Rediscover Amontay Part 2: The Reunion

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"I woke up one morning thinking about wolves and realized that wolf packs function as families. Everyone has a role, and if you act within the parameters of your role, the whole pack succeeds, and when that falls apart, so does the pack". Jodi Picoult

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Filipino Family Tradition

Hello Hivers, hope everyone are doing fine. This is the second part of the Amontay series. I have discussed in my previous post about the beauty of Amontay and its design and architecture. This time I will be talking about the family reunion. You see, Filipinos are known for being close to family. I am not sure about the neighboring countries but we Filipinos love our homies so much. We always make sure to attend every available family occasion there is. Such as birthday, Fiesta, Christmas, and whatnot.

This was one of our Family Reunion back in 2012

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Because of covid restrictions, family gatherings somehow was limited to immediate family members. And when the restriction was lifted we took the opportunity to have a family reunion. This time was exclusive with cousins. Not that we do not want to spend time with our gramas and grampas but because we have not seen most of our cousins for a long time. Some of them work abroad while some stay off the radar.

Typical Filipino Feast, always comes with roasted pig

I grew up in a nuclear family, living in the same compound with houses just divided by small alleyways and large fruit trees. We basically know each other growing up. We play together. Watch movies on weekends. And spent most of the holidays in just one compound sharing one large roasted pig and each household delicacies. Like a scene in a local tv show where families are fighting and reconciling after, ours is not that far. Filipinos loved their families. In fact, Filipino parents do not stop taking care of their children even if it already has a family of its own.

But we do not stay kids forever, we have to part ways, either due to schooling or looking for better opportunities. Some moved outside of the country, while some work somewhere far from our hometown. Hence the desire for a family reunion every once in a while.

This time we stayed at Amontay Resort for a couple of nights. The main goal was to reconnect and do some rest and relaxation. I stayed in a room with my cousin, his wife and kid so it was a bit awkward. Haha, Surprisingly there are lot of activities at the resort. Not to mention their huge pool and beach property. It has several beach bike, kayak, banana boat, and floaters. Although it comes with a fee. Most of the time we spent it drinking if you know what I mean. My uncles are notorious for YOLO drinkers. Who else will inherit their drinking skills than their kids.

On the second day and third night was another drinking session haha and some family-building activities. The resort has weekend night parties and live concert featuring local artists so we did not miss a single event as it comes with our accommodation. If you are just visiting for the party, there is an access / entrance fee.

How to get there:

Take the bus plying the route to Cagayan de Oro from Butuan City Bus Terminal and drop off at Brgy Amontay, Nasipit Agusan Del Norte. If you are coming from Bancasi (Butuan Airport), you can take a PUJ outside the terminal going to Nasipit.

If you wish to reserve, please text us your ff details at 09512573773 (8am-5pm only)
RESORT GENERAL ADMISSION
Day Tour Php 100.00(valid from 7am-6pm only)
Night Tour Php 200.00(valid from 6pm-7am only)
Whole day Php 300.00 (valid from 7am-7am)
-w/ pool access until 9pm

For more details, please visit their facebook page here

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Over all, it was a weekend to remember. Every moment was memorable specially that you are spending it with your family. I guess family reunions are remarkably popular not just with Filipinos. It is a cultural phenomenon but as to how you celebrate it will depend from country to country.

Are reunions part of your culture too? How do you celebrate it?

Thanks for reading. I hope I made you inspired with this article. Please upvote and share to your friends.

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A furparent of 3 doggos and 1 cat trying to live a simple life in a tiny house. He has been working for more than a decade but still wandering about his career. But he enjoys it tho as if he has a choice. In his attempt to build the world a better place, he started living an intentional life with less carbon footprints by avoiding single use plastics and repurposing reclyable materials in his backyard. Currently he is on a mission of reducing meat products on his diet and growing his own food. When on his restdays he is either bingwatching his favorite netflix series or ranking up his mobile legend heroes. Oh I forgot, he also bike around his neighborhood, jog when he is not lazy, and cook whatever is available in his fridge. On a normal days, he spent around 6 hours of scrolling thru his social media pages. His ultimate lifegoal is to skip the rat race and live remotely off-grid surrounded by mountains but not too far from the beach. He lives a very meaningful unproductive life. Ughh 😅