That was the message of Tin, our new friend from Vietnam, which he wrote on one of my souvenir pics taken during my recent Vietnam trip. While some good stories might start with "Dear Charo," this story of mine started with "WTH?!?!"
Friday, Nov 19, a little past 11pm. I got on board Cebu Pacific's flight 5J 751 en route to Ho Chi Minh, together with friends Abby, Bernie, Nora and Taselle. (O, wag nang umangal sa billing. Alphabetical yan.) It was a reunion of sorts, as it was the same group who went on a Caramoan-Naga-Legaspi trip earlier this year (minus Elmer and Jay). This time, it is extra special since it's our first out-of-the-country trip together, and we will be visiting Elmer and new friend Dinny (or Tin). Special as it was, so we were just all too excited.
After enduring the little-less-than-3-hour flight, we arrived safely at Saigon. Until we realized that one of our check-in luggages was nowhere to be found, and it just happened to be mine. Apparently, while were busy chatting at the time that we checked in the 8 luggages, we did not double check that the luggage claim tags issued to us were only 7. Lesson learned: check in baggages should not be more than 7. Joke!
Pwede bang mag-Tagalog na dito? Ang hirap e. (Elmer, paki-translate na lang kay Tin. Hehe.)
So ayun, ang excitement namin ay biglang naglaho na parang bula. Ay, gasgas na pala yang metaphor na yan. Gawin na lang nating makapal na wallet na ipinaparada sa kahabaan ng Quiapo. Hindi mo namamalayan, nawala na pala. O, bago yan. That was evidenced by our pictures nung vinu-view na namin. After kase ng shots paglapag namin sa airport, ang kasunod na pictures na eh yung during breakfast na the following day. Walang pics nung sinundo kami nina Elmer at Tin, walang pics during the travel from the airport to the hotel, at wala ring pics nung pagdating sa hotel.
Anyways, to cut the story short, this post is just to give everyone some pointers on how to enjoy a vacation even if you lost your luggage. Papatalo ba naman ako sa depression? Syempre hindi. Eh ano kung wala akong isusuot na damit for the next 10 days? Inisip ko rin yun syempre, pero not for long. Sayang kaya ang moment.
So what did I do to still enjoy the vacation despite the bad luck? Here's a quick run down.
1. Friends. I have the most generous set of friends there is. They offered to lend me some clothes to get me by. Will post an album later to document this. To quote Tin again, I remember him telling me, "Don't worry. We have lots of clothes that you could borrow." To think na first time lang namin mag-meet nyan ha.
2. From Next Top Model to Survivor. Of course, marunong din naman akong mahiya. So kahit nag-volunteer sila na pahiramin ako ng damit, naisip ko rin that 10 days is too long a vacation para mabuhay sa puro hiram. Kaya sabi ko, bibili na rin ako ng konting damit ko. Kalimutan na muna ang pagiging fashionista. Survival na ang pinaguusapan e. Besides, mahabaang gastusan pa kaya kailangang magtipid para umabot ng 10 days ang baon kong kayamanan. At isa pa, kung ang damit, pwedeng hiramin, ang underwear, parang hindi ata. Hehe.
3. Selective amnesia. Kalimutan muna pansamantala yung problema ng nawawalang bagahe habang namamasyal. Kase kung yun ang lagi kong iisipin, hindi ako makakangiti at makakatawa ng todo. Ang lungkot siguro ng mukha ko sa pictures. Unglamorous. Hehe. Pero syempre, pagkatapos maglakwatsa, pwede na ulit isipin yung problema at gumawa ng paraan about it.
4. From Teleserye to Adventure-Reality Show. Relative to no. 3, etong lakad namin was more of an adventure. Science project kumbaga. Hindi melodrama, kundi totoong buhay. So kahit na may lungkot, dapat may time pa rin para magsaya, matuwa, magmasid, magmatyag. Matanglawin. (Kuya Kim, pahiram nito.)
5. Laughter is the best medicine. Idaan sa tawa ang problema. Wala kaming ibang ginawa kundi magtatawa, bumungisngis at humalakhak kahit sa pinakamababaw na dahilan. Pero mahirap paniwalaan yun. Yung baliw dito sa amin, kahit panay ang tawa, hindi gumagaling. Baka kulang pa.
6. Facebook, Plurk and Twitter. Whenever possible, we try to find time to update our social networking sites with what's happening to us. Masabi lang na nakabakasyon kami. Pang-inggit ba sa mga naiwan sa opis. Hehe. Pang-destress na rin. Sa kabilang banda, some people back here were waiting for our updates pala at that time when the stampede in Phnom Penh occurred. Ironically, it was through a phone call from the Philippines that we first heard of the news, despite of us being in the same city that time.
7. Friends. I also have to be thankful that the friends I have here in the Philippines were accommodating and caring enough. Pinakiusapan ko kase sila na kontakin ang Cebu Pacific about my luggage. At syempre, hindi naman ganun kadali yun na isang tawag lang, may feedback agad. It took time, as in, araw-araw na follow up, before we finally got the good news. Salamat na rin ng marami sa Facebook at sa technology.
In conclusion, everything boils down to one thing: CHOICE. Making good choices, that is. I made a good choice when I selected my friends. I made a good choice when I decided to forget the problem for a while. I made a good choice when I did a paradigm shift to be on survivor mode. I made a good choice to laugh. And to enjoy, despite of.
So let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who has taken part in turning this bad experience into a wonderful event. You guys all rock!
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