My Funny Valentine
Instead of our ‘traditional’ sleeping and bitter modes during Valentines Day, my girl friends, Mau, Lyma, and I spent the day in Picnic Grove in Tagaytay. It’s not our usual ‘biglaang lakad’ because we planned it a couple of weeks ago. For the 27th Valentines of my life, I became one of those souls flooding the busy highways of Tagaytay.
We’ve anticipated that the road will be transformed into a big parking lot again (just like the usual heavily congested road scenario in major thoroughfares in Manila ) because of the heavy volume of vehicles, which are mostly comprised of private rides. But we never knew that it was that worst. Since the jeepney we were riding was stucked for like five years, we were given more time to ‘inspect’ the area, our fellow passengers, and those walking on the road. Couples are everywhere they’re becoming eyesore already. Lol!!! Really, being single in a couple’s world is difficult. Insensitive people treat your being single like a defect on your personality. An old school, irrational, and subjective perception more reflective of their own flaw(s). Sometimes, their ‘carelessness’ to express their awful opinions on singles and singlehood cut straight through my senses, I go ballistic at the back of my mind. Lol!!!
When we finally arrived at Picnic Grove, we decided to rest for a while on a shady, grassy area. It was a really blistering afternoon. And again, we got to observe lots of couples in the area, as if slapping our faces with what is ‘missing’ with us. lol!!! While we are kind’a being ‘inaasar’ by the scenario, we’ve contented ourselves with a funny conversation about random things. The people around us can’t help but to look at our direction because of our giggles and laughters.
Soon as we noticed that the sun was slowly getting bearable, we got to the horseback ride area. We’ve never experienced horseback ride ever, so it was a real thrill to experience it for the first time. It was Mau who tried it first. We were all kind’a afraid at first, but later on we eventually enjoyed it.
We wanted to experience the zipline and cable car. Well, I did experience HK Ocean Park’s breath taking cable car ride. But I wanna experience our very own version as well. Sadly, though, our ‘pa-girl’ outfits and mood, as well as our budget ;( , restricted us from experiencing it.
And so we decided to have a walk around Picnic Grove, where again, couples seem to make ‘asar’ us even more. Lol!!! On top of an elevated area in the park facing some pine trees (Are they pine trees? Sorry, I wasn’t able to confirm nor recognize.), we observed other groups of happy friends in the area, sweet couples (again), and other people as well. We swore to the pine tree in front of us that time that the next time we’ll get to Picnic Grove, we’re already with our special someone. Lol!! Talk about bitterness there…. 
As it got darker, we left Picnic Grove and the pine trees and the couples with a somehow happy feeling. Before we rode a jeepney going to Pala-Pala, we treated ourselves with some goto along the highway.
Much as there are happy reasons to be in a relationship, there are equally happy reasons to be single as well. And going to different places alone with your good friends is one of them.
Sometimes, we need to go beyond the usual things we do to also experience a whole new thing. It may not be that perfect at first. But the element of clean, good thrill it brings can always be a good reason to make us smile once in a while.
—–I don’t regret anything from my past, no matter how bad it seems in hindsight, because every little step I took was leading me right to you——–^^