For fifteen years already, my father's clan has been hosting a grand reunion. The family reunion is shared by three surnames: Mones, Duatin, and Mundo. My grandfather, Lolo Terio has a full brother and we call him Lolo White. Their parents were both widowed from their spouses, so ending up together, the siblings also acquired three more brothers from another mother and father. Can you get the roots? This family history had its own twists and turns, so, let us just leave that there. What is important, the fam bams of these five brothers celebrate an annual meeting together. The reunion has rotation on who will host. This year, it was initiated at Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija because it was Lolo Muniong's turn to lead the event. Usually, our reunions are done every first Saturday of May. And, at Villasis. This is one out of the five years where we can get together outside our hometown, so, we can never miss the party this year! Members from here have always been present in all Pangasinan reunions. This then would be the perfect time to give back and support them! 💖 Since my family has work until Friday nights, we decided to fix ourselves by three in the morning and left Manila by 4:30, so we would not be late in the program. Since I did not sleep, zzz time the moment I got in the car! And after less than five hours, we were already in the location: Stone 8 Resort! ✨
Aside from the water activities, you can also stay here for a night or two. It is recommended, especially if you want to hike the Mt. Sawi the next day. Yes, it allows mountain hiking, too! Stone 8 Resort served as the family's events venue and accommodation for the weekend. It was fun because I feel like a haciendera of all the amazingly green sceneries around me. The big hectares of land brought out my love to farms and mountains -- the simple provincial life I wish I still have had. Loved that I breathed fresh air after some time. And once again, visited some parts of Mother Nature. Yayyy. If you are wondering how we survived, where we ate... 7/11! Of course. I am not kidding. Also, we have some relatives in Gabaldon, so we were invited to have snacks and dinner in their houses. As for our breakfast the next day, the reunion hosts brought us food first thing in the morning. Grabe the hospitality of our family, huh? Awwww! While the lunch, we had it at Dingalan. Yes, at Dingalan, Aurora since it was only a 15-minute ride going there. We also visited relatives there, so, free food, woohoo! We were supposed to go to the beach, but, we needed to head back to Manila already. Dropped by one tourist attraction though: some rock formations that are almost similar to the ones we saw in Baler. And I, my heart was so happy! At least, we were able to stop at one spot because I would really be sad and mad if we did not. I prepared, eh? We had some plans. Then, this... Luh? Haha?!? Having family weekends like this makes me very, very, very happy. Super enjoyed the games in the reunion. Also the bonding moments at the pool and the night with drinks and chips. Super love that I reconnected, not just with my fam-by-blood members, but also to the Inang Kalikasan. I appreciated the literal road trip. Just seeing roads moving satiated my eyes. Still grateful even when a little disappointed. Good thing I did not set my expectations high. But yeah, yeah, yeah -- thank you, G! 💖
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THE BLOG-GIRLE L A M A N I L A Ela Mones, a Filipina girl,
is a passionate lifestyle blogger who loves to express her unforgettable life experiences and best moments through words, photos, and videos 💖
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