Celebration of Life

Day 16 of 26I had a whole post for this day, but it somehow disappeared.Yesterday felt like a week. When we arrived to Manila, we went straight to the funeral home, suitcases and everything. Mom and I got there around 1:30 or probably closer to 2 AM.Funerals and viewings are a lot different in the Philippines. Instead of mourning, the life of the deceased is celebrated. We did the same thing when Papa Rudy died. The viewing usually lasts for about a week and every night a family member or a friend stays with the beloved. It might seem wierd and scary, but it's actually comforting in a wierd way. BJ, Dad, Manong Mike and I stayed with Lola over night along with Lola's neighbors. We all fell asleep on the job, lol.In the morning, we picked up our other cousin and people just slowly started showing up at the funeral home. We met so many relatives and friends, a lot I didn't even know existed. They all stayed, prayed, laughed, ate and told stories about Lola and the past memories from growing up. It was really cool to see so many people happily being in each other's company.My Dad never left Lola's side until they had to take her that evening. They had to get her ready for the trip to Cagwait. It was a somber moment.The next adventure starts with a flight at 4 in the morning.

Jet Setter Life

Day 15 of 24I love to travel and see new things, but all this traveling we've been doing today is so unexpected and not exactly how I thought it would go. So here's the deal for today.✈️ Palawan > Cebu > Manila ✈️All in one day. Damn.Thank God we are flying though. BJ and Dad are going from Palawan straight to Manila. Dad's siblings are waiting on him and Mom and I are going to get our stuff from Cebu and meet them there. Then on Sunday we travel back to Surigao to bury Lola in Cagwait. I've only been here for 15 days and I've traveled so much already... air, land and sea! Crazy.I'm really not looking forward to the upcoming week. It will be hard to see my Dad go through this, but he's a G - he'll be aaaiigghhttt...Lola came into his dreams this morning and told him she's waiting for him. How can you not cry - I sure did.On another note... the food poisening count went up today. It's official, 6 out of the 8 of us who traveled to Palawan have gotten sick. Man, what did they feed us?! Haha... geezus. You're still beautiful though, Palawan! On our way to the airport in P-town, we passed by Baker's Hill. It's a cute little tourist attraction with a bakery. None of us really had the stomach to eat anymore on that island.Tonight, the 4 of us will be in Manila with the rest of the Vivares family.

The Drive Back

Day 14 of 24Don't really have any pictures of the drive back to Puerto Princesa from El Nido. We made the trip back in 4 hours this time. Pong, our driver is a G. The ride back made me naseus, but we made it back fast.In Puerto Princesa, everyone was either sick or tired so we all actually just stayed in after a late lunch.Just waiting on Dad's plans as to what he wants to do and where he wants us to go. So we shall be patient and wait.