But this not just any park, mind you. It is the famous La Mesa Ecopark (LME) I am talking about! {Insert "Duh, Yaya you are such a Loser" here} Forgive me if I'll sound like a tourist again, pero sobrang akong nagenjoy... I love the Philip-pines! My sister and her officemates planned the whole thing, and they invited us (siblings) to go. I invited some friends too but in the end only Abby was able to go, and Nena, Karl and DIIIIIMEEEEY! followed around 4 pm.

The first order of the day was... drumroll please... a paintball challenge! The call time was supposedly 8 am, but as usual some people, us included (teeheehee!) arrived late. We got there around 8.30 and while waiting for the other half of the group to arrive, we took a tour of the park onboard a small cartoonlike electric jeepney. One by one, I saw the spots I was only reading on the website two days ago - the Fishing Lagoon, Superferry Boating Lagoon, Ecomuseum, Butterfly Trail & Hatchery, Lopez Picnic Grounds, Salt Water Swimming Pool, Shell Flower Terraces, Petron Fitness & Mountain Bike Trail, Petron Ampitheatre, and Orchidarium. We went up the 107 (ata) steps in the Shell Flower Terraces, for a sneak peek into the La Mesa Dam. It was beautiful but unfortunately, phototaking wasn't allowed that close to the Dam.

Then we went on with the next thing on the agenda - wall climbing, found in the Adventure Zone. This wall is part of a square structure whose other sides are used for rapelling and something called zipline. The wall dedicated to climbing has three sections: the left and right portions are straight walls, while the middle section has a protrusion shaped like an inverted triangle, on which you have to go over to get to the top. Unfortunately, we could only do one turn each on the straight walls. Babalikan ko sana yung gitnang wall, pero wala nang time. At this point, the group was complete and since there were about 30 people, it took more than an hour for everyone to climb.

We skipped rapelling and did the zipline next. For those who don't know, its where you are harnessed to a rope and then you willingly (or unwillingly) slide down a cable from a high location to a lower one. In our case, we slid over the boating lagoon and back, Indiana Jones style. Ang sarap ng feeling, kasi para kang lumilipad. =D When we all finished our turns, it was almost 11.30, and it was raining hard.

Manong bossing (our instructor, my sister's friend's contact person at LME and who may or may not be a soldier, because looks like one) briefed us about paintball dos and donts while we waited for the rain to let up. We were divided into two teams, assigned bases, and helped into our slightly (NOTE: I'm being really nice here) smelly gear. The objective was to shoot everyone on the other team. It was already 12.00 when we started playing. We had no lunch except for some chips and my aherm cookies aherm (lifesaver! =P), we were wet, we were a bit shaky from the climb but the adrenaline ran high because both teams just finished strategizing on how we were going to smash those cute vitamin E like orange balls into each other. Plus its my first time to see a paintball field, and my sister says this was no ordinary paintball field. Because unlike other fields where you're playing in a flat ground with just big airbag covers, the LME field was set in a mini army jungle complete with a crashed helicopter, sandbag pits, drums, net covers and of course trees and grass.

In the middle of the first round, it started to rain so hard that our masks fogged so bad and I couldn't hear anything except the rain splattering all over. Good thing the umpires were wearing white and called us back up not long after. Apparently, the game was over and our team won, thanks to my sister's bf, Rene, who took out 3 or 4 enemies. Yipee! Now, let's not delve into the details of what my [non]contribution to this win was, because during the first round I only fired 3 out of a hundred shots (to see how it feels like cos we didn't get to practice) and crouched behind a big drum for 10 minutes straight. Sabi ko pa naman sa ate ko during the briefing to tell everyone not to shoot in the legs kasi walang protective gear for the legs. E pano naman ako tatamaan sa legs, hindi ako tumayo... ever!

So I told myself babawi ako sa second round. One of my teammates said, 'Tara sugod na lang tayo, let's have fun!' We switched bases, visibility improved, and I moved in somewhere near the front and center - still crouching for dear life, of course. The second round was a bigger personal achievement for me because I must have fired 50-60 shots 'in the general direction of the enemy' heheheh. Finally, I could see some movement now, and I may not have shot anyone directly, but I managed to shoot at hiding places where I saw someone duck so that they couldn't get out. Too bad though, out of the three hiding places I covered, two were actually my teammates'. Toink! Proud na proud pa naman ako, kasi merong 2 masks na sumisilip silip pa sa mga butas sa walls, and everytime they'd peek, I'd take a shot at them. Yon pala, teammate ko yung and the umpire! Buti hindi ko tinamaan. hehe

We also won the second round, I think, or we simply ran out of time. We all went out of the field and finished whatever remaining bullets we had on a target range. Meron naman palang ganon! E di pinagtripan ko na lang yung mga maliliit na bilao (I got 6 out of 7!) and painted people-targets.

Then we had lunch. Buti na lang I insisted on bringing pansit for a merienda picnic at yun na rin ang ni-lunch namin kasi wala kaming mabiling vegetarian food. After lunch, most of the people went home already, but my sibs and I/Rene/Abby stayed to swim. The pool was quite big and kept clean, but there were very few chairs to leave your things on. This pool is where I learned to do freestyle the real way. And this is where I am swearing off on two-piece suits unless I only plan to sunbathe or frolic or relax in the beach. From now on, practice and strenuous swims is best left to one pieces. SOMEONE should put that in the rulebook.

The pool area closes at 4 pm, so we only swam for a little over an hour. I had wanted to bike for an hour and try the fitness trail (which was a mini obstacle course) but it wasn't safe anymore because the grounds were wet. I guess I'll leave that for next time, para naman kasing wala nang bukas. =D

It was just as well, because Nena and family just arrived and went boating. Abby and my sibs left already and I stayed behind for our mini picnic with Dime, my inaanak =D It was only my second or third time to see him, and the first thing he did when I carried him, was to lay his head on my shoulders. He stayed there for quite some time and I was feeling so flattered, when I realized... nagtatampo pala sya sa parents niya kasi hindi sya 'pinagswim sa lagoon na pinagboboatan nila.' I feel so used.... hehehe (peace Nenz!)

Anyway, ang cute cute ni Dimey! Nanggigigil nga ako and wanted to squeeze him, pero nakatingin ang mga magulang. Pag umiyak si Dime, wala akong lusot. hehe So there, he just ran funnily around in one of the pavilions, most of the time NR except pag nagpapa 'abol' sya. Then we went for a walk to the flower terrace and back. And that concluded our little field trip to the Ecopark. The sun was setting as we left LME. It was really beautiful and completely moment-worthy.

All in all, it was a really great - albeit rainy and muddy - day =)

{Insert Spongebob here "Trrry it!"}