Write yourself a holiday

Do you want a holiday for yourself? Do you want to take yourself away from your ordinary life and do new things, other things? Do you want to spend some of your holiday money on yourself? Then go to your computer and type in www.colorstravelguide,com. They have hired me to do a writing class for them next weekend.

It begins on Friday, Nov. 7. We leave for Sonya’s Garden at 12:30 noon. We drive down to Tagaytay, check into her bed and breakfast and meet at 3 p.m. for our first writing class. After that we will take a short course on how to write the romantic way — using glass pens and scented ink. Then we will have dinner and talk. That is the end of the first day.

The next morning we will wake up early and have an invigorating shower standing fully naked in front of an open window. Ha-ha! Then we will go have a wonderful breakfast. No, don’t believe people who tell you Sonya’s Garden has only one menu. They have a wide variety at the bed and breakfast. I remember when we went there to try this writing module out, breakfast was always fabulous.

After breakfast, we are free until 10:30 when we will be taught the art of flower arrangements. This is relaxing, fun and full of laughter. We will make different arrangements and we will discover hidden parts of ourselves.

Then there’s lunch followed by another writing session, this time on metaphors. After that, Sonya will walk you through her English gardens. You will snip herbs and she will teach you how to make wonderfully delicious English sandwiches. I will leave for a while to join Bettina Olmedo in her book launch for Onib, a great Filipino painter, her husband, my good friend.   She asked me to give a talk on Onib and I said yes, forgetting that I would be in Tagaytay that weekend. But never mind, I shall make it to the book launch and I shall return for the next morning’s session.

My suggestion is you spend more money on yourself by booking a massage that night. Sonya’s massages are heavenly. I will book myself one on arrival night. I must absolutely have it again.

Sunday morning, bright and early, I will be back to teach again. Then we will have lunch, graduation and goodbyes. It sounds dry when I write about it but actually it is a lot of fun. Not only will you enjoy yourselves, there will be a lot of laughter and new friendships between us. 

Incidentally, I will teach you to write and if you remember the technique and do it, you will really write better.

This is my life now. Once upon a time, I used to have a full-time job. Now I don’t have regular work anymore but my days are full of different things to do. Sometimes it’s Lily Pad, the restaurant. It is closed this weekend because everyone has the weekend off. Reminds me of my advertising days. Advertising people always work overtime. You want to shoot a commercial on Christmas Day? You can get people to work for you. 

But there are two holidays in the Filipino calendar when you can’t get anyone to work. The first is Good Friday.   You can get them on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday but never on Good Friday. Jesus Christ was crucified on that day, consequently nobody works. The other day you cannot get them to work is All Saints’ Day, Nov. 1. They all have to go to the cemetery to visit their dead, an absolute must. So everyone must have his or her day off.

I don’t like to go to cemeteries. I am different from most Filipinos. This weekend I will spend at home painting. It will be my first weekend at home in a long time. Even the Legazpi Market is closed this Sunday.   I will spend my time preparing for the next weekend when I have to teach and make a speech.

Enjoy your day at the tombs. Yes, and kiss your dead relatives for me. Tell them I said hello. Then book a holiday for yourself at Sonya’s Garden. That is a good idea.

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