It’s always a celebration when an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) relative comes home, even if it’s just for a short vacation.
Recently, Vince (one of my developers) had a relative who was working in Hong Kong come home for vacation. To celebrate, they decided to go dolphin watching. Vince and his wife Jenn (who also works for us as customer support) were nice enough to share photos from their trip with us.
Last weekend, we went out of town for dolphin watching.
Jenn’s brother-in-law, Ken, an OFW working in Hong Kong, is home for his occasional vacation. He invited us for an outing, in a town called Manjuyod, around 5 hours away from our place.
Friday night, we prepared for an early 2 am drive for the scheduled dolphin-watching set at 7 am. Jenn who finished her shift Friday midnight, took a full 2 hours of sleep.
With our three sleepy kids and 2 nephews, Jenn drove while I navigated in the first car, while Ken, his wife Tin (Jenn’s sister), and the parents-in-law in the other.
Manjuyod(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manjuyod) is such a beautiful coastal town with clear waters sandbars, and dolphins in its natural habitat. We went there some years ago.
Jenn and I quite enjoyed the dolphins. The locals would typically offer you their boat service to take you to shore, where the dolphins frolic. You’d normally have to chase them along with the other tourists’ boats. The chase is also quite exciting as the dolphins likely take it as play.
This time though, the dolphins weren’t as playful nor as plentiful as I expected. We only saw a few, and they were not as big as I remembered. Some of the dolphins didn’t bother to surface at all. And for those that did, they were quite far. The kids still enjoyed it though, and so did Ken and Tin since it was their first time.
After some time chasing dolphins, we went to the sandbars. The tide was still high, though, and so there were no visible sandbars yet. The kids started swimming in the lowering waters on the sandbar. Uncle Ken treated his nephews and niece to some water rides.
It was already 10 am, and I remembered I hadn’t had coffee yet. I need coffee in the morning, or it will be an afternoon of headaches. Luckily…
Here’s me, having my coffee fix, aboard what the locals called their floating 7-eleven.
The 50cents coffee isn’t Starbucks, but the ambiance can’t be beat.
Filipinos will simply provide anything, whenever, wherever.
The sandbar did not actually dry up while we were there, which was another disappointment. So we just left for lunch.
I guess it was an OK day. I hope Ken wasn’t too disappointed not seeing the sandbar or chasing more dolphins.
I realized the trip wasn’t really about the dolphins and sandbars but about time spent with family.
Ken will be going back to Hong Kong soon. And who knows how long till the next vacation.
And it made me think of the usual sad airport scene of OFWs returning abroad. Ken and Tin don’t have kids yet, but I really can’t imagine kids crying at the airport when an OFW father needs to go.
Jenn and I are simply blessed, having work without leaving home and family; without the usual drama of departures, and no hassle commuting. Blessed with work where we can go to sleep seconds after clocking out because the bed is just in the next room, and we’ve been working in our pajamas anyway.
So blessed.
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When a family member leaves to work abroad, it’s traumatic. They’re losing a loved one. That’s why when someone comes back home, it’s a celebration. That’s why Vince and his family went out of their way to make the most of this short vacation.
The trip also reminded them how lucky they are that they don’t have to go through that for their own kids. Working from home, for them, is a blessing.
Hiring OFS blesses your business.
Hiring OFS blesses their lives.
Do it.
John
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