CALERUEGA RETREAT 2010

Every year, Angels Institute of Learning and Angeli Dei Schools give a retreat activity to its teachers. The past two years of my stay in this school, our annual retreat was usually been held in La Verna House of Prayer of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Brgy. Iruhin, Tagaytay City. This year was a change of venue which was in Caleruega of the Order of Preachers (OP) located in Brgy. Kaylaway, Batulao, Nasugbo, Batangas facilitated by Father Jeffrey Balde, O.P. Caleruega (Philippines) architectural and landscape design was inspired and adapted from Caleruega, Spain of the order of Saint Dominic which is a house of prayer and renewal. It is open for activities like retreats, recollections, prayer and renewal workshops, study, research, youth camps, marriage and family encounter celebrations, skills training, leadership seminars, art, music and liturgy workshops and environment and agriculture-related activities.

This retreat dated November 4 and 5, 2010, was attended by 24 teaching staff, one office staff, three auxiliary staff and two administration heads in the person of the school principal, Leticia V. Uy and her assistant principal, Alfredo D. Celada, Jr. The teaching staff attendees were as follows: Leo Abriol, Tess Aficial, Celeste Calidades, Mary Joy Dansalan Cruz, Janna Del Fonso, Marivic Digal, Merylyn Ellorango, Joannes Paulus Esquinas, Mylene Garcia, Ella Krizia, Leah Llusala, Analou Loya, Ranjie Menorca, Jean Olandes, Joffrey Ortanez, Shalimar Padilla, Marlyn Palce, Brigitte Pereyra, Shiela Pineda, Rina Sanchez, Marifel Sarmiento, Joy Timbol, Emlou Vargas and yours truly. The lone office staff is Ana Luisa Ricabo and we have our auxiliary staff, namely: Rosillo Bande Artegas (driver), Emil Francisco (driver) and Juanito Caronan (assisting staff).

I was billeted in Cottage No. 23 with my colleague, Ranjie Menorca. Cottages 22 – 25, just opposite the Chapel of Transfiguration, are twin occupancy cottages with toilet and bathroom and the rest of my companions were housed in the Three-in-One or Four-in-One Accommodation units. The retreat sessions were held in the Veritas Hall except for the Holy Mass which was held in the Transfiguration Chapel which is a 150-seat capacity chapel. We normally dine in the Refectory Hall which is a 180-seat dining hall. Other facilities which can be availed are as follows: Gazekubo – a 70-seat capacity conference venue for small groups/also for wedding reception; Catalina Hall – a 90 – bed (double deck) dormitory for women (with 14 –bathroom and 6 toilets); Tomasino Hall – an 80-bed (double deck) dormitory for men (with 6 unit common toilet and bathroom); Pahingalayan and Fra Angelico hermitage cottages complete with basic home facilities; Tuktok Hall – a 30-seat capacity conference venue for small groups and the Plaza de Aza – a roof deck which can be used as a venue for reception and other big group gatherings.

Other amenities worth visiting are: Kampo Arriba – a campsite perfect for outdoor activities; Koi Pond; Amphitheater; hanging bridge; Tent Chapel of Transfiguration on top of a hill; Garden Café; Worm Farm and Lettuce Greenhouse. Individual retreats at Pahingalayan and Fra Angelico hermitage houses are also welcome in Caleruega. The Kampo Arriba of Caleruega is also open for outdoor activities and exercises for a fee of P250 per head/overnight but on a “bring your own tent and food” basis.

I believe that this activity can do something for my spiritual renewal as I am being reminded that I have to renew my ties with God. This gives a spiritual cleansing for the sins which are being fossilized due to its accumulation. I really agree that an annual retreat is a must so that I can provide food for my soul. Life in the city is at its most of being in a sinful state. All these conveniences which I crave for and enjoy in my day to day basis are packages which Satan is providing enticing me that the modern way of living is better than the crude ones where our forefathers had.

Indeed, my two-day stay in Caleruega, which is a house of prayer was not only meant for bonding and establishing camaraderie with my colleagues and staff as well as with the administration officials of our school but it highlighted the way I commune with nature --- that when I am closer to nature, I am closer to God. This is the very reason why I give priority to my mountaineering activities for I can communicate to God through his beautiful creation.

By the way, the first time I visited this place was on August 29, 1998. The second time was on March 12, 2000 for the church wedding of my all-time favorite friend, Noemi Ordiales Amador to Policarpo Gregorio Osmundo “Ding” Nuqui Capunitan. The third time was on April 10, 2010 with my PNU MA SPED batchmates. This time, it is not just a visit but rather an overnight stay where I was assured that in Caleruega, nature is at its best.

MOUNT BATULAO CLIMB FOR THE THIRD TIME

This is my third time to scale Mount Batulao of Nasugbu in the province of Batangas. This mountain has an elevation of 811 meters above sea level or 2,660.76 feet which is categorized as a minor climb, level 2 and moderate. It has steep and open summit offering such an awesome panorama when one is on top of it.

