually returned to their own homes while we all got ready for our next adventure - a Sunset Tour in Bulnog.

Around 530PM, we all  hopped on the available kuliglig transports as they took us for a 20-minute ride towards Punta Magsidel.  It was the best place to view the sunset, with its high elevation and rocky outcroppings.

If you're not too fond of heights, the bottom part of the cove may be more to your liking.  However, getting to it is a little tricky because there are no actual steps to use.  You need to just slide down very, very carefully to get to the bottom.  The kids were helped by my cousins who were there before us.

After, we dropped by my aunt's beachfront property.  I remember we had a picnic here before during our last trip and they've certainly cleared a few trees :)

We waited for the sun to set all the way before we went back home.  It was truly a heavenly end to our blessed day today.