MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL

I NEVER KNEW IT is Mother’s Day. Why? Because May 13, 2012 was designated as a Mother’s Day and all I know is that it is traditionally held on a May 10. It is not a holiday though but people have reserved that day as if it is a holiday.

So, my wife Vilma got a treat from her daughters Laila and Lovella. I was invited to come along so I go. Most of the time, I spend Sundays in the mountains teaching grassroots bushcraft to like-minded people and, fortunately for all, I am home for this Sunday.

Lovella, together with grandson Gabriel, led me and Vilma to Park Mall in Mandaue City. We were too early for the 10:00 AM opening so Lovella asked us to accompany her to the second level of the mall where shops are located. Lovella and Gabriel entered a spa while Vilma and I waited outside.

In a short while, Lovella ushered us inside the Langkawi Discovery Spa where attendants requested us to sit above square wells after removing our respective footwear. It was kind of uneasy for me to have people wash my feet since I truly believed I possessed a pair of ugly feet. Just my opinion only.

I thought it’s just only a feet washing but, no, that’s not the end of it. After a few timid steps, Vilma and I got ourselves inside small rooms and given towels each. We lie face down and attendants do a full body massage to us. It is the first time that Vilma and I got ourselves massaged from head to toe with scented oil.

After an hour, we walk out of the spa very refreshed and strangely recharged and go down into the restaurant belt of the mall. We all sit inside Da Vinci’s Pizza and eat a meal of pizzas, fried chicken and spaghetti. Our youngest son, Cherokee, came over and joined us on the table.

We transferred to Jollibee and joined on the long table where Laila and husband Miguel; grandsons Kurt and Jarod; and our eldest son Gringo are waiting. They were partaking of lunch while I take interest of the cold chocolate drinks served.

After lunch at Park Mall, we all decide to go home and enjoy siesta. It is a hot afternoon but the trees I planted in my backyard shielded the heat away. The lower level in our house is cool and that is where everybody are resting so I go upstairs and tried hard to sleep but could not. I continue reading instead the Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv and finished Chapter One.

When 4:00 PM came, we all go to watch a dog agility competition at the Asiatown IT Park. I could see a very good rapport and coordination between dogs and their handlers as each team follow an obstacle course composed of bars, tunnels, planes, platforms and a ring.

The last event is a Frisbee-throwing competition wherein dogs would race with the thrown disk and catch this in mid-air. Some dogs get distracted by flashes of camera lights though and some camera users flashed their lights irresponsibly.

We leave the park for JY Square and sit ourselves around a long table at Razon’s. We consume dinner of pancit palabok, pancit Canton and their specialty – a local dessert called halo-halo. We leave the place in time to attend the last scheduled Eucharistic Celebration at the St. Therese Parish in Wilson Street.

Before we leave, Vilma and I decide to visit my mother at nearby La Guardia and greet her a Happy Mother’s Day. Cousin Ian and wife are there to deliver a gift of puppy for me. The pup is of mixed breed but it is a handsome dog. The boys will be happy to have a canine companion in the house at last.

The puppy will be of help to me someday, when it grow to a dog, to guard again my house against burglars which have victimized me recently. The last dog before him – Carlo – had effectively protected my home. What name to give the puppy is the greatest debate right now inside my home.

Document done in LibreOffice 3.3