Places Near and Far

Places
by Chanel Suntay, 11 years old

I’ve been to so many places in my lifetime. But there was this place I never expected to go to. My father and I were planning what to do over the summer. Father’s always dreamt of going to Chile. Mother’s always dreamt of going to Paris. Brother’s always wanted to go surfing in the Caribbean Islands the waves there are extremely amazing. As for me, well, I was totally clueless of where I’d want to go during the summer. I kept thinking about it but nothing struck me.

One day, my father packed all our things into the car. At first, I thought, are we moving? Funny. He pushed us into the trailer and no one knew what was happening. For a minute it was a truly dazzling experience until one sentence nearly tipped the world upside down. “We’re taking a cross country trip”. We all gawked. A cross country trip all of a sudden? I felt like I was going to faint. I promised my classmate that she could come on my birthday. But it looks like I won’t be around on that day.

We drove away. Then, we suddenly stopped. What gives? My dad handed me a map. He said that I could point anywhere we wanted to go and we’d go there. That was my birthday gift. From my dad. In the end we went to Cebu and Baguio. That was my birthday gift and it was the best! That’s for sure!


Hong Kong and Palawan
by Jill

Every year we make it a point to visit our grandmother in Hong Kong. Despite the fact that we cannot speak Cantonese and that every single year seems to get more boring than the last, we still enjoy going there. Also because, it makes my grandmother happy to see us.
Two years ago, we went to Hong Kong. It was really great there; they had so many rides and shops. After spending a whole day there, we were all very exhausted. Last year, we went to a mall and in one area they were holding a short event where they had a lot of Mario Bros. characters. That was where we took a picture with Mario, the most popular character in that series.

This year, on the other hand, we spent our vacation in Palawan, where some of the best beaches are found. We only spent a few days there but towards the end of our trip, we made a last-minute drive to the crocodile farm. We were able to see the skin and skeleton of a really large crocodile that was displayed in the mini-museum. We were also able to hold a baby crocodile and take a picture with it. As each year passes by, the next one promises better and more exciting experiences than the last.