BENGUET: Bell Church

I'd been to Baguio City before but its just now that I've known about this place. I thought its just me but everyone else with me in the trip didn't know about this, good thing our rented van driver took us here.

It was another cold early morning about 6:30 AM at 11 degrees Celsius. No one's here. At first we hesitated to go inside as we thought it was close but when we get up the stairs it was open and we're the only visitor at that time.

The place was so peaceful. First thing I noticed was the concrete stairs with Chinese inscriptions. I don't really know what's written there, maybe the donors just like other parks and churches. As most Taoist temples, you'll see dragon highlights and most of the structures around were colored red.

 

How to get there:

If you're going by car, coming from Baguio City, take the Magsaysay Road, the bell church is located a few steps from the boundary welcome arch of La Trinidad, Benguet.

If you're commuting, the easiest is to ride a taxi specially if you are in a group of 3 t¥ 4 person, besides taxi fare in Baguio is cheaper than everywhere else in the Philippines. from Baguio City, ride a jeepney going to La Trinidad then tell the driver to drop you off in Bell Church. Fare is Php 8.50.

If you opt to go to strawberry farm first, you can ride a jeepney going to Baguio City and tell the driver to stop in Bell Church. Same jeepney fare at Php 8.50.

This might be one of the boring places to visit in Baguio. But for me, its a must see.

  

Bell Church | Baguio Taoist Temple

Address: Magsaysay Ave., Baguio

Entrance Fee: Free

Open Hours: 6:00AM – 5:00PM

Misamis Oriental: Divine Mercy Shrine

On our way back to Manila from CDO, we decided to drop by the Divine Mercy Shrine located at El Salvador, Misamis Oriental. 

Divine Mercy Shrine is a sacred place. Visitors are not allowed to go up wearing their mini dress, skirts, shorts, even pants and any revealing clothing. Since we were not aware of this, I went there wearing a sleeveless blouse and pants, I was advised to wear a skirt and cover up for my arms.

After attending the mass, time to explore the place.

Overlooking Macajalar Bay on the Mindanao island, southern part of the Philippines

The water that flows through the taps of the Shrine is also believed to be miraculous.  People bring empty bottles to collect some miraculous water

You climb up to this 200 step stairs to the statue and it has a mini altar located in the heart of Jesus that you can pray.

It was a pretty long way up the stairs. 

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Quezon: The Pahiyas Experience

Feast of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers celebrated with colorful festival.

We left Manila at 5AM, planning to just stay a day in Lucban and head straight to Cagbalete Island. Though I expected a big crowd coming to the festival, I didn't realize this will be that big and in effect, heavy traffic welcomed us on our way to Lucban. I hate traffic, I admit I'm such an impatient person when it comes to this matter, I almost wanted to come back to Lucena and just go straight to Cagbalete. But no, there's no turning back, even transportation going back was jammed on the traffic. Though we are still a bit far, we decided to walk. It took us a total of 7 hours to reach the site.

Just imagine my reaction when I first saw those colorful houses full of flowers, fruits and vegetable. At last we're finally here.

Locals allowed us to go inside their house to take a picture.

We also visited the church and prayed.

We also did a side trip to Kamay ni Hesus, but I didn't dare to climb anymore as my leg were already shaking for hours of walking.

How we get there:

From EDSA-Kamuning, we took a bus (JAC Liner) to Lucena City (Fare: P218, Travel time: 4-5 hours). At Lucena Grand Terminal, we rode a jeepney to Lucban (Fare: P30, Travel time: supposedly 30 minutes but took us 2 hours).

Rizal: Prayer and Peace

One sunny morning, we decided to break in the motorcycle we bought somewhere in Rizal and planned to visit Regina Rica in Tanay Rizal.

Regina Rica is both a shrine and a pilgrimage site that focuses on the Catholic religion’s Queen of the Holy Rosary. This is where you can find a huge Regina Rica statue. Such a great place for prayer and reflection with its calmness and stillness. And a place for peace...

foot prints going to the statue

Chapel