The Journey to Regina RICA

It was just last February 11, 2017 that we went to Regina RICA in Tanay, Rizal. Regina RICA stands for Regina Rosarii Institute for Contemplation in Asia.

Regina RICA is known for the 71 heet high statue of Mother Mary on top of a hill.

It took us almost two hours of travel from our place to Regina RICA.

Upon reaching the gates of Regina RICA, the security guard, informed us the proper attire for the place. No sleeveless shirt, shorts and dress that are above the knees for girls, otherwise, one must secure a skirt to be put on which is provided by the community for free.

We were welcomed by the cold breeze. It has drizzles though the sun is up. The serenity can be felt all over the place. It is quiet and peaceful.

Upon entry, there is a store that sells snacks and religious items.

We wanted to go to the statue right away. They provide shuttle services for the senior citizens, PWDs and for those who don’t want to walk, for a fee of P5.00. The shuttle service can bring you to the statue of Mary and to the chapel and back to its original destination.

Climbing to the foothills where the big statue of Mary is located is not far and steep.

Upon climbing you can have the full view of the mountains of Sierra Madre. It is so beautiful!

Upon reaching the foot of the Divine statue, there is a short orientation about the place/community and a contemplative prayer was offered before entering the “SULOD”. SULOD means Sanctuary of Love and Devotion.

However, SULOD literally means “enter” in Ilonggo. The Divine statue, in open arms, opening her mantle, implies her invitation to the people to come in.

In entering the “Sulod”, one has to take off his/her shoes, a pouch bag is provided for you to put in your shoes, then leave it as you exit.

Picture taking inside the sulod is strictly prohibited.

While inside, I felt serenity and peace. A contemplative prayer was offered, a prayer in solitude, silence and stillness. In silence, I felt the presence of God. I learned that being quiet and still is also a form of prayer.

There are also places where you can light a candle and offer prayers.

Then we went to the chapel. The wind blows was very cold. It was so relaxing. I offered my prayers and made my wish. I believed in the sayings that when it is your first time on that church/chapel, make a wish and your wish will come true.

The top view of the chapel

Other than the chapel and the huge Divine statue, there are other places to go to in Regina RICA, the kubo, duyan, gazebo, kakahuyan which features tall Mahogany trees. For refreshments, there are pasilungans where you can buy snacks and drinks.

The visit to Regina RICA is worthy, a place for contemplation, a path to transformation.  

REGINA ROSARII INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPLATION IN ASIA (RICA)

Sampaloc, Tanay, Rizal, Philippines.

Tel Nos. (+632) 401-2036 / (+632) 985-3878 / (+63) 919-9607031

www.reginarica.org

Thunderbird Resorts, Rizal

Summer is almost over, opening of classes is approaching.

We stayed for an overnight at this resort a day before the National Elections Day. 

Lucky for us, there were only few guests, the resort is not crowded. 

We enjoyed the serene and beauty of the resort, overlooking the mountains.

It took us one hour to reach Thunderbird Resorts, Rizal via C6 route. 

There were no traffic at that time. 

We arrived earlier than the standard check-in time (2:00 pm) so we waited for the availability of our room. While waiting, we took a dip into the pool, and stayed at one of the tables on the pool area. 

kiddie pool

the huge pool overlooking the mountains 

The pool area is not that big and it is very near from their pool beds/chair and tables, you wont have trouble watching over your kids. 

Bringing of foods is strictly prohibited, so we just ordered from their resto for our whole stay at the resort.

Foods are a bit pricey and serving of food took soooo long. The taste of the food is okay, however the serving is small, definitely not for sharing. (that is coming from me, who is not a strong eater) .
We settled for their set meals.

fish fillet meal

daing na bangus meal 

chicken barbecue meal 

The room is big, and it has two (2) queen sized bed. The air condition in the room was not working properly, we called for assistance to fix it. soon enough the technician arrived to fix the aircon unit. It took time before the room gets cold.

photo from www.thunderbirdresortrizal.com

Hallways are neat 

Aside from swimming, the resort offers the following recreations: 

> Zaphira Spa 

> Fiesta Casion

> Bike trail 

> Open - air paintball grounds 

> Archery range

> Nearby golf facility (which needs pre-arranged schedules) 

> Videoke 

I found the resort serene and relaxing> It is a nice place for a short get-away that is very near the Metro. 

Thunderbird Resort Rizal

Eastridge Avenue, Binangonan, Rizal, Philippines 

+6326516888

rizalreservations@thunderbird_asia.com 

https://www.thunderbirdresortrizal.com/

POTIPOT ISLAND, Zambales

Potipot Island is a small island located at Candelaria, Zambales.

It took us 6 hours to reach Candelaria, Zambales, We followed WAZE directions, and it took us to the route thru Pangasinan. and that we confirmed that Candelaria is the boundary of Sta. Cruz, Pangasinan.

We stayed at Dawal Resort, which is a 10 minute boat ride to Potipot Island.

Dawal resort, arranged our trip to Potipot Island, we paid P600.00 for the boat. You just have to inform your boatman, what time you will be picked up. We paid 100 each for the entrance fee.

It was a smooth sail when we went there and finally reached the island. There are huts that you can rent and there are also free tables with benches that you can occupy for your whole stay.

For big groups, you can rent this tree house.

There are also tents for rent if you want to go camping or you can bring your own. for the campers, there is a make-shift toilet that can be used.

Also, the island has so many trees, there are also Pine trees, You don't have to worry of the heat from the sun, because of the trees that provide shades.

For us, we occupied one of the vacant table. It was good for us that when we arrived at the island, there were still few people, so we were able to choose a good spot.

