I woke up around 8:30 AM. The sky was overcast and no sunlight reached in to pull me from my slumber. I laid awake in the daybed for a few minutes, getting myself oriented. It’s always strange waking up and finding myself not in my own bed. Everyone, including the dogs, was asleep. No one stirred from behind the sliding door that separated the bedroom and living area.
For the morning walk, we headed straight to the beach. Down the path, toward the lap pool, through the gate by the duplexes, the beach was just across the street. A sturdy wooden staircase led us from the hotel grounds to Palawan Beach. It was empty. It was early. Someone was raking up the seaweed that had washed up. The Life Guard was just getting in.
I was undecided if I wanted to head to the water, unclear if I wanted to deal with two wet dogs. The girls were happy to be exploring new grounds anyway. They always enjoyed walking at the East Coast Park. As soon as the water was visible, Abby started straining against her leash to get there. She is a water dog, a Golden Retriever, after all. With no swimming pool skills, she is a decent ocean (aka salty water) swimmer. Not as strong as Lou. Less muscular. More hair. There was no turning back. Leashes came off and off they went.
I checked with the Life Guard who just said to keep away from swimmers. There were none. We had the beach all to ourselves. Surprisingly the girls didn’t get into the water right away. In fact, Lou who normally goes straight in only did her one loop midway through the walk.
Abby bunny hopped along the shoreline. Her favourite thing to do? Roll around on her back. In the sand. In the shallow water. Very quickly, instead of fluffy blonde hair, she was brown with sand, and seaweed and twigs hanging off her fur, giving her a bushier tail. She was a mess. A gorgeous mess. I love watching the girls. Lou ran around in circles, trying to engage Abby in play. These are the moments I will cherish.
It was amazing to be on the empty beach, watching the dogs play, chasing them. It was so quiet. Even though it was not early, the day had not begun on Sentosa. This time at the East Coast Park, you would find bikers after bikers plus people strolling on the beaches.
On the way back to Villa #12, we met up with more peacocks. I’m not sure how many peacocks actually call Capella home.
Well, peacocks were on Sentosa before Capella.
The peacocks we saw were headed the same way we were and we walked slowly behind them. The dogs again were very intrigued. Abby sat down and watched. Very quietly. Very still. The peacocks seemed okay with it, no bleating.
My friend G was flying out to Australia in the evening. We started the morning quietly, with the very jet-lagged G sipping coffee to wake up, chatting and checking out the beach photos of the girls. We covered all the topics under the sun. It is good to have great friends. To have real women as friends who have your back, who help you through tough times…women who don’t stab others, especially other women, in their backs, or knowingly date married men still in their relationships.
Though as I navigate through my own situation, I’ve come to realize that relationships are complicated. People are complicated. I have come to know some of my close friends in new light. Women with integrity, substance, and intelligence. They also have dalliances and sleep with married men, though their situation differs tremendously from the one I have in mind. I’ve come to realize that I am pretty naive.
Women need to know they deserve better, and that they don’t need to plot and be conniving. As women, we’ve been raised as society to believe that marrying well is the way to a good life and that we have to bow down to others. That is wrong on all levels. And we must question these assumptions. Women have been property, chattel, and second-rate citizens for far too long. It was not always like this. We’ve lost sight of our matrilineal and matriarchal past.
We are fully capable of having that good life ourselves on our own terms, without prostituting (though the Prostitute is an archetype we all have). Women are enablers of men who get away with half-truths and women continue to raise generations of men who don’t see any different.
Maybe it’s life experience. Maybe it’s how we are brought up. Maybe it’s what we discover. Being who you are means being who you are in all areas of your life. You can only get away with looks and a lack of integrity or some other form of incongruency for so long before someone finds you out. It must be tremendously energy-draining and stressful to always be checking yourself. Well, hopefully that someone who finds you out first is yourself. Because when your worlds collide…George didn’t like it and I doubt anyone really does though it is inevitable.
With all the catching up, feeling lazy, and with G’s boys still sleeping, we missed out on breakfast. My hunger was satisfied in a far more meaningful way.
For lunch, we ordered more local specials and favourites – laksa, hor-fun, chicken rice…chicken sausages for the girls and churros to boot. The party got bigger with J arriving. Then the boys’ playdate. It was non-stop activity until G and the boys left for the airport. As is often the case, it was a mad dash to get ready, as the time to leave crept up so quickly, too quickly.
The dogs were lying quietly, panting from their walk to the beach. They are fabulous with kids, even high-octane boys and their toys, jumping over them and tossing pillows. They were done for the night. It was my turn to relax.
To wind down the night, I booked the Full Moon massage at the spa. It was still Full Moon energy.
The massage began with three deep breaths. From firm points along the middle of my feet to the head, my whole body was worked on. I only wished that the tummy part was more than a few strokes. I keep forgetting one hour is way too short for a fully satisfying massage! After the treatment, I was led to the relaxation lounge to enjoy ginger tea, accompanied by dried apricot, walnuts, and cranberries. Could I get MORE relaxed? Yes. Steam room and vitality pool added more heat to my body and more alone/cocoon time. Now, it was time for sleep.
Staycation Day 3 – Huzzah!
