Reconnecting with Tagaytay and Nasugbu

My family and I went to Tagaytay last Maundy Thursday to observe Holy Week. We first went to the other side of Tagaytay hoping to find Sonya's Garden. Much to our dismay, it was traffic in Tagaytay highway and most of the people rather than clogging the roads of Baguio, spent their time here. Finally we had our U-turn and stayed at Lake View hotel where last 2 years ago (I think) that we also spent our Holy Week with my grandma.

We thought we'll be spending our time enjoying the view of Taal volcano and visiting the churches there. Instead, we immediately went inside the room and slept!

After an hour, we woke up and decided to go outside. What we really like about the place (Lake View) is its location. You can see Taal Lake and of course, Taal Volcano and the rest of the view is just heavenly.

By 5pm, we went outside to have dinner. We would want to go to the city proper and eat a fast food meal but still, until that time the highway is clogged with traffic. We went towards Palace in the Sky but it's already getting dark. We finally saw a cozy restaurant, One Bagger and ate binalot there. We had a great dinner and went back to our place.

By 11pm, I went out to talk with someone. It was freezing! Although it is freezing, you wouldn't feel the moist around you. It's just the air that really would make you shake!

The next day, we decided to go and have our Visita Iglesia. At first, we had our original plan of visiting seven churches and to each church, two stations of the cross. But you know what, it seems like we were asked to go to Nasugbu to really connect with God.

As we have passed Tagaytay proper, we continued the trail until we saw the Barangay Buck Village where Sonya's Garden is. The place is owned of course, by Sonia Roco, wife of The Senator Roco. We didn't enter the place actually since we only saw the big sunflowers, but how wonderful they were! Maybe when we have more time, we'll return there and see the place more!

Now as we have to decide whether to go to Taal's path or Nasugbu, we turned right when we saw Don Bosco Church on the Hill. For your information, I graduated my high school education as Batch 99 at Don Bosco Technical College in Mandaluyong City. Much to my delight that I soon realize, this was also the same place where our Senior year retreat took place. The Church on the Hill was established 2003 so back then, it was really a place for retreat, Don Bosco Batulao.

I just want to share to you how I was really touched. As we entered the church, it was really a spiritual experience. I get to write on a logbook and after that, when I got back in my seat, I cried. I cried maybe because I never thought I get to see the place where memories came back, maybe it was also a reconnection of my Alma Mater, but also because I communed with God and this time, I felt Him. We had our Stations of the Cross there and it was solemn despite the scorching rays of the sun.

When we went back, we stretched our way to the Transfiguration Church, a few minutes away from Don Bosco Batulao. I don't remember the exact name of the place but it was really enriching. It was another retreat house of the Dominicans but added as a vacation house for others that would want to stay.

And so we came back to Manila with a renewed soul and a peaceful heart and despite returning and being met by traffic, it was a good thing spending the Holy Week to a serene place like Tagaytay and Nasugbu.

I still do have a lot of pictures but maybe soon I will just post all of my pics in my travel but for now, see how the places we went would let you come home to Him and reflect.