We just brought baon with us. It is better to bring your own food, the vendors there only sell drinks, ice cream and souvenirs, which is too pricey.

There are also souvenirs for sale.

We stayed at the island until 3:00 pm. sadly we were not able to see the sunset, which is believed that it has a very nice sunset view. We have kids with us, just being cautious that's why we do not intend to stay up late at the island.

Potipot island has nice beach and it has fine and color cream sand.We enjoyed our stay by roaming around and playing at the sand and water. Just be careful when going to the water, because it is suddenly deep.

I recommend the place to be visited, The long trip paid off.

Pico de Loro Beach and Country Club, Nasugbu Batangas

I always wanted to go to Pico de Loro, to see and experience the majestic beauty of the nature surrounding it and of course to try its stylish and elegant facilities of the resort. 

Every year, we planned of going to Pico de Loro, from then on I started doing research about it. I have read lots of good reviews thus made me more eager to go there.

Pico de Loro is located at Hamilo Coast at Nasugbu Batangas. Hamilo Coast is the closest world class residential beach resort in Manila. It is comprise of Pico de Loro Cove, Pico Sands Hotel and Pico de Loro Beach & Country Club.

The members can enjoy the luxury of unrestricted access to all beach and country club facilities, preferential rates at the Pico Sands Hotel and other Hamilo Coast services and facilities and exclusive invitations to regular club events and expeditions. The lifetime membership may be extended to the declared immediate family members of the member. (source: http://hamilocoast.com/membership)

  

However, non-members can still enjoy Hamilo Coast as long as there is an endorsement coming from a member.

It was on a peak of Summer day when we went to Pico de Loro. Though I have several contact numbers of condo owners that I got from the blogs and other websites we still struggled on finding a condo unit for rent that is available on our target dates at an affordable price. We found cheaper rates at Airbnb, but we have a hard time booking with Airbnb, maybe because we just don’t know how to do it. And so we were left with the condo owners whom I have contacted. We were given a quote of P5,500 for 8 pax but the owner gave it up to P5,000 per night. Since we were only a group of 6 persons (4 adults and 2 kids), the owner gave it a rate of P4,500 per night. Good deal, right?!

We took the Cavitex-Ternate-Nasugbu Route. We prefer this route because of the nice views that you’ll be passing by, not to mention that the toll fees are cheaper compared to SLEX. It took us 1.5 hours to reach our destination.  (Traffic starts at Tanza Cavite).

Upon entering the gates of the Hamilo Coast, you need to show your endorsement paper and need to pay for the entrance fee. We paid guest fee for the use of the resort’s facilities which includes swimming pools and the main beach. We paid 1,200 for adults and 300 for the kids. The tellers will not check whether all the details on the endorsement form are valid, amount to be paid were all based on the information on the endorsement form. You need to purchase a guest card which costs 50.00 pesos with an initial load amount of P1,000. The guest card is used for buying or renting inside the resort. The resort do not accept cash payments.  However, you can also pay through credit card.

The tellers will only refer to the endorsement form and will not ask or confirm anything from you, what is written on the endorsement form is considered final.

The condo unit that we rented is a studio-type condo unit located at the fourth floor of Myna building. 

Lobby 

It has 1 queen sized – bed and double –sized pull out bed, a double sofa bed, and 2 single mattresses. It has a veranda which has 2 chairs and a table and a clothesline.  

It is complete with cooking paraphernalia, which includes, the stove, rice cooker, microwave oven, plates, utensils and a refrigerator.   

It has also a non-cable television with a DVD player, several DVDs were provided though. 

The toilet and bath is clean, it has a hot and cold shower.

Outside the room. 

All things inside the resort comes with a fee, for the use of towel, you need to pay P50.00 per towel and should be returned on the prescribed time. The food is too expensive. We spent the P1,000 worth of guest card in food. 

As soon as we reach our rented condo unit, its almost past lunch time, so we ate our packed lunch then rest for awhile then we started to explore the resort. It took more than 5 minutes of waiting time, the shuttle service has not yet arrived, so we decided to go for a walk to the beach. There were so many people. We were lucky that we easily found a vacant beach bed. 

The kids played on the sand, and we were just contented to watch the people passed by until we decided to try the water. The color of the sand is cream, it is not a pure white sand, the water is clear.

The main beach area closes at 6:00pm, so it seems just like us, the rest of the guests just waited for the sunset and left the beach then transferred to the country club (pool area). There were so many people.

It was again lucky for us to find a vacant beach bed where we can place our things.

We stayed a little late, until the people were lessened and we enjoyed the pool for the rest of the evening.   

We went to the beach during night time to check out the event, but we are late, the event just finished. At the Beach club area, there is a band playing, but we cannot go further, because only members and accompanied guests can go there. So we just went back to our rented unit.

 We woke early the following day, without eating breakfast; we went to the beach so we can have good photo shoots, preventing the too much crowded area.  

We headed to the pool area after awhile and spend the remaining hours that’s left for us. 

Comfy pool beds 

We spent the P1,000 worth of cash card fee  for our breakfast merienda. Their food are pricey. 

Before finally leaving the resort, we did some photo shoots.

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Here are some photos of the facilities of Pico de Loro 

Badminton court 

Basketball court 

Toilet 

Locker room

Powder room 

Shower room 

The lobby of Pico Beach and Country Club 

I can say that our overnight stay at Pico de Loro is worthwhile. Despite of the many guests at the time of our visit, I still enjoyed the scenic beauty of the resort, its closeness to nature and the resort’s privacy.

I love to go back but not anytime soon.