Weekend 2: Palm Beach Resort, Batangas

Finally found the time for the next post... Here's Saturday of Weekend 2...

Weekend 2 Saturday: Palm Beach Resort

Planned after the weekend of Kamay ni Hesus was the Thomson Reuters company summer outing (sorry no budget advice for this trip). Destination: Palm Beach Resort in San Juan, Batangas. It is along the same coastline as Laiya, known for it's white sand and awesome waters. 

Getting there seemed easy, if you knew where you were going. We were feeling our way, so we ended up with a total of 5 u-turns to and 1 from the resort. Long story short, the corner to turn into to get to the coastline is easily missed despite the huge signboards of the famous resorts in Laiya. We missed that by 11km. The road leading to the lined up resorts off the side of the mountain is deceiving - rough, tight roads, construction, residences and no view - but once you make the last turn, the view made me regret that I didn't bring swimming gear (I originally didn't have plans to go swimming, stupid me). 

View from the side of the road on the slope of
the mountain. Photo courtesy of Harry Danao
(http://www.facebook.com/kodakero)

The ocean was beautiful and the sand inviting. The resort itself looked so relaxing, with an infinity pool, kayaks, banana boats, native huts, and a beach volleyball area. We spent the first few hours with the company program before we hit the beach. Luckily, I was able to borrow shorts and a bathing suit from team mates, and the company gave out a shirt and a towel. It was time for some swimming! The shallow shore was a bit disappointing. I didn't expect it to be rocky. Of course there were spots that was sandy, but there were parts that made me wish I owned a pair of aqua socks. The water though felt so good! Especially since it was super hot that day and water was clear and clean. 

Some of my team mates took the opportunity to kayak. I skipped that since I wasn't in the mood to nurse tried arms, especially since I just got off a late shift and haven't had any sleep. Instead I enjoyed the infinity pool and watched other colleagues play beach volleyball. We walked around the resort, found the lodgings and the playground. That was pretty much it, that we saw anyway. I believe they also offer snorkeling, but it was not part of the package I guess.

The program included games and a beach body contest. The games I saw were fun. I fell asleep half of the time. The food could have been better though. The contestants of the beach body contest were interesting enough, and I had to agree with the winners that the judges chose. It was just a day trip, so around 8PM we packed up. We tried to stay as long as we could for the company program, but it was getting dark and the trip back took hours.

All in all, I had a good time getting wet and felt a little relaxed. I would definitely go back there but I'll make sure that the second time around, I would have my swimsuit and more sleep.

Photo courtesy of Harry Danao
(http://www.facebook.com/kodakero)

Photo courtesy of Harry Danao
(http://www.facebook.com/kodakero)

Photo courtesy of Harry Danao
(http://www.facebook.com/kodakero)

Weekend 1: Kamay ni Hesus

I'm don't think I'm a good copy writer, and I find that I can get really cheesy, so blogging is not on the top of my list. So why am I doing this? Because my friends think I should, and it'll be pockets of time put into good use. I figured I got nothing to lose anyway, and if the reader does not find what I have to say interesting, he'll just move on to something else. So here I am writing the first bedtime story.


I made a promise to myself that I would go out or do something every weekend. I tend to live my weekends in bed and sleep it away. Needless to say, it's not healthy at all. That promise was made hmmm round about mid-April. Since then I've been to places I didn't think I'd get to, actually go to, or could afford to get to. Today, I'll tell the story of the first weekend.


Weekend 1: Kamay ni Hesus | Gumaca, Quezon
I had a choice of either an underdeveloped resort in an island in Zambales, or a pilgrimage to Kamay ni Hesus (Hands of Jesus), a shrine in Lucban, Quezon province, at the slopes of Mt. Banahaw. Zambales was tempting, but I was inclined to go to Kamay ni Hesus instead since it was a plan looooong over due. I convinced my cousin to ditch whatever he had planned that day and asked him to come with me. Lucky me he wanted to go there as well. So the plan was set - the shrine on Saturday, then I ride back with him to hang out with family till Sunday in Gumaca, Quezon. I live in Manila, so I had to take a 4 hour trip to the Lucena Grand Terminal in Quezon province, where we were meeting up (bus fare = P185). From there it was a little under an hour to get to the shrine (we were on a motorcycle; gas = P200). At the terminal one can take a jeep or bus to the shrine. It was the height of summer, which probably wasn't the best time to go because of the humidity, but I didn't care. The first thing we saw was the tall statue of Mother Mary (don't know how tall, but definitely can't be missed) facing towards the mountain, back turned to the road. The entrance and exit is surrounded by stalls selling native hats and souvenirs like little rosaries and key chains, native coin purses and what-nots. Upon entering, if you have a vehicle, there is a parking fee of P10 for a motorcycle. I believe it's P20 for a car, not quite sure.

