I had been writing week after week for this column, and then one day I realized it had been over two years already. So just before Holy Week, I asked for a break. It was also time to retreat, rethink, and envision again the reason and purpose of this weekly piece “for Bikol and the World.”
The best way to start a vacation is to travel. So, I took off with my family—wife and our only child, now 8 years old, for a 3-night stay at Disney’s Hollywood Hotel for a short visit to the nearby Hong Kong Disneyland Park. Since its opening over a year ago, our daughter had been wishing to go there, too. We had gone before to Euro Disney in Paris and then Disneyland in Los Angeles, but she still wanted to see how it was in Hong Kong.We did have a great time there, especially the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in Tomorrowland from the Disney/Pixar animated film “Toy Story.” Yeah, it was really fun shooting with our laser guns and blasting away the evil forces of Emperor Zung. And our daughter asked us to do it about four or five times!
Holy Week followed, which we spent in quiet time for reflection in our home. On Easter Sunday, we joined our friends for a families-get-together and Easter egghunting for our kids.
Thereafter, I had to finish a paper for my presentation on April 30 to the Inter-Pacific Bar Association 19th annual international conference in Manila. This was on “competition issues in the aviation sector.” One of the things we must anticipate in the next several years is a “Tomorrowskies,” the planned “ASEAN Single Aviation Market.”
Immediately the following day after my talk to the IPBA, we went to Subic for a family weekend on May 1-3. We were with our friends again. We went to the beach and we also checked out the Zoobic Safari with its famed jeepney ride round a hill where a couple of tigers would get up close to you as a feeder gives them some chicken pieces to devour. Of course, it was a joyride driving through NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) and the SCTEX (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway). Travel to Subic is now less than 2 hours from Manila. Indeed, our drive back home was even faster since everyone was watching Manny Pacquiao on TV and in theaters. Manny’s victory is surely a proud moment for us all. But, I guess, vacation is over, and I have to start writing here again.
Three things I pray, drawing from my recent retreat: (1) that we can blast away the evils of political dynasties and corruption comes the 2010 election, (2) that we can genuinely develop our city and region with modern roadways, airports and seaports to allow more business and jobs, and (3) that we can secure good health and a better future for all our families and children.