I have booked us, my son and I, a boat passage for Cagayan de Oro to Cebu for today last 17 December. Early in the morning, I have checked up the contents of the travelling bags we were carrying. With my son in tow, I intended to travel light. Two small bags, one for me and the other for my three-year-old son, plus my notebook computer tote bag.
The boat ticket also offered a free bus ride from Iligan City to Cagayan de Oro. The road trip was two-hours long, thus we left Iligan City at two in the afternoon to catch the boat leaving for Cebu at eight in the evening. We also brought with us some packed dinner after requesting my mother-in-law to buy some for us at noon.
A third along the bus ride, my son already fallen asleep, I pondered what I would be telling my siblings the purpose of my homecoming aside from spending the Holidays with them. Earlier, I posted Home for the Holidays, or for Good? enunciating my thoughts. I have been mulling over the conflicting ideas of going home for the Holidays or staying there for good.
With my wife working abroad, she requested her mother to stay with us in our rented apartment. My mother-in-law would usually baby-sit my son whenever I am on duty. As I have requested my superiors for an evening duty during the plant shutdown, at least during the mornings I was at home tending to the needs of my son while my mother-in-law do the chores, or vice versa. At nights, my son usually goes to bed at eight and wakes up ten hours later. Thus, when I arrive from work during the evenings, my son is still fast asleep; or when I come home at 07:00H after the graveyard shifts, he would be waking up. Even with this arrangement, my son tends to be much closer to his maternal grandmother than me.
Previously, my sibling-in-laws planning to pull-out their mother from caring and tending to my son and I, the only feasible alternative was to resign my present employment and just to go home to the province of my birth. Leaving my three-year old to the care of some anonymous baby-sitter was not for me. Usually, such transient employees do not take care enough of the child in their ward. A familiar relative would do much more in terms of caring for my son than an employee.
Thus, by going home, I could gauge for myself whether my parents are still capable of tending to a three-year old. They are not as strong and agile as before. In addition to my older two sons, two other nephews are also in their care. Another child would complicate their schedules. Attending to a three-year old is much difficult than taking care of teenagers. Added to that, my three-year old son is still nursing.
We reached Cagayan de Oro at 17:00H and immediately queued to embark the boat bound for Cebu. I had to send my mother-in-law—she insisted on sending us off—back to Iligan City because there was no point of her waiting outside while we queued. At the pre-departure area, after a thirty-minutes of tug-o-war pulling him out of a children’s play pen, my son continually asked where the boat was or when we would be on it. My son quite enjoyed when a police dog inspected the travellers’ bags and belongings; and even accompanied the dog doing its inspection rounds much to the smiles of the canine security escorts.
Boarding the boat passed 19:00H, my son commented that the sea was blue as the sky was turning black to night. As soon as we settled out belongings to our assigned cots, we claimed some beddings and pillows. Thereafter, we went up the ship rooftop to partake our meals. I found out that my mother-in-law bought us a pack of Korean Beef Steak and Arroz Caldo. I specifically requested spaghetti for my son’s dinner but apparently my mother-in-law instead thought it much better to have Arroz Caldo. Huh? With the travel time from Iligan City to Cagayan de Oro, however, the Arroz Caldo, which literally means hot porridge, became too cold and my son would not even touch it. He requested for a bottle of milk instead.
After a short tour around the boat, my son was sleepy from hours of travel and queuing. He was soon fast asleep minutes after saying his night prayers and soon the boat started to sail. While he was asleep, I tried connecting to the Internet through my Tattoo mobile connection to no avail.
An hour later, after securing my son in his assigned cot, I retired to my own cot just across his own. Lying there, I drafted in my mind what things I was to talk about with my parents and siblings. I also mentally listed gift ideas for them, if and only if, our mandated 13th-Month Salary be given on time before Christmas.
Closing my eyes to sleep, I thought: At least, the travel for today went as planned. Maybe tomorrow would be the same, but back in my mind—as per my past experience—I know that sometime somewhere a situation will crop-up that could bungle our travel itinerary and plans. I prepared for such contingency in terms of travel funds as well as some alternative routes to reach our destination. Home.
