When your 19-year-old daughter asks you to travel 12 hours by road to follow her to the ends of the earth because she feels safe knowing you’re just an arm’s length away -even though you know you won’t get the chance to be together, and yes even on your birthday, you simply don’t make excuses. You book your hotel room nearest to where she’s staying & ask her how else you can be of service. No matter how inconvenient, or difficult, or pointless. Coz that’s what a mother is. That’s what a mother does.

I really thought it was a moot point for me to go to Ilocos since we weren’t going to see each other on her 4-day trip, not even for a second. But Ate insisted she would feel better knowing I was just in the area. So who am I to argue? To be honest, I’m happy & flattered that they’re so clingy to me & can’t seem to live without me. But at the same time, I’m also worried that they love me too much & will have a hard time moving on without me when the time comes. But I have decided to live in the moment. Why should I withhold my love & affection for “in case”. I choose to love them so hard & so deep that even when I’m gone they can still feel it.

So on my birthday, we left for a 4-day sojourn towards Ilocos. Or so we thought! ;)) Ate was traveling by land with her batch. Lovey& I were traveling by air because Ate didn’t want us to endure the long drive up knowing I have a very bad back. Plus, she didn’t trust reckless Anderson to get us to our destination safely. We were to travel back together if her teacher allows.

I packed everything for Ate & made sure she had everything she needed for her trip. I made a list & checked it twice.. thrice. I made sure she had everything she needed in her car. Meanwhile, I forgot to think about my needs AND LEFT MY OWN MALETA AT HOME! @_@

With only 45 minutes to spare before our flight to Ilocos, we made a mad dash back home to get my suitcase. We made it to NAIA terminal 3 just in time. I was asked to present an ID.. then & only then did I find out my wallet was in my other bag. Which was at home hehe! 😛

The check-in lady allowed us to proceed even without my proof of identification. Mukha naman daw katiwa-tiwala ang pagmumukha ko. BUT, we didn’t have any money with us. Lovey had an ATM card with very little money barely enough to tide us over for several meals, but there was no ATM machine in the building, according to the airport people. My hunny carried just a small amount of cash to buy the basic daily necessities. We decided bahala na si batman. We’ll figure out how to get money when we get to Ilocos. Siguro naman may ATM doon, hello! It was a weekend though so I don’t know how money can be transferred, if at all.

Kap, thinking it was bad omen in successions (he included the fact that we can’t get to an ATM, PLUS we had to keep re-booking since UST kept changing the fieldtrip dates) forbade us to set foot in the plane. He & my babyson went ballistic calling & texting me & Lovey one after another to just go back home just as Lovey & I were about to set foot in the plane.

Kawawang Ate. We called her to explain, and though highly disappointed, she didn’t push the issue & resigned herself to the fact that we were definitely staying in Manila. All she was concerned about was our safety. She said she also felt a bad cloud looming over her head for our pending flight so it was all good.

Her Botany class went to Ilocos for the botanical garden (I highly doubt they were allowed to collect specimens. So it’s kinda useless to go 12 hours to just LOOK at a botanical garden, me thinks.), but they also had an extra day for tourist spots..

And even though she’s so very far away, she still managed to mock me. Albeit lovingly! 😉

Thank you for sharing all your pictures with me Ate. I really appreciated the fact that you were sharing with me your adventure & giving me a blow-by-blow account so I don’t worry about you. I love you so much & I missed you every second that you were gone. I’m NEVER ever letting you off my sight EVER again. Know that! <3

Fort Ilocandia & Cebu Pacific were very nice & accommodating to allow us to re-book our reservations. So I guess we’ll still be seeing you this summer, Ilocos! 😛 And when we do, believe me, I will check my bag 10 times to make sure I have everything in order. HAY BUHAY! @_@ 45.. I am getting old.

PS: Thank you so much Bianca girl for letting me steal some group photos from your facebook page!