If you ever make your way up north, here's a place that's perfect for the family-- perfect for the kids, and the kids at heart (insert me raising my hand haha). The Clark Safari and Adventure Park is a good place to spend your weekends at and meet new animal friends. Located within the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, the Clark Safari is open everyday from 8am to 5pm. Entrance fees are at 499 PhP for adults, 399 PhP for kids below 4ft, and free for those who are 2ft and below.

I have visited the place twice back in May and August 2022 both on a weekend and have never experienced big crowds, which makes it more enjoyable as we got more time to roam around and look at the animals. The concept, like many modern zoos, is that you have to walk your way through the park to meet the animals. I specifically liked their 'open' concept wherein some of the animals weren't put on glass, and the design is literally like a children's park where there are a lot of photo-taking areas and benches to just chill on-- also great if you are still anxious about covid!

Only downside is that since it is with an open concept, it can be very hot or it can be a hassle when it rains-- I have experienced both during my two visits! Just make sure to be armed with a trusty umbrella and enough liquids! There are canteens in the area and I believe a café is about to open inside too!

There are also marshalls tasked to take your photos which you can claim at the exit booth, it can be a bit pricey but it makes for a good souvenir! There are also spots where you can take a photo with the animals (even using your own devices), I personally recommend taking a photo with the birds!

Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Maybe it was the never knowing what lies ahead, the feeling of not wanting to miss the what ifs. The existence of the what ifs per se. What if he's the one? what if having her completes him? what if this is the story that they were supposed to be living in? Mostly the answers were in their favor. The thrill blinds them. All the what ifs are giving them the feeling of excitement, everything finally fits in like a puzzle, never mind the actual jagged edges of each of the puzzle pieces, every song played in the radio coincides with whatever they were feeling, "I think it is like that when you're in love, even her name fits into the song lyrics perfectly"-- he'll say.

Then he smiles at her, and she smiles back, and they both smile to the world foolishly. As if they were reborn or as if they have awakened from a long rejuvenating sleep. As if they were a new and improved versions of themselves, as if their lives could have never been better. Every good news is just good and every bad news is just news. Suddenly, they have got this some sort of videogame power-up where they were indestructible and the two of them being together was bigger than anything else.

As if her mind will run out of memory, she documents everything. She took to writing every move he makes, every touch, every glances he stole, all the food he doesn't like, the places that he loves, the type of clothes he wears, the kind of jokes he laughs at, all the feelings that she has, the vows she has made for him, the promises they promised to keep, everything in detail as if she was writing an academic paper with a 30,000-page requirement. Along with her writing, she took photos. Every adventures they had, every meeting, every parting, everything was immortalized in her two dimensional world. She'd keep each photo with her, stick one at the back of her notebook, gives a few for him to keep, then keeps the others for viewing only by herself.

She prints tiny little quotes of happiness and sneaks one to him every now and then. He sneaks in too, into her life, slowly, but eternally. Sneaking in Good Morning's and remarks about how elegant she looks. Elegant was a word she never thought would be used to describe her. Elegant was a word used only by little boys and girls to show off their vocabulary, elegant was a word used only for princesses, and designer shoes, and fine jewelries. And now elegant is a word she'll fall further for.

In the night he'll come to her, not as constant as the stars would appear in the sky, but as impactful as everyone's first sighting of a shooting star. He'd bring her food that she'd eat in the car. She'd spill some, maybe the fries, on the floor of his newly washed car. He'd spill something too-- the secrets he holds dear. How he got the stitches on his forehead, how he thinks he has already lost the chance to grow closer to his parents, his worries about work, his worries about life. She'll listen, and she'll memorize it all, when they part for the day she'd imagine more times than she would admit, all the things that had happened throughout the day.

All the time there was a feeling of disbelief. He'll drive to work but won't have any idea how he got there. He'll be lost at the thought of her. Is she in one of the cars on this road? is she with someone else? will he be able to go home to her today? will she be able to wait that long? His heart sank. In every thought of her, his heart did this unexplainable jump that both excites and scares him, often all for the good reasons, but at times also for the things he could not give her.

She'd wait. She was young and she was capable. She felt that she had the time in the world. He felt that way too. She was happy. He was content. In everything she did, there was his silhouette beside her and in return, she's always just a phone call and a text away for him. There was no need to save each other's number, they memorized it-- all the two numbers each, by heart. 

She was big with feelings. She expressed everything in a manner that he couldn't resist. He was reserved. It often surprises him how she'd affect his emotions. She was patient, but she was not the kind that you would really want to be kept waiting. She was elegant-- in everything she did and even in the waiting. They were perfect. The time and the world isn't. 

I have always found comfort in the thought that should the start of my new year be a bit (or more) off than what I expected, I will always have my birth month to come next and save the first quarter of the year or at least serve as another restart, my very own new year.

People who have known me for a long time could probably guess that I put an incredible amount of pressure to myself and also to the people dear to me when it comes to celebrating not just mine but also their birthdays, and any other special occasions for that matter. The pressure could be so great that you would think I have never had a celebration party my entire life or that I have been too pampered to let one pass. Neither is true. I have quite a number of birthday celebrations which are all not grand but have been some of my core memories. 

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During my last year as a high school student, almost everyone of my classmates celebrated their birthdays by inviting the whole class to their houses. I, as a jealous brat, wanted to do the same but also did not want to ask my parents to prepare for such; and since I did not come from a family of mind readers, on the morning of my birthday, I bawled my eyes out to my mom questioning why we still got nothing planned.

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I was seventeen when I first celebrated my birthday without my immediate family. I was out in the streets of Baguio, ate dinner at the mall, roam around the Burnham Park, road a boat at the lake, and then strolled until midnight along Session Road. It was not much of a party, but it still is, to date, one of the most memorable birthdays I have ever had.

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My mom conditioned me that for my eighteenth birthday, it would be better to use my 'party money' for other more valuable things and / or experiences, to which I have always agreed. Later when there were only a few months left, my girly-girl self realized that I actually wanted to go with the usual debut celebration. How we managed to pull that poolside celebration in a matter of less than a month would forever be a wonder to me.

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Two years ago, I decided that maybe it would be nice to celebrate my birthday travelling; and so I packed my bag, dragged my sister on a few hours of bus ride, and spent a few days away from the hustle and bustle of our usual life. Everything would have been perfect if only I had not answered that phone call from work while we were on our way back home.

---

Last year, for reasons of escaping more than just the busyness and pressure of the days, I booked a solo trip to Singapore four months before my actual birthday. The flight was scheduled right at the morning of my birth date and the return flight was not for five more days. Had I only decided to stay for another week, I would have spent the entire lock-down on a country that was still a stranger to me.

There are a lot of things I learned about myself that year-- that clearly I need not any grand parties nor big gatherings to be able to celebrate the most important day of the year (at least for me) but even so, a year later, I still find myself imagining and looking for ways to be able to make the day special. It may be a curse I can never escape.

Disclaimer: Felt a bit nostalgic, so I might delete this a bit later. Also all photos were taken by me, pre-pandemic.