While I was busy looking for any bird, someone in the gang spotted a duck floating freely in the stream. Everyone became quite excited, as we've never seen a duck before. Some people even rushed down to get a closer look. Well, believe or not, all these excitements made us hungry. As a result, we decided to take a break and began our "refueling ritual" (a.k.a. lunch ).

Eating lunch right next to a tranquil stream was such a wonderful experience. Since the stream was so close, we basically had the most relaxing background music. While Alice and I were busy gobbling down our sandwiches, I realized many people brought snacks instead. It reminded me of my elementary school outings. I could still recall how excited I was before and during those school outings. Those are the "official" days that I could eat whole bunch junk food without worrying about the rules.

After the quick lunch (or snack for accuracy), we decided to continue onward. Unfortunately, the group was thinning out. Kama and Dennis had decided to rest a little more since they got two babies to take care. Without the presence of the two little angles, the gang went on. Everyone was chatting lively with each other and everything was going fine until we hit an obstacle-a small stream-on our way.

Nothing could stop us now since we just began to enjoy the relaxation the Mother Nature provided. We all decided to go across the stream. Nonetheless, it was easy to be said than done. Since it just rained the day before, the stream was filled with water. Though the water was not rapid, there were only a few stones that could be used as stepping-stones. Yeah, the REAL adventure began from here! With the help of some Tao relatives, I was lucky enough to make it across! Hooray, I made it! Well, I shouldn't be too happy because there were more to come...

About five minutes after we crossed the first stream, there was another stream. And guess what, there was a third one. By this time, people began debating whether we should go on or not. If we decided to go across, the narrower trail on the other end might not be suitable for laymen like us (none of us had hiking boots on, except Lionel). In the end, we all crossed the third stream and took a nice group picture on the other side since the view was much better from that side. Well, this seemed to conclude our hiking trip.

But, the adventure didn't end over there. We had crossed three little streams to take that group picture. As a result, we would encounter them again on our way back. I was fortunate enough that I made it through safe and DRY. However, it wasn't the case for my sister, Alice. Believe or not, she put on the ultimate show of the day. Why? She accidentally slipped and got her feet wet (please refer to the "Kodak Moment").

By the time we got back to our cars, it was late afternoon already. We were all tired. It took us much longer to get back because we took lots of breaks on our way back. But, I could tell that everyone had a great time. Everyone seemed to be relaxed because we had experienced the magic of the Mother Nature. In fact, we all had been embraced by her.