I remember a part of my childhood where I was playing on an old, clunky, white gate. I remembered that place as I swung the gate open while riding on it as a kid. It was at my Mom's workplace and I was like only 4 years old back then. I also remember seeing pots, figurines and ceramics and a voice of someone telling me not to go near those things for I might break one and she's gonna have to kill me if I do so. Okay, I was lying on the killing part. Hehe. .



My mom was a designer at that place. She does Filipino native designs on wooden, mat or ceramic stuff. I remember one night I brought home two little ceramic vases I found on my Mom's workplace and I painted them all sorts of colors before going to sleep and I'd paint them again the next night or whenever my Mom also does her "home works" until we both ran out of paint.

My Mom also does painting on some other handicrafts and does it until now as a sideline. My Dad uses to work there too! Although I'm not quite sure what his job was then, I'm very certain that, that's where he met my mother.

After almost 20 years, the place was relaunched as a Hotel. And as I walked outside the building I tried to trace back all the sweet kilig romances my Mom and Dad used to have (the ones I've seen on pictures) all before I was born.

The hotel was called "North Palm Hotel and Garden". That is basically because there was a garden behind the hotel which looked kinda familiar to me. Well, I've seen it on old pictures and I'm sure as hell it was one of my parents dating place - even my Aunt's. LOL.

Re-imagining that the 20 years old me is on the garden.

I'm not sure though if there had been major changes in the garden now, because I've only seen it through the window up the function hall of the new hotel recently. Even so, I felt like I've been there before.

From ceramic production , to a bowling alley, to a commercial building the place was now reinvented into a beautiful, eco-friendly and suite hotel which does not only boast spacious, comfy and contemporary rooms but stories of people whom the owners aided through their advocacies that help uplift livelihoods, families and communities. And my parents, my family, especially my Mom was proudly one of those.

This is why I love hallways a lot!

All these I remembered while staring at the white gate on the left-end of the building during the Hotel's opening last October 8, 2011.

Below are some photos taken during the event:

Oh diba? Pang TV SHOW LANG!!! (Renz, Carla, Me)

Carla and Me in "CONTRAST", nag momowdel-mowdelan lang.