Huts in the Garden of Eden

A gravel path surrounded by trees leads into the parking lot with food and, again, souvenir stalls. I didn't notice the other statues near the entrance until we left but there were other imaged of bible stories at the foot of Mother Mary. What I did notice was a pathway into what was named "Garden of Eden". It was a stone arc with flowering plants, welcoming us away from the heat. Inside are huts and picnic areas under shady trees. We walked on further down the path, towards what apparently was to the side of the whole place, and we found a playground. It looked like a zoo of stone animals. The slide was an elephant and there were giraffes and other animals scattered around. Then there in background was the huge ark, with statues of animals around and on it, situated behind a fish pond. It is the retreat house / accommodation of the place. It looked like a real ark, with a status of Noah up on the balcony. It was, of course, called "Noah's Ark". Silence is observed within that area and we were not allowed in to see the view from the top. Nonetheless, it was cool to see a building intentionally made to look like ark.

Courtesy of the official website

That's my cousin

After we had our fill of the retreat house, we moved on towards the left, facing the side of the mountain. There are statues of bible stories such as Moses holding the 10 commandments, and Abraham with Isaac on a stone altar. They were situated apart from each other, with stairs to get between each. We realized later though that the stairs ended there with no other way but down. So, back down, up front, we went on more stairs and we ended up in the center of the Garden. There was a man-made (but small) waterfall above one of many fish ponds. Adam and Eve statues were all over the place. We moved further on and saw the church standing at the foot of 292 steps leading to the looming 50-foot statue of Jesus, hands raised to the sky, at the top of the mountain. And so the climb begins.

Courtesy of the official website. I believe this was during
Holy Week which is why it is filled with people. When we were there,
there was hardly anyone visiting.

Mind you, it was the height of summer. We were hitting 36°C more or less during that time. Just imagine what we were getting ourselves into. Off we went anyway, a bottle of buko shake and a towelette in hand.


The way up was not a straight climb (unlike the one in Baguio). There are several stops and turns which we were very grateful for. It was in these turns that we saw the story of Jesus from the last supper, to His suffering via the Station of the Cross, all the way to His tomb. Mid-way the mountain is a statue of Mother Mary, definitely taller than 7 feet. The landscape was well maintained and the statues life-sized, and the main attraction got bigger and bigger as we went higher and higher. When we got to the top, we were so tired! We rested under the trees as we admired how huge His shrine was. And the view! It was worth it. We could see far out, past the town proper of Lucban. It reminded me how "big" He was, nothing compared to the size of His shrine, or anything we can see as "big". We are just specs in this world and He is the bigger picture. I was reminded that we have a lot to be thankful for and we are blessed. That there was more to our lives than our jobs, our petty problems, and the space we roamed in. We said our prayers and thanks, and of course took pictures, then headed down the stairs. This time it was straight down.

The view from the top.

The church was at the bottom of the stairs. There was a scheduled mass at 5PM that afternoon, but we had a long way back to Gumaca and a drive through the zig zag on a motorcycle at night was not a good idea. So we decided to visit the church, say our prayers, then hit the road. The church was simple and a relatively recent build. It is in this church that a well known priest, Fr. Joey Ayala Faller, leads a Healing Mass regularly. For schedules, you may visit the official website of the shrine: http://www.joeyfaller.org. The tiles at the entrance of the church had etchings of thanks and prayers. I believe you can get a tile printed for you at a cost. On the other side of the church was a pathway leading towards the back, lined with images of saints. We didn't have time to see the rest of the place as it was getting late. Maybe next time, we'll get to see more.

Weekend 1 was a success. I did something different and forced myself outside my cocoon. 
We spent, between the 2 of us, more or less P1,000 (including food - those stairs made us hungry!). Not bad. Not bad at all.