StrangersNotAllowed

I guess each and every person that walked upon this planet dreamed,at one point or another, of reaching a place they can call HOME. It may not necessarily be the place where you were raised as a child...it can be anywhere.. it can be a school, an organization, a mountain, a province... the important factor is that place should give you a sense of peacefulness and belonging... it should make you feel as if you can spend the rest of your life in that place and be contented...at least for me, that is how I define HOME.

Not everyone gets to find a place they can call HOME. But I am lucky to be one of the few who has already found a place I can call HOME and it's no other than Mag-abo..

My first memory of Mag-abo was when we went there in 1996 for my parents' church wedding. I was the only flower girl (and mind you, I was a rockin' flower girl... i wore boots with my gown)...We went back there two years after for a family reunion... it was fun especially because I was able to meet my one dozen and a half cousins and we got to play dress ups and what-nots.. hell, I even remember myself teaching them to dance "Close To You" ( Sing: I just wanna be close to you...the strength of your hand.. so love me again...lalalala..) After that reunion, we never had the chance to go back again simply because of the increasing cost of airfare and lack of time.

It was not after ten years that we went back to Negros...that is, me and my dad. It was after my mom died. We needed a breath of fresh air after all of the drama and mixed emotions that we have undergone for almost a year. I was, at first, feeling awkward because I did not know any of my cousins there. The dozen and a half ballooned to two dozens and a quarter.. There were also nieces and nephews I don't know and uncles and aunties whose names I've heard of but have not really talked to.  After two days of adjusting, the place slowly became a fortress that took all my sadness and heartaches. There were long walks in the beach during the afternoons, adventure and trekking on the hills and late night chit-chats with my cousins (Drick, Jen, Sherry, Dave, Jake).

Mag-abo is a simple place. The Wednesday market is one of the main attractions because you get to buy anything and everything you can think of. People from the highlands go down to sell their crops or their livestock. It is more like a barter, only that you use money instead of exchanging goods.. It is the Divisoria version of Mag-abo where people haggle and try to sell their products to buyers for the cheapest price possible.. It is not one for the weak-hearted. If you are claustrophobic, you may not enjoy it that much especially come noontime..

The other thing I love about Mag-abo, or Negros in general, are the beaches.. Negros has some of the most terrific resorts in the Philippines.. the shores of Mag-abo and Malatapay can compare to that of Boracay.. I love swimming at those beaches with my cousins because it makes me feel young again.. plus, you get to see how the locals there help each other in fishing.. I even tried to help pull the net when those fishermen finally had their catch.

Food there is scarce, not only because people don't
have the money but also because of the lack of sources or places to buy food. The Zamboanguita market can offer only small amount of fishes and meat and even Malatapay, which opens every Wednesday, is not enough to completely satisfy the needs of the locals. What we normally eat are vegetable meals or canned good...yet amazingly, I, the ever-so-picky-when-it-comes-to-food girl, always have a huge appetite when I am in Negros. I do not know if it is because of the outdoor activities that I do there or may be it is just because I enjoy the company of the people whom I am eating with.

What actually makes Negros my home are the people who are living there. Mag-abo is where my entire paternal family resides. Even my brother is there. Half of my life is in Negros and being able to spend time there always makes me feel whole. I love Negros because I love the people who are there. Negros is my home because my family is there. It brings back childhood memories... back to the time when the only thing I cared about was what type of dress my Barbie should wear or what kind of storybooks I should read.

I miss being a child and Negros gives me back that long lost feeling. Negros is my Never Never Land and for that I am thankful. Here are some of the other pics I got from the net featuring my most favorite place on earth.

(Disclaimer: I do not own this pictures and these are posted for entertainment purposes only.)