Repurposing August

If there are ways to shield yourself throughout rainy August, you’d want to know, right? Well, I hate to break it to you my fellow August baby (or summer person), but unless we stay indoors, for two decades I’ve found, we can't. Unless, of course, another genius invents a thingamabob for that purpose, for the meantime, we can only avoid or stop the stereotypes that go with it; you know, the conventional indoor celebrations, rainy season attires, and the likes.

If you know your birth month well, you'll know keeping your guests dry has always been 'the drill' for parties. If you're one of us, then you're also always mindful of how your friends are going to come and leave. For example, they should have at least an umbrella to shelter on and extra clothes for emergency if they insist on commuting. Also, of course, you won’t forget that choosing a roofless venue is a sure-fire step to a shindig flop.

What Running Around Circles May Look Like

Besides a hardcore surfer (which I am not), who the heck would think of going to the beach in this part of the year, right? The news said it, a storm was coming. Look up or anywhere else outside and it looks like heaven's turn to lash out in her duel with El Nino. But let me tell you this. Not even textbooks at kindergarten can change the fact that someday you may realize “Maybe I could walk on beach sands even on a stormy season.”

Don’t get me wrong. It took about a couple of days before I could finally brave calling the friendly operator to book a room. Challenging myself to something significantly different isn’t my forte either. Not yet. I’ve always been peculiar but thanks to my traditional upbringing, I’ve never gone to a point where I'd be doing something different from 'basic pinay' routine. Not until I’ve managed to empty my wallet into half from the five-hour travel that quick. And I couldn’t have been more proud to my 21-old self for all the moments they were worth.

How I ‘Repurposed’ My Birth Month

I didn't know about the denotation of the word “repurpose”, and I certainly didn’t know it was similar to what I’ve been trying to do when I planned this trip until Kiddo, the owner of El Union cafe told us about it. Everything, besides the great coffee, fresh chilly air, and friendly barista’s that makes El Union café the treasure trove it is, are the repurposed furnishings clinched or hung on its walls and ceilings, the cookware we’re served sumptuous food with, and much more.

I expected other different things from this birthday trip, but I've realized that one new word was enough to make me believe why travelling is food for the soul. That word-of-the-day set the year for me. It explained what I’ve been growing fond of doing and what I’d like to continue doing in the next years. Boy, did that conversation give me a Eureka moment. The sort where I realized what travelling could do to me.

Coincidence? Call me crazy but I honestly think it’s the universe conspiring about my adventures. I wouldn’t really know for sure. But if it is, the ones behind it should let me know when the next meeting is so I could give them some of El Union’s bestseller and my personal favorite, the famous Horchata, while they’re at it.

What It Means to Me

If I am to recall this birthday next year, it would be full of the nicest getaway memories. It will be La Union, welcoming us with its rustic yet quaint sights, which would never have been as breathtaking as it was with the gloomy clouds of August illuminating it.

It would sound like Marlowe’s chill ukulele adlibs I enjoyed while we lay on the daybed; and the low key chatter at the bar while we were tipsy and surrounded by pirate ship lamps at the Flotsam and Jetsam bar.

It would taste like El Union’s Horchattas and lattes made more special by chill conversations with baristas Arvy, Chloe, and Kiddo, tasty Arby's Lechon Manok, and savory pares at Tagpuan sa San Juan I ate while Marlowe hunted his new Pokémons.

And it would feel like one of the most blissful moments I've ever had in my life.