One weekend, my friend Coe wants to escape from the busy and upbeat environment of the City to reflect. She asked me information about staying in Caleruega since 2 years ago, I went there on my own for my time of solitude. Since I wanted to be back, I told her if she wants me to accompany her. True enough, she agreed.
Without so much planning, we had 1 day to check and reserve a room if not in Caleruega, some place near. Since it’s a retreat season for most of the Catholic schools, it’s no doubt Caleruega Retreat House will be fully booked. So we are left with no choice but to look for a cheaper place nearby.
We ended up in Tagaytay Haven since it is where we booked when our friend Anton and Che married last January in Tagaytay. It was the cheapest decent looking hotel I know near the area. I was thinking of MC Mountain hotel but Tagaytay Haven is cheaper. Also, it’s just walking distance to Save More and Jollibee is just 10-20 steps from the hotel’s entrance.
So here was the breakdown of our adventure:
7:00-8:00am Meeting time in McDonald’s Taft
8:00-10:00am Travel time going to Tagaytay
We took the Nasugbu bus in Taft. We paid Php 87/pax going to Mendez Crossing Tagaytay.
10:30am Arrival in Tagaytay Haven Hotel
We asked if we can check in early but the receptionist told us that there are no available rooms yet but we can check in by 12:00am. However if we do that, we should check out early the next day around 9:00am. We planned to check out early so we agreed with the schedule. We paid Php1500 for a studio bedroom overnight. (Update: They do not have the 12Hr rate but instead they have the 8Hr rate for short stays)
Since we still have time to spare, we had a little grocery buying in Save More and then ate brunch in Mang Inasal. We continued our catching up session from where we stopped when we arrived the hotel. I never knew that Mang Inasal offers a free soup. Hahaha! (Coe was the one who told me it was free) After she ate her meal, she got the cupcake I brought for her from Tita Via’s Golden Party. Look how she loved the cupcake.
When we went back to the Hotel, our room was already prepared and so we settled down for a while and took a short nap to re-charge ourselves. Coe had this relaxing sound in her iPhone called iRelax or Relax Melodies. It seems as if we are in the beach front while we took our nap.
After an hour, I woke up and fix my things. Coe followed me and after 15-30mins, we went to Caleruega and just took a jeepney going there. It cost us Php18/pax from Tagaytay Haven to Evercrest Hotel. When we arrived the landmark, we took the tricycle going to Caleruega Retreat House. The tricycle ride costs Php50. (P.S. You should get the number of the tricycle driver to fetch you afterwards). Then as we enter the gates of Caleruega, an entrance fee of Php 30/pax must be paid.
3:00-5:30pm Caleruega Retreat House
Our time of Solitude begins. =)
I brought my prayer books and other materials that help me reflect in times like that. I lend it to Coe to help her in her reflections. We stayed in the Chapel for a while but when visitors/tourists arrived, our silence was disturbed. So I told her to go to my “spot” where I did my reflections before. However, the sun was up and it was too hot for us to stay there and reflect. So we decided to go to the picnic grounds and try our luck to find our perfect spot. When we arrived in the entrance of the picnic grounds, I was surprised. There was already a Cafe with a garden/plant nursery beside it. So we went just checked it and then off to the picnic grounds. Again, a new site appeared to me! There were tent rentals available in the picnic grounds. I forgot to note down how much per hour but Coe and I was laughing about it. It was like a park for us.
Anyway, I remembered during one of our retreats that there were benches in the maze like bridge in the area. So we looked for it and there, we found our spot. We stayed there for hours and talk a bit about life and all, then went to the swing like bench near the hanging bridge. However, there were lots of mosquitoes and bugs so I told her to go back to the Chapel.
On our way going to the Chapel, the guards were already going around to tell us that the place is already closed. It was the only time I knew that the gates closes for visitors at 5.30pm. So we called it a day and went back to have some dinner.
I was thinking of going to View Site restaurant but what I told the driver was in View Point. Good thing there was a restaurant called View Point!!! Hahahaha! We ordered their famous Bulalo since Coe was craving for it and Mangga with Bagoong for dessert. We enjoyed the restaurant because of the food and the view.
9:00pm Bedtime
The next morning, we checked out at 8:00am since we want to attend the mass in Caleruega at 11:00am. We ate breakfast in Bag of Beans and ordered some hot choco for the morning. Coe is used to heavy breakfast so she ordered the Chicken and Pork Adobo meal and I ordered 2 pandesal from their bakery. I also ordered 2 loaves of herb wheat bread Php90/each (Andrew & I loved this bread so much).
After breakfast, we went to Caleruega. Since it was still early, we finally went to my “spot” and did some morning prayers and reflections. When it was almost 11am, we went to the Chapel to get some seats since it will be jam packed after a while. After hearing mass, we looked for a good shaded area where we can do our final round of reflections and prayers. We got our spot at the back of one of the function rooms. We stayed there until 3pm before we decided to go back to Manila.
All in all, we did what we came for and hopefully we’ll get our prayers answered in time. Whatever our intentions were, I know everything will be addressed in God’s time. We may be caught up with the fast paced life in the city and forgets to be silent and thank God for everything. A time for solitude is helpful to keep ourselves united with the Lord as well as to help us reflect and renew ourselves. May we all find time for solitude to shape up and re-charge our lives. The Lord is always waiting for us, we just need to learn to speak to him with our hearts and forget all the worries we have in life.
Thanks Coe, I had my needed time of Solitude! ^_^
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