This year, my husband was not required to drop in on their office during the long Lenten holiday season. What a relief! We can plan on having a long vacation. But, he was on-call so we have to pick a spot that was near Metro Manila.
Where do we go? Some family members want to stay in Tagaytay so they can view Taal volcano in its erupting stage. They also wanted to go to the much improved Taal Vista Lodge. Some married female relatives even wanted to go to the Quezon province to buy inexpensive crabs and lobsters. The golden generation relatives just wanted to go to Laguna where there are hot springs, even if the temperature in Manila was hotter than hot springs.
Some prefer to go North, to Baguio (too many people), Vigan, La Union, and Ilocos Norte (too far from Metro Manila).
Until at last, we agreed on one destination as base for five days and two northern provinces to visit for two days.
As luck would have it, my aunt’s three daughters were all gallivanting abroad and she offered us her small bungalow in Subic rent-free. What good fortune! We only have to provide the food the whole time we were there, clean the house, and help in her gardening. As an additional bonus, the cottage was very near the beach.
The view was fantastic. There was a small rocky hill on the horizon that made a very fine backdrop when the sun set. There were parts of the beach that were full of little fishes. If we want to, we can go fishing which my husband and other men relatives did for a while. The sea was placid the whole time we were there, and the waves were tolerable even to little kids. We can rent boats, ski jets, and a water vehicle with two big wheels that looked like a small chariot without the horses at very reasonable prices. Although it was also hot during the day, it was breezy when night sets in.
We always woke up early to catch the sunrise. Having a cup of coffee watching the sunrise was so serene and uplifting that it was indescribable. I just wanted to freeze the moment forever. Then, here came the nephews and nieces, and senior citizens starting to fret about breakfast that the magic was broken.
After a day, it was now time to do the Visita Iglesia to different churches in Bulacan and Pampanga. Holy Wednesday was allotted to churches in Bulacan, and Maundy Thursday in Pampanga. This was the reason why the elders gave up their choice of Laguna hot springs.
We visited fourteen churches in Bulacan including the famous Barasoain church and the National Shrine of Divine Mercy. In Pampanga, we visited nine churches. We even witnessed some “padugo” where people, especially men, whipped their backs while walking towards a church. They did this even if their backs were already bloody. They even have some form of a crown (of thorns?) on their head. They did this as a penitential rite.
Some members of the family, especially the men, wanted to witness the crucifixion but the women and the children were against it.
Almost all churches that we visited in these two provinces are historical churches, built around the 18th century. They were all majestic. You can feel the splendor of the Spanish era inside these churches, and will not have a hard time visualizing the Spanish friars, gobernadorcillos, the mestizos, and the indios celebrating a Latin mass together.
For Good Friday, we just stayed in the cottage all day. In the afternoon, we went with our aunt to church to pray the Stations of the Cross and marveled at the very long procession. There were life-sized statues of different saints dressed in magnificent fineries owned by ancestral families in Pampanga and loaned to the church during the Lenten season. But the longest line can be found after the statues of the Pieta (Mother Mary embracing her dead son) and the Crucified Christ. Candles were lit, rosaries were prayed, songs were sung. We were all touched by the spirit of Lent.
We stayed and frolicked in the beach the whole day Saturday, savoring the feeling of relaxation and ease. On Sunday morning, we went back to Manila tired but refreshed.
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