baywalk saved the day!

yesterday we visited manila zoo. it brought back memories of my 6-year-old self delighted by the big elephant and hippotamus and scared of the crawling snakes. upon seeing the lake, i instantly remembered riding a boat sandwiched by two overweight kids (daughters of my dad's friend) and enjoying the sight of birds and other land animals as we cruise along.

i couldn't tell how much the place changed but i do remember that 26 years ago, i went home from the zoo feeling happy and excited to tell my friends about the trip. yesterday, the kids and i were just too relieved to leave. it was too hot and we're all dehydrated and tired from the walk. even the animals failed to raise our spirits - we only saw a few basic birds, eagles, sleeping owls, a couple of peacocks showing off their colorful feathers, snakes playing dead, grandpa elephant's old big butt, a sleepy tiger, a snobbish hippo barely visible under the murky waters, a friendly ostrich, an aged oranggutan who hasn't lost her appetite and red-faced japanese monkeys skillfully catching whatever food thrown at them. of course there's the usual rabbits, hamsters, horses, deers.

outside, we scrutinized the animal drawings on the walls surrounding the zoo and felt cheated to see a giraffe, zebra, bear, kangaroo, etc. the kids then asked what happened to the other animals and i joked that some of them got bored, escaped, later became interested in politics and are now residing in Congress! hahaha! :-))

noticing that they're already tired and unexcited, i decided to bring the kids to Baywalk. i told them "remember niyo sa movie na Ang Cute ng Ina Mo, di ba naglayas si kristine (played by ann curtis) and nag-emote siya sa may tabing-dagat? sa Baywalk yon!" that did the job...in an instant the kids bounced back to life.

we first rested on a bench at the rajah sulayman park to watch the dancing water fountain then later crossed the boulevard and found the perfect spot to take photos of the setting sun. we were lucky to witness a wedding pictorial and vincent, who shares my passion for photography, excitedly took stolen shots of the lovestruck couple. as usual, sunset showed its best form.

after sunset we had dinner at Cafe by the Bay. we chose a table about 6 steps away from the live performing band and the kids loved it! they felt "mature" eating chicken barbecue by the bay listening to soothing live music surrounded by adults, our skin caressed by the cool breeze. definitely a night to remember. our theme song for that bonding moment: "baby, now that i've found you i won't let you go..."


rides galore
we were at Star City friday night. sobrang saya! with their ride-all-you can tags, the kids had an all-night-scream-and-laugh party, parang mga nakawala sa hawla, as they bravely tried almost all the rides - wild river, bumpcar, bumperboat, balloon wheel, blizzard, wacky dragon, red baron. they were too chicken, though, to try the surf dance, viking, zyklon loop and the gabi ng lagim but other attractions like hercules ice palace (ginawww...), lion king, peter pan, time tunnel and snow white kept them busy and entertained the whole night.

and when i say "kids", kasali ako don. weeeeeeeeee!




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