Kiong Hee Huat Tsai! Xin Nien Kwai Le! Happy Chinese New Year!
Warning: This is a super late post! Hahaha! This has been sleeping in my draft folder for almost a year now. But as promised, I'll try my very best to publish all my pending posts, so let's start the ball rolling...
I visited this place twice last year, on February 17 and March 10, thus, I have divided this post into two section...
1st Visit: February 17, 2013
Together with my family, I celebrated my birthday in Lucban, Quezon. I have been longing to see Kamay ni Hesus Shrine (KNHS) and since it was my birthday, I thought that was the best time to go and see the place, magpapaka banal ako kahit sa birthday ko man lang, hahaha!
Warning: This is a super late post! Hahaha! This has been sleeping in my draft folder for almost a year now. But as promised, I'll try my very best to publish all my pending posts, so let's start the ball rolling...
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I visited this place twice last year, on February 17 and March 10, thus, I have divided this post into two section...
1st Visit: February 17, 2013
Together with my family, I celebrated my birthday in Lucban, Quezon. I have been longing to see Kamay ni Hesus Shrine (KNHS) and since it was my birthday, I thought that was the best time to go and see the place, magpapaka banal ako kahit sa birthday ko man lang, hahaha!
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| a group of bikers resting under the marker |
We took the Antipolo route hoping that it was a shorter and less time consuming route. We left our house in QC at around 6 am and arrived at Kamay ni Hesus Shrine by 10:20 am. Ganun din pala, it took us more than 4 hours to get there, wrong timing because the Pagsanjan-Cavinti road was under construction that time so we have no choice but to go around Cavinti area which was an added approximately 1 hour of travel. But nevertheless, we, especially my husband, enjoyed the route and the sight, he had so much fun driving on the winding road connecting Antipolo and Laguna.
We're able to attend the 10:30 am mass. As expected, a crowd of churchgoers filled the place, we were seated at the covered area beside the chapel. Nevertheless, I could still feel the solemnity of the place. People rushed inside the chapel the moment the priest walked around to bless the crowd with holy water.
Beside the chapel are several souvenir shops where one can buy KNHS items for personal use or pasalubong.
It was raining the entire time we were there, so it was difficult for us to enjoy the sceneries and have our picture taking.
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| Noah's Ark |
We made an attempt to reach the peak, but since it was raining, the steps were slippery, thus we decided not to continue with the climb for safety reasons.
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| buti na lang panandaliang tumila ang ulan, may matinong family picture kami ;) |
As the rain would not stop (ang hirap tuloy kumuha ng matinong picture!) we decided not to further explore the place, instead we just had our lunch at Palaisdaan Restaurant.
2nd Visit: March 10, 2013
Since it was raining and I failed to reach the peak the first time we were at KNHS, I promised myself that I would go back to the place and make it to the top. Hence, we joined my cousin's family on their trip to KNHS.
This time we took the SLEX-San Pablo route (the same route we took on our way home on our 1st visit) just to see the time difference compared to the Antipolo route, halos pareho lang din.
Again, we were able to catch the 10:30 am mass. And since we arrived a little early, we were able to get a seat inside the chapel.
Luckily, the weather was nice that time, so we were able to wander through the place.
Finally, my son and I made it to the top!
My son and I, together with his nanny, joined my cousin and her daughters in climbing. My husband and my cousin's husband were left downstairs to rest since they will drive back to Manila, while my mom and aunt stayed in the chapel. In the middle of our climb, my son got too tired climbing the stairs on his own so his nanny and I took turns carrying him up to the top... and we made it, yey! Thus, it was a very fulfilling and memorable experience for me. Relating these experiences in real life perspective, I'll never get tired of carrying/supporting you my son 'til you reach your own summit. ♥
