City dwellers like me have to go through great lengths to experience the outside. We’ve been grass hunting because I want my kids to grow up with actual playtime rather than the playtime you get from a screen.

My husband, Lawrence, had a work trip to Clark this week and the whole family joined him. Clark is in Pampanga, about two hours away from Manila. It used to be a US Air Force base but is now redeveloped to be a hub for business and leisure.

We stayed at Quest Hotel, which is nothing spectacular. It’s an old hotel that is showing its age despite being well-maintained, but they make up for it by providing really good service.

But where the hotel truly shines for me is that right behind it is the most massive field I have ever seen in my life. It’s called the Parade Grounds and it is used for sporting events. It has a few soccer nets and a rubberized jogging path traces the circumference of the field. We saw a few bazaar booths in the distance, but we didn’t really visit them.

The kids had a grand time running aimlessly and chasing the birds. It came to a point where R got too tired to run back to us. He stopped and cried, “it’s too hard!” I had to go to him and pick him up. His back was sweaty and his skin warm from the sun. He turns to me red-faced and says, “thanks, mama.”

I didn’t think my heart could contain the Parade Grounds, the sun, the sky, and the whole of the outside universe at that time.