Kalibo And Aklan

One day, I was in my mothers room. I was thinking about how my tennis playing would go on. My Mother was reading her favorite book in the Sala. I got up and approached her. She told me that maybe we could go to Kalibo with my big brother this January.

I was excited that time. Then I asked her if she was sure, but she said, "not really". But then, she said, "Inshaallah, because I want you and your Kakah Haneef to meet you cousins and relatives there". I asked if I had cousins there of my age. She said, "Others are in Capiz and Iloilo". She forgot that every year, the whole of Panay Island celebrate an annual celebration called "Ati-atihan". It was a big celebration for the whole of Panay Island.

A month ago, It was January then? My aunt bought tickets. And mom told us that our flight would be on January 16. So we packed our things the day before our flight.

When we were in the airport, we saw Lola Nina and Lolo Gil and their son Uncle Jerold with his wife, Auntie Janelle. It was the first time I met them. So we got to know each other and shared stories.

When we were on the plane, I missed my siblings. After 45 minutes on the air, we finally arrived at the Kalibo Airport. My butt ached when I got up, you know what I mean. So we went out and saw the beauty of Aklan. It was abundant of rice fields and wide farms of coconut trees. We saw Lolo Rex waiting for us outside the airport with his wife Lola Nita. They brought us to the newly built house of Ombo Ellen (my grandma). It was two stories high, with 5 bedrooms. The house was colored white too.

I thought the sea was just near our house, but they said it was just 3 kilometer away from our house. And that was least expected. Actually, it rained for two days. The rain wasn't that hard, it was just showering. The next day, we ate breakfast in the house of Auntie Maristela. They fed us hot pandesal with fresh butter, puto and fresh milk. At night, we attended our reunion in the same house. We met a lot of relatives there. One of our cousins there was Kuya Nikki. My Mother introduced him as an expert guitarist. He had a band before. He loved playing Incubus's songs and Linkin' Park. He's favorite singer is Bob Marley. He was already 25 years of age. And I also met Katrina, who was about my age ( I knew it). She was shy and silent. But her brother Christian was really active and talked to us.

That night, we planned to go to Boracay. The next day, we started bringing our things to the van. The trip was long, and it took an hour to reach Caticlan using a van. It was more or less 60 kms away from our house. So when we reached Caticlan, we rode a ferry which took us to Boracay. Boracay was crowded. They built up so many bars, hotels and resorts. There is even a place where the waste of the hotels flow, leading them to the sea.

Boracay's beach was still beautiful then. But I wasn't just used to seeing half-naked people. The white sand of Boracay was attractive. And the views were beautiful. But there weren't much sea creatures there. I guess it was because of the crowded people. Animals don't want to be disturbed, just like humans. So most fishes were very far from the shore.

During one stay there, there was not a day there that I didn't swim. I love the sea so much. And I didn't even care if my skin looked like charcoal. So did my brother. He took a lot of picture of the views there. He really enjoyed doing it.

At monday afternoon, we left Boracay already. We drove to Kalibo again. At night, we attended the birthday party of our Lola Nina. She was 63. But she still even thought of celebrating her birthday.

At home, we packed our things already. Because the next day, we were going to fly again Mr. Cebu Pacific to Manila. Boracay was fun. And it was nice to meet my relatives in Kalibo for the first time. I'll get there again soon. I'll get there.

-Imran