This is not about shopping! ;)

One day, a few weeks ago, before my birthday, my mom woke me up and said my dad has a meeting at the Quezon Memorial Circle. She suggested we come with him and then go to TriNoma later. I was so sleepy because summer is the best time to have that 'sleep-early-in-the-morning-and-and-wake-up-in-time-for-lunch' lifestyle but when I heard the magic word 'TriNoma', which translates to shopping in layman's term, damn, I felt my lips curl into a smile. I bet my mother was laughing when she saw me smiling sleepily with my eyes closed. haha

As dad went to his meeting place, Mom, Joop and I started walking around the park. We bought BJ (buko juice!) and strolled to find a shaded place to sit. The first concrete table and chairs set we sat on had too many langaws attempting to sip from our BJ cups. So we moved to another bench where there were too many fruit flies devouring on the mango on the soil. My brother and I, feeling kiddie and all, run to the swing and happily played. I enjoyed feeling the air brushing my skin, and just being a kid again. Joop and I then moved to the seesaw beside the swings. Boy, did he flip my insides to death. It's been a long time since I sat on a seesaw. I used to fear it because I was afraid it wouldn't move 'coz my side would be heavy. HAHAHAHAHAHA (Ok, I feel stupidly funny laughing at this revelation. hahaha) Anyhooo, not my point. Now that Joop is bigger than I am (my little brother has grown a lot since his tuli), I was more confident that the seesaw would actually function pretty well for both of us. I enjoyed the feeling of being at the highest point, when your feet are hanging in the air. Also the sensation of meeting gravity when you go down. Joop and I enjoyed quite a lot of ups and downs on the seesaw when we finally had enough. Our next dilemma was how to get off. I was laughing so hard (you know, the normal adz laugh which I figured isn't so normal among many after all). Mom thought we were ridiculous so she suggested how we could get off without having one falling on the soil. We managed to leave the seesaw unscathed, thank God.

As we walked around again to find a place to sit, my mom said 'Dapat ganito ang pinopromote sa mga families. Hindi malls. Mas healthy `to sa mga bata.' Oh, motherly love. hehe Although my mom views it this way, my brothers and I did not grow up playing in parks and meeting kids in the village playgrounds. However, I still quite remember waking up early to go for a short ride to the beach and take a walk. My mom would prepare sandwiches for us in the morning and off we walk hand in hand with my Kuya Jom and Dad to Villa Beach. I remember my mother telling me it was to heal our asthma. Fresh air and walking- yeah. We'd walk until the sun is too hot (mataas na ang araw, in Filipino) then we'd eat the sandwiches before we go home.

On the other hand, my mom grew up in the 'picnic at the park every other week' sort of life since they were a big family- including cousins and all. I can imagine those old Vilma Santos or Sharon films whose scenes at the park had the elements such as the checkered picnic cloth, the basket of food, the yaya, the husband and the super kulit toddler. Oha? sounds familiar? hahaha

I guess this sort of life won't be too far from us again soon.

Don't get me wrong. I love the mall (luxury and cheap treats, good food for different budgets, me time (shopping and movies), grocery) and still secretly believe it is a genius idea to have everything you need all in one roof. But sometimes, noting compares to that laid back life- just you aand nature...and family, and friends.