This climb has offered me another exciting experience as I have guests with me and a fellow PNB MC Member, Rome Frias and another seasoned mountain climber from OWWA in the name of Mr. Anthony Bueza, Rome’s officemate. Our guests were: Doctor Cesar Garcia – Rome’s and my friend; Raymund Leonor (OWWA) and my colleagues (SPED teachers) in Angels Institute of Learning in the names of Ella Krizia and Emlou Vargas. It was the first time for them to experience mountain climbing. For Doc Cesar, Raymund and Ella, it was such a great milestone in their lives conquering the mountain’s summit and overcoming their fear of heights. The long legged and long-haired Emlou, on the other hand, is a daring woman without any fear of high altitude. She just find it thrilling being in this endless scaling activity.

This climb started boarding a bus in Pasay Taft Rotonda at 6:20 A.M. and we arrived in Evercrest of Batulao at 8:48 A.M. We fixed first ourselves in the nearby store in answering the call of nature and proceed with a 12-minute tricycle ride for P20 per head going to the nearest jump-off point. Melvin Brusas (Grade III pupil and a school drop out for 3 years), the cousin of Randy was our local guide then. It was my first to climb where I forgot to lead a prayer for I was as excited as my guests. The trekking started at 8:58 A.M. The skies then were open and the weather was perfect. It was not so hot and small amount of clouds accompanied us to shade us while on trek. Along the trail, the panorama was so inviting that our guests requested for an endless picture taking. After one hour and 31minutes, we have to rest and regroup in Halo-Halo Refreshment Point. It was a 17-minute break along with some other climbers having their Halo-halo moments to quench their thirst from a grueling trekking session.

We resumed our trekking at 10:27 A.M. But we have to stop shortly at a Buco Stop Point where the entry point for New Trail awaited our guests. Then we went down trailing to the direction of the Old trail. We arrived at Camp 1 of the Old Trail at 11:49 A.M. after a series of 5-minute stop and regrouping with accompanying picture taking with a registration of P20 per head. We agreed that we will spend overnight in Camp 1 to really have some rest and refreshing moment with mother nature. Besides, our guests would like to avail of the comfort room facility which costs P20 per pail of water. A water source is available in the camp for cooking. We pitched then our tents and took our lunch. We slept in our tents for almost two hours and after that the group except for Raymund and Anthony scaled towards Camp 7 to capture best shots with the backdrop of the summit. We cooked our dinner at around 5:00 P.M. and had eaten at 6:30 P.M. where socials followed, the usual wine drinking. Of course, I am a non-drinker and so I have to be contended in sharing some conversational moment with the group. Lights out was at 10:21 P.M. but I slept earlier than the rest of the group. We hand really a soundly sleep as almost all of us were snoring.

We woke up at 5:30 A.M. and cooked for breakfast. While others were cooking, Raymund, Anthony and I scaled up to Camp 6 for picture taking. We had our breakfast at 6:22 A.M. and cooked again for our pack lunch. Break camp followed at 9:35 A.M. for we opted to stay in the camp to enjoy the place. Ascending towards the summit started at 10:11 A.M. Our guests find ascending towards Camp 7, Camp 8, Camp 9 and Camp 10 (the summit) with extreme difficulty though I still initiated to take some pictures to capture the action while my group mates were ascending the summit. We were at the summit at 12:06 Noon and stayed a little bit longer. We resumed a more relaxed trekking towards the new trail passing on a narrow and breathtaking ridge. We arrived at the New Trail registration camp which cost us P20 per head at 1:49 P.M. and stayed longer for our late lunch. We arrived in the exit point of the New Trail at 2:14 P.M. and stayed longer for a buco treat costing P20 per order. An endless trekking followed up to the jump off point at 4:15 P.M. where we took a tricycle to take us to Evercrest. Anthony and Raymund left earlier due to scheduled appointment. The rest of us in the group had fixed and cleaned up ourselves in the available stores and took a 22-minute jeepney ride for P17 per head to Tagaytay City for a Special Bulalo treat at the Diner’s Restaurant. Bus rate from Tagaytay City to Pasay is P87 per head. We arrived Pasay City at 9:09 P.M.

MOUNT BATULAO FOR THE SECOND TIME

This climb in Mount Batulao in Nasugbu Batangas is dated August 30, 2010 with Jrich Macasero, a very good friend from Philippine National Bank Mountaineering Club. It has an elevation of 811 meters above sea level or an equivalent of 2,660.08 feet. We had contracted a young boy who served to be our guide in the name of Randy Brusas. Actually, we do not need a guide but as part of helping the kids there, we took him as our guide. Jrich, Randy and I started our climb from the Evercrest jump-off point at 7:54 A.M. and we were in the summit at 11:09 A.M. We had a lot of stopover for the picture taking including the halo-halo refreshments along our trail. We cooked and had our lunch in the summit. We were actually using the old trail and in descending, we trailed towards the new trail. We were in the jump-off point at 2:55 P.M. It was a fantastic climb for the second time where my first time was wayback 1998 as an of the initiates of PNB Mountaineering Club. By that time, the sun was not so hot and there was no rain. There was a perfect weather then. Thanks God and thanks also to Jrich who volunteered to be my photographer and also to Randy who was with us telling us so many stories about the mountain and his family.