Notes:
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The Grey Chronicles
The Frustrations of Travel
Tags: 13th-Month Salary, Apartment, Arroz Caldo, Baby-sit, Beefsteak, Boat, Cagayan de Oro, Care, Cebu, Christmas, Cot, Dinner, Employment, Gift, Graveyard, Holidays, Home, Homecoming, Iligan City, Internet, Itinerary, Milk, Mobile Connection, Mother-in-Law, Notebook, Passage, Plant Shutdown, Play Pen, Police Dog, Porridge, Prayer, Pre-Departure, Queue, Road Trip, Ship, Sibling, Son, Spaghetti, Superior, Tattoo, Travel, Travelling, Wife, Working
I have booked us, my son and I, a boat passage for Cagayan de Oro to Cebu for today last 17 December. Early in the morning, I have checked up the contents of the travelling bags we were carrying. With my son in tow, I intended to travel light. Two small bags, one for me and the other for my three-year-old son, plus my notebook computer tote bag.
The boat ticket also offered a free bus ride from Iligan City to Cagayan de Oro. The road trip was two-hours long, thus we left Iligan City at two in the afternoon to catch the boat leaving for Cebu at eight in the evening. We also brought with us some packed dinner after requesting my mother-in-law to buy some for us at noon.
A third along the bus ride, my son already fallen asleep, I pondered what I would be telling my siblings the purpose of my homecoming aside from spending the Holidays with them. Earlier, I posted Home for the Holidays, or for Good? enunciating my thoughts. I have been mulling over the conflicting ideas of going home for the Holidays or staying there for good.
With my wife working abroad, she requested her mother to stay with us in our rented apartment. My mother-in-law would usually baby-sit my son whenever I am on duty. As I have requested my superiors for an evening duty during the plant shutdown, at least during the mornings I was at home tending to the needs of my son while my mother-in-law do the chores, or vice versa. At nights, my son usually goes to bed at eight and wakes up ten hours later. Thus, when I arrive from work during the evenings, my son is still fast asleep; or when I come home at 07:00H after the graveyard shifts, he would be waking up. Even with this arrangement, my son tends to be much closer to his maternal grandmother than me.
Previously, my sibling-in-laws planning to pull-out their mother from caring and tending to my son and I, the only feasible alternative was to resign my present employment and just to go home to the province of my birth. Leaving my three-year old to the care of some anonymous baby-sitter was not for me. Usually, such transient employees do not take care enough of the child in their ward. A familiar relative would do much more in terms of caring for my son than an employee.
Thus, by going home, I could gauge for myself whether my parents are still capable of tending to a three-year old. They are not as strong and agile as before. In addition to my older two sons, two other nephews are also in their care. Another child would complicate their schedules. Attending to a three-year old is much difficult than taking care of teenagers. Added to that, my three-year old son is still nursing.
We reached Cagayan de Oro at 17:00H and immediately queued to embark the boat bound for Cebu. I had to send my mother-in-law—she insisted on sending us off—back to Iligan City because there was no point of her waiting outside while we queued. At the pre-departure area, after a thirty-minutes of tug-o-war pulling him out of a children’s play pen, my son continually asked where the boat was or when we would be on it. My son quite enjoyed when a police dog inspected the travellers’ bags and belongings; and even accompanied the dog doing its inspection rounds much to the smiles of the canine security escorts.
Boarding the boat passed 19:00H, my son commented that the sea was blue as the sky was turning black to night. As soon as we settled out belongings to our assigned cots, we claimed some beddings and pillows. Thereafter, we went up the ship rooftop to partake our meals. I found out that my mother-in-law bought us a pack of Korean Beef Steak and Arroz Caldo. I specifically requested spaghetti for my son’s dinner but apparently my mother-in-law instead thought it much better to have Arroz Caldo. Huh? With the travel time from Iligan City to Cagayan de Oro, however, the Arroz Caldo, which literally means hot porridge, became too cold and my son would not even touch it. He requested for a bottle of milk instead.
After a short tour around the boat, my son was sleepy from hours of travel and queuing. He was soon fast asleep minutes after saying his night prayers and soon the boat started to sail. While he was asleep, I tried connecting to the Internet through my Tattoo mobile connection to no avail.
An hour later, after securing my son in his assigned cot, I retired to my own cot just across his own. Lying there, I drafted in my mind what things I was to talk about with my parents and siblings. I also mentally listed gift ideas for them, if and only if, our mandated 13th-Month Salary be given on time before Christmas.
Closing my eyes to sleep, I thought: At least, the travel for today went as planned. Maybe tomorrow would be the same, but back in my mind—as per my past experience—I know that sometime somewhere a situation will crop-up that could bungle our travel itinerary and plans. I prepared for such contingency in terms of travel funds as well as some alternative routes to reach our destination. Home.
Notes:
Comments are moderated to keep the discussion relevant and civil. Readers are responsible for their own statements.
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