A Walk in Search of Swings

My weekdays are hectic but my weekends are jam-packed with hanging out with friends and family. This time, I had a brilliant plan: a day to myself. I'm heading out for a jog. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I jogged. Was it during the B.C. before covid era? Feels like it!

So, in a desperate attempt to wake up early, I asked my parents to be my alarm clock. You know, I have this habit of sleeping again once I hit the snooze button. I told them to wake me up as early as 5 am. My destination? BGC Terra 28th, where I used to jog.

My youngest sibling happened to hear what I just told our parents. She insisted on tagging along because she was craving swings. Swings!! Is a swing craving really a thing? I explained to her that I'm not sure if there's a swing there, but she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

The next morning, I heard my alarm but guess what I did? I hit the snooze button and waited for my parents to knock on the bedroom door and wake me up. That didn't happen. Minutes turned into hours, and when I checked my phone once again, it was 9 am! My youngest sister was mad because our trip was cancelled. I promised to make up for it the next day - cross my heart, hope to jog! Lol.

And so, the following day came, and just before I hear my alarm, my little sister was already by my side, insisting that breakfast was ready and demanding me to get ready. I dragged myself out of bed and got ready to go for a jog.

Little did I know, my sister had no intentions of jogging. So, my jogging adventure became a leisure walk real quick.

On our way to Terra 28th, we stumbled upon a tree that looked like it was deported from Japan 😂 Why are you here, cherry blossom? My youngest sis jokingly said, 'Are we in Japan or what?'. Well, we both knew we weren't, but it was refreshing to see such a cherry blossom-like sight during our walk.

_{Palawan cherry blossom}

This cherry blossom look-alike tree is called the Palawan cherry blossom.

As we continued our walk, we spotted several people walking with their dogs. My youngest sister's fond of dogs so she's delighted to see some on our way to Terra 28th.

Finally, we arrived, greeted by this sign. Thankfully, it wasn't crowded yet.

_{Terra 28th Park Open from 6AM to 10PM}

Just beyond the sign is the spot where my high school buddies and I used to hang out. Ahhh, the nostalgia! I couldn't help but take a picture of it, I was reminiscing when my youngest sister's question about swings snapped me back to reality. Oops, sorry sissy, no swings in sight 😅 Just rocks, and more rocks 😂

_{boulders as benches}

I was searching for ways to divert my sister's attention from her swing cravings but she's already occupied by the drawings on the ground. Apparently, people can leave their mark here by drawing using chalk. I remembered my childhood. Good old days!

_{random drawing on the ground ft. my sissy's shoes and hand}

Then, our eyes fell upon the section where the hopscotch is. The temptation was too strong so we played one round. So fun!

_{Wanna play hopscotch?}

While exploring further, we stumbled upon a tree shedding its beautiful flowers. We stood there for a couple of minutes, admiring it. My sister was fascinated, wondering what kind of flowers could they be. We left the place with no answers. Do you know what kind of flower it is?

But then, there's another thing that caught our attention. The Play Street!

I wondered who's more excited? My youngest sis or me? When I saw the Play Street, my heart leaped with excitement. Every weekend, they close the 27th Street and they set up this play area with karts and rollerblades for the people to have fun, aside from jogging and doing outdoor exercise.

_{BGC Playstreet}

We were there early and there weren't many kids playing, which I'm not sure is a good thing. But then again, I want my youngest sis to hang out with other kids, too. In this case, she's stuck with me.

We encountered a golf area with a McDonald's Drive-Thru sign. And what did we spy next? A stand with jumping ropes on it begging to be borrowed 😂 I grabbed one and started jumping. Thirty jumps later, I was happy 💞

And look at those giant, colorful Jenga blocks! I'd love to be competitive, but it's just me and my sister, and being the generous sister that I am, I let her claim the victory.

_{giant Jenga}

There's also this giant tic-tac-toe board with gigantic Xs and Os.

_Tic-Tac-Toe

Oh and there's the mini bowling alley, too, that almost lured us into a game. Almost. But I'm not in the mood to set up the pins manually 😅 We encountered the giant ring toss game, too!

_{Bowling alley and Ring Toss game}

Do you remember playing limbo? If I'm not mistaken, here in the Philippines, it's called rainborak (I'm not sure about the spelling tho!) I didn't play this one, I'm afraid I might crack my 90-year-old back 🤣

_{Wanna play limbo?}

After all the playing, the Mcdonald's seesaw caught our attention. I've seen this one on Instagram. It's solar-powered and lights up at night, too! Amazing, isn't it?

_{seesaw with my sis}

My youngest sister and I played the seesaw for a couple of minutes. We were so caught up that we lost track of time.

After our wondrous walk, we decided to have another round of breakfast at a nearby McDonald's. It was that time my sister, once again, brought up the swing topic.

Did we find a swing? Nope, not a single one. Were we happy? Absolutely!

This walk with my sister reminded me of the importance of embracing the unexpected (like not being able to find a swing, didn't get to jog as planned but we had fun playing at Playstreet). Sometimes the pursuit of simple joy and detours in life lead to a memorable, fun experience.