I love watching the sunrise.
I love how it symbolizes not just a new day, but also a new beginning.
I love how the cold breeze you feel at dawn starts to fade away; yung pakiramdam kapag unti-unti nang nakasilip ang araw.
I love how the sun would slowly rise from the horizon hanggang buong-buo na siyang nakalutang sa kalangitan.
I started to love watching sunrise when I was a kid, and I am doing it whenever I got the chance.
Just like now – here I am, waiting for the sunrise from the beach.
I can still remember, lagi akong pinapagalitan ng mommy ko noon kapag bakasyon, kasi halos hindi ako lumalabas ng bahay ng grandparents ko.
Who can blame me? I thought living near the sea is boring. Mas gusto ko ang city life, maraming malls and parks.
But I never thought that I'll fell in love with the scenic view in my grandparents' place because of someone.
Corny, I know.
Simula nung bata pa ako, lagi na kaming nagbabakasyon kasama ang pamilya ko.
At first I didn't like the place; I think I was just months old when my parents started to visit my grandparents and it became a summer habit.
Every summer, I watch the other kids play by the beach – nakakainggit, pero ayoko pa ring lumabas.
Hindi nagtagal, nasanay na rin akong mag-isa.
It was a nice place, really, but boring. A large house near the beach; it's a real paradise for other people, not that paradise-ish for me.
When I was a kid, I didn't get why we have to go here, pwede namang sina lolo at lola ang pumunta sa Manila to be with us, pero mas gusto ng parents kong puntahan ang grandparents ko.
And whatever the parents want, the parents get but the place was still awfully boring for a kid like me.
Until I met her.
Compared to a paradise like this place, she's much more beautiful.
I was just eight when I met her, and that's when I started to love the place even more.
— — — — —
"Adolf, come back here! Stop running!"
Our dog, Adolf, suddenly started running towards the beach after we ate our merienda. He loves playing by the sea, nakikipaghabulan sa mga alon like a goof.
I am just an eight-year-old kid, pero anong laban ko sa maliit at mabilis na aso, di'ba? So I followed him, running and panting, hanggang sa hindi ko na kinaya.
Bigla akong nadapa at napaluhod sa buhangin at imbis na ang aso namin ang habulin ko, I was chasing my breath instead.
I scraped my knees, too. Great.
Dead broken corals were all over the place kung saan ako bumagsak. I hissed in pain, but I still looked up to see where Adolf went.
Hindi ko na siya nakita.
Nataranta ako, I am sure my dad's gonna get mad kapag nalaman niyang nawawala si Adolf. So I started to look for him again.
After a few minutes of walking and shouting my dog's name, my knees hurt and I was tired, hindi ko na rin alam kung saang parte na ng lugar ako napadpad, so I took a rest by the beach.
Napaupo ako sa malambot na parte ng buhangin, habang ang mga paa ko ay naaabot ng mga alon.
I hugged my knees and placed my head in between them, this is what I do kapag natatakot ako.
