Jun 20, 2006

Father’s day fun

June 18, 2006. I finally got to celebrate my first father’s day event. We hied of into the Calamba, Laguna highlands and spent an entire day swimming, communing with nature and having a picnic.

Our destination? The breathtaking community of the Ayala Greenfield Estates.

Had I known how much beautiful the place was, I wouldn’t have gone through my usual reluctance of leaving the bed and spending the entire day perfecting my couch potato retirement routine.

I was so keenly intent on spending spending the entire day at home that I often found myself grumbling all the way to the venue. — Take a bath.. *grumble grumble*.. Grab breakfast.. *grumble grumble*.. Prepare the car.. *grumble grumble*.. Loading… Loading some more… *grumble grumble* *yawn*.. And off we went…. *What could possibly be better than celebrating Father’s Day sleeping, watching TV and basically just bumming around, right?* Wrong! I was dead wrong.

After tanking up on gas, which I noticed has gone up a few cents, again(!), we headed down south of Manila’s busy urban jungle.

It took us about 20 minutes to reach the site. And I was immediately impressed by how it was developed. The landscaping was great. It clearly wasn’t one of your average, run of the mill, insta-matic residential projects. As soon as we entered, we went straight to the clubhouse, admiring the view along the way of course. It was about a couple of kilometers from the estate entrance gate.

If the scenery from the gate all the way up to the clubhouse was amazing, with its rolling hills and elegantly pristine design, the view from the clubhouse was equally as impressive. From there, you could see Laguna de Bay, the Manila skyline, Mt. Makiling and Tagaytay Ridge.

I had so much fun that day. And also hit me that I have indeed become a dad, pop, papa, father, daddy, tatay, itay, ama, and whatever term you call that man who you looked up to while growing up, who disciplined you when you needed to be disciplined, who secretly stood by you when mom was on a rampage, and who let you have the honor of bearing his last name.

And I realized that I had so much to live for. Being a dad is such a challenge. But being a good dad is an even daunting task. If I’m up to it, I don’t know. But I’m sure as hell going to give it a damn good try.

:: Sharkey’s Top 10 ::

1. I got to celebrate being a first time dad with Conne, CJ and my family.
2. I got to eat a lot!
3. I got to swim.
4. I got to play billiards.
5. I got to play basketball.
6. I got to play badminton.
7. I got to burn off the excess food intake because all of the activities that I did.
8. I got to teach Conne how to drive through uneven, and often steep-angled terrain.
9. I got to go to church and hear mass. I wasn’t able to go to church for a couple of weeks.
10. And finally, the coup de grace, I finally got a new wallet courtesy of Conne! (I jokingly begged her for one, a couple of times in the past, and she remembered!) I don’t know how she does it, but she always manages to surprise me.

To: My Dearest Mahal,

Happy 1st Father’s Day!
Congrats for a 7 months job well done… and for more years to come! We love you! Muah!

Love, Conne & CJ

I love you too mahal!

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