After months of waiting and after the original flight being cancelled to a day later, we finally made it to Batanes!
Day 1 was nice and leisurely --- we used the time to familiarize ourselves with the surroundings and we found Basco Lighthouse. It would be the site of more than one day's attempt at capturing what we hoped would be a breathtaking sunset.
Click on the photo above to see the rest of Day 1 photos and Day 2 photos to follow in the next day (or so :p)
Today is my third day back at work since my Manila vacation, and I feel even more like a stranger to this city than I did before. I had thought that when I come back, I'd be ready to start really living here --- I would furnish my apartment so it would look more like home, I would find things to keep me preoccupied and that would allow me to meet people and I would allow myself to fall into a routine.
I don't think that's about to happen anytime soon though.
My trip home has reinforced what I had known even before I left -- I wanted to move only if I weren't moving alone otherwise, I wanted to stay home.
Of all the times I've left Manila, my last departure was the most difficult. I didn't want to go, and it was stronger than it was when I first came here. Probably because I already knew what to expect, and I knew that what was waiting for me here was not really worth looking forward to.
But the reality is, it doesn't matter if that was what I wanted. The bottom line, is that I needed to come back here if I wanted to live the life I want to start living in Manila. Every month that I stay here is one more good foundation for my future.
Three days after my arrival, I'm finding that I'm still a stranger to this place, and this place is still a stranger to me. Its getting what it needs from me and I'm getting what I need from it, no more no less. I can only hope it changes even just a little soon...god knows things will be much easier to accept if I feel more comfortable and more at ease when I'm here.
I've waited almost 9 years for a chance to see Batanes, around 4 years for my very own good quality DSLR + UWA lens and 4 months until I return home. When all of it finally happened, I didn't expect that I would have along with them, a story that will always lack the actual emotions I felt during that time and someone I will officially spend the rest of my life with.
Salamat sa lahat ng well wishers...I hope you excuse this burst of mushy-ness :D
(My photos from the trip to follow in the next few days)
