Dearest Bali

Dearest Bali,

I hope these words find you well. I feel that my first love-letter to you should be about the story of how your Tatay and Mommy came to be because that is where your own story starts.

Your Mommy is pure Oragon, born and raised in a little town in Albay where her window view is the majestic Mayon volcano. Your Tatay is pure Tagalog, born and raised in a tiny sleepy bukid in Batangas. I always say, though, that I may have been a Bicolano in my past life. From the moment I moved out of your grandparents’ house for college and then work, I have been surrounded by great people from various parts of Bicol. People that I still hold dear to my life until now.

I fell in love with your mommy’s province/region many many years before I met and fell in love with her. I still remember my first road-trip south, aching butts bouncing inside a cramped old Honda Odyssey that was just recently gifted to a college friend (god rest his soul) who also just recently learned to drive. We drove as far as Matnog in Sorsogon (your Tito Rommel’s hometown), braved the Pacific Ocean waves in the dark, camped under the stars in Subic island, and feasted on nape-hurting sumptuous seafood in Prieto Diaz (your Tito Daren’s hometown). That roadtrip would be the first of many.

Eventually, while working in Makati, I met your Tito Bino (from Polangui, where patis is pronounced as fishsauce), and he would be the one to open up the amazing world underneath the ocean surface for me. To get my scuba license, your Tito Bino introduced me to his childhood and instructor friend, your Tito Rico (also from Albay). I spent more time in Bicol after getting certified, exploring islands from Atulayan in CamSur to Ticao in Masbate. And it was through Rico’s network that I would meet your mum (they were all from the same high school). The rest, yes, is history.

Our first conversation was about Ankor Wat (that time, I just got back from Cambodia and your mum was going there a few months later, fate was just months late). Our first date was a hike to Mt. Pulag via the Akiki trail (she likes hiking and even resting under the sun, while I clamor for shade every time). Our first dive trip was in Bohol (she wanted to name you Alona originally! I vehemently refused). When we travelled to Indonesia, we fell deeply in love with Ubud and decided then and there that if we ever have a kid, we’d name him/her Bali. And here you are now, our most precious, most dearest, Bali.

Ours is no perfect fairy tale story, of course. Like everyone else in this world, your mum and I are alike and very different in a lot of things. A constant work in progress, you will find out that all marriages are like that when the time comes (I just hope not too soon). But anak remember this, with you around, everything is as perfect as it can be for your mum and me.

Nagmamahal,

Tatay