Bittersweet
I’ve haven’t posted anything substantial in a while… Hope its not too late to start talking about what happened during the new year... awww hell, you can’t do anything anyway but post, haha so here I go...
If any New Years celebration was special enough as to be etched into my memory forever, it'd have to be the most recent. Ever since I was a year old, my family and I would go to Montemar, a beach club off the pristine shores of Bataan, in an attempt to try to encapsulate the air of the yuletide and ingrain it in my childhood. The beach lies 3 hours from Alabang and a mere hours drive from the pleasant air of Subic. Every year without fail, my family, relatives, family friends and friends find our way to the same beach to rekindle memories (and create more while we're at it).
But none of the years visiting Montemar was like the one I just spent. Never have I imagined that a new years countdown could bring both tears of joy and sorrow at once to my eyes. Never have I imagined that I’d realize the love of my family like I did. Never have I realized that I am just a fleck of a speck of something in the whole divine order of things. Never have I realized what it is to be a fallible, offhand, oh-so-conventional human being… that is until now. It might’ve been because of reminiscing all the shit of 2004, or it also could have been the prospect of starting a brand new year, but I felt different, which in this special case was both GOOD and BAD. As the countdown came to a close and the sparklers sparked, the fireworks went off, and the champagne bottles popped, I just felt a flushed sensation, which resulted in a spell of tears. I just was glad to be done with 2004. I was glad to have survived the worst year to date. I was glad that I for one survived what I went through… I was glad that WE survived what we went through… I was certainly glad that my MOM survived what she went through.
The beach was the best possible setting for virtually the worst year. The very last sunset was magnificent (as usual) and I was lucky enough to capture its magic in a single photo (see photos). The familiar faces, the great friends and most importantly, my clan made it the most memorable New Years celebration that I have ever had. Thanks to my friends and family for being there when I needed it most and in turn for backing away for when I needed it most as well. I really appreciative of all of you!
Now as I’m holding back this surging river of emotion, I’ve prepared a shitload of pictures (mostly of family, cousins, and some friends) that will hopefully give you a sense of what my New Years was like...
Enjoy!
Check out my multiply homepage and check the "Montemar new years" album there! http://rafc.multiply.com/
P.S. The first hundred photos are moderately low res (around 3 megapixels) and around the middle part, after the picture "IMG_0099.JPG", the photos are high res (6.7 megapixels and up :D)! Enjoy and KEEP VISITING THE ALBUM, im going to upload a hundred or so more within the next few days!!