Pilgrimage on a weekend.

Sunday. What a beautiful day to explore. We decide to go to Antipolo because my dad was going back abroad the week after and since the patron for Antipolo was Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. It's been a while since I've been there and many has changed, establishments have grown and the main pasalubong center has a new signage, plus there's a Starbucks just outside the church. What has not changed are the number of people going to get their vehicles blessed, people selling suman and cashews, and a crowded church.

Once you reach the town of Antipolo, a lot of people are waiting for you to guide you where to go with a catch that you will buy pasalubong from their store, which is not bad. If you don't go to the chruch often, it is confusing since most streets around the church are one way.

National Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage

Kasoy at Suman

Once we parked the car, we headed for breakfast to eat sotanghon and lechon (a healthy breakfast instead). After hearing, we went up to touch the veil of Our Lady. As part of our Rizal trip, we headed to Regina Rica in Tanay.

From Antipolo church, Regina RICA is about an hour and a half drive. You will pass by the route to Daranak Falls, Camp Capinpin and JE Camp. It's an easy route and you won't get lost, but of course I get to use a map.

Regina RICA is open everyday escept for Tuesdays. They hold mass every Sunday at 11:00 AM and 3:30 PM. The land is 13.2 hectars in area and has two chapels and a 71 feet high statue of Our Mother oft he Rosary. It was the perfect timing that we went during the month of the rosary. Inside the statue, called Sulod (an Ilonggo term for inside amd also an acronym that means Sanctuary of Universal Love and Devotion) is a place of prayer. A cruxific and the Blessed Eucharist is displayed. They call the crucifix as the Cross of Absence and Presence because there is no image of Christ on the Cross but etched is the body and blood of Christ. It is prohibited to take pictures inside to preserve its Holiness.

As the sisters will reiterate, the area is a place of Pilgrimage and is not meant to be a playground or picnic place.

Regina Rosarii Institute for Contemplation in Asia

Inside the chapel

The Rough Road to El Nido

August. Next time, I really should take the weather in consideration when I book when airlines posts their sale. A few days prior to our Palawan trip, there had been lots of rain in the metro and I was starting to feel dreary of trying to plan the trip while the rain keeps falling.

Finally the day came for our trip and a tropical depression was approaching Manila. My officemate asked me if I was excited, and was starting to feel down. Considering that major activities in El Nido requires riding a boat, I was really praying for calm waters.

Arriving late night in Puerto Princesa, we slept to prepare for an early trip to El Nido the next day. Going to San Jose terminal, there are two major van services that are known to locals. Euleen Joy and Lexus. Euleen Joy's earliest trip is 5:00am with roughly 2 hours interval on their schedule and the latest trip is 6:00PM. Lexus' schedule in about the same but off by about 30 minutes to allow travellers a choice on time. There are also vans at the airport if ever you have an early flight and decide to go direct. Rates at San Jose is around Php500 while the vans at the airport costs Php600.

Travel time is 5 hours by van. You can also take RORO buses that costs around Php400, cheaper but longer travel time of about 8 hours.

The road going to El Nido was long with 80% concrete and the rest rough. You will pass by several towns in Palawan like Roxas and Taytay and the van will stop twice. Transit time may have been shorter if the road has already been completed.

We left the terminal at 7:00 AM, but had to stop by several areas around Puerto first and started our journey 8:00 AM arriving at El Nido at 1:00 PM. We had already reserved rooms ahead of time but there are several inns that you can choose from some are located along the beach front of the town while others are at Corong Corong which is a few minutes walk to the beach front. I would suggest going for one near the beach front especially if you are planning to do some island hopping to give you enough time to have breakfast.

Arriving in the middle of the day, we opted to just rest for the day. We checked in at the alternative and dropped by the church. We were hoping to avail a combination of tour A and C given we only had 3 days in El Nido so we talked to the guide to schedule the trip. Unfortunately, the following day, the rain was falling hard and the waves were higher, thus the coast guard has decided to hold any trips.

Stuck at the main land, we started looking for other things to do within the island. We decided to go to Nacpan beach, which is one of the so called twin beach. Residents of El Nido are not familiar with the name twin beach as it was coined by the tourists visiting the area so if you have plans of going to the area, inquire about Nacpan beach. The name twin beach came around due to to beach coves next to each other namely Nacpan and Calitang.

Riding on a tricycle going to the beach, it took about an hour to reach the location. It is also the road going to Nagkalit-kalit falls which required trekking 30 minutes which, due the the weather, was difficult to do. Upon arriving near the beach, the road was so muddy the tricycle can no longer go in so we had to walk.

But the walk was worth it. Even though it had been raining, you will still enjoy the beach. How the waves would hit the shore, and most of all, we had the beach to ourselves. Aside from the trike ride we paid for, the beach was free for you to enjoy. There are some cottages that you can rent but you wouldn't really need it.

You can also climb a small hill thats at the end of the shore that separates the two beaches and from there you can see the two beaches side by side divided by a small shoreline.