Sipaway Sunshine

Oh, Summer!!! 

I cannot wait for our major summer trip in Dumaguete + Siquijor in April - but for now (and though snapshots about this trip have been posted over and over again in this blog), I wish to share (yet again) some good morning thoughts about our Sipaway trip last December. I chronicled here my top 10 Sipaway memories and "The Early Morning Sun" and "Breakfast with Foreigners" made it to number 1 and number 8 respectively. Fast forward to year 2013 when I realized I am really THE Mistress of the Morning and Lover of Sunshine, I am promoting both memories to the top 2 slots!!

excerpts from the prestigious survey (haha!):

One: The Early Morning Sun

One thing that I have the strongest will to do only when on vacation and never on regular working days is waking up early in the morning. It is my way of making the most out of the time doing the things that I love with the people I love.

On my first morning in Sipaway, I watched the sunrise while on what I call the “runway” from the resort to the cottages which sit on stilts (a few meters from the main part of the resort). It was low tide then and starfish (es) (hundreds of them), molluscs, sand dollars, sea grasses/weeds, corals were freed from their blanket that is the ocean and naked and welcoming of the early morning sun. I relished the moment. I was IN the moment.

I remembered Gina Lopez’s column in the Philippine Star that there is an existing belief that the early morning glare is good for the eye sight. So I stood still and stared at the sun and watched the clouds pass me by. Whenever I feel like it, I close my eyes to push me deeper into the moment. I uttered a short prayer of gratitude and welcomed the gentle warmth of the sun against my skin.

Life is beautiful.
Life is good.

Eight: Breakfast with Foreigners

The resort we stayed in is owned by a German national and the place is peppered with reminders, notices and signages in Deutsche. Good thing I took up Deutsche 10 in UP, I adjusted easily with my surroundings, hahaha!! Most of the guests are also foreigners and though we don’t get to see them in most part of the day, we usually huddle in breakfast given that the resort serves food only in a small bar overlooking the pool area and the ocean.

I always order Philipino (Filipino) breakfast – rice, corned beef, egg, tea and fruit juice with an extra serving of bacon. They find it amusing that I can take in that much.

I subconsciously sang a Christmas song while finishing up my meal. One of the foreign guests said, “That’s beautiful, can you sing more for us?”. I smiled shyly.


Mistress of the Morning and Lover of Sunshine,
Tina