MY BIRTHDAY WITH NATURE

For a change I decided to spend my birthday this year in Sierra Madre Resort in Tanay, Rizal. These past few months I’ve been longing to spend time with God in a secluded place and be one with nature. So I thought my birthday would be a perfect time to make it happen.

Sierra Madre Resort is actually a 15 hectare property surrounded by mountains. There are suites, camping site, spring watered swimming pool, hanging bridge, falls, lagoon and golf course. The camp site however is still a few meters away from the entrance and located at the lower part of the mountain.

Eds, Weng and I brought a sleeping bag, camping tent and blanket to use for our overnight stay at the camping site. I was quite excited since it was my first time to sleep in a tent. But the two-hour travel from Cubao seemed so stressful that we almost lost our energy when we arrived at the resort at 3 pm. Much worse, the rain poured out heavily so we ended up in the chapel near the swimming pool. Eds and I wondered how we were going to pitch our tent in a drench area. Before disappointment sets in, we posed and prayed for awhile. Finally after 30 minutes the rain stopped and the sunlight came out.

We started looking for a good site to pitch our tent and we found a spot at the poolside. With the help of the staff, we quickly put up our tent and excitedly rested inside. What a nice experience! Then we ate the food we bought at the Farmers Market earlier, rice in a box, fish cracker and bread. It was a sort of picnic for the three of us.

The next thing we did was to take pictures of the place and ourselves. But sad to say, as a girl who grew up in a suburban area, the place is not that appealing to me. What I only appreciate is the nature and the experience of sleeping in a tent.Before darkness covered the surrounding, the guide took us to Sto. Niño Falls which is a few minutes walk from the site. We went down and passed through a small lagoon and a hanging bridge. The steps were slippery due to rainfall earlier so we were extra careful as we took the path.

As soon as we came back, we took a shower and settled in a round table to observe the place. Since it was my birthday, I expected a lot of text messages. But to my dismay, when I checked out my mobile phone, there was no signal. So that's what exactly means to be in a secluded place, huh!

The night was a night of sharing with my best friend Eds. After reading the Bible, we shared about what God has done in our lives, our hopes, our future plans and our dreams. I really appreciate this friend of mine, she even took time just to be with me on my birthday. We talked until midnight inside our tent then sleep took over us.

In the morning, I woke up at the sound of the rainfall above our tent, it was raining! We had no choice but to fold our tent under the rain. Then we packed our bags and settled to leave. On our way going up, the rain stopped so we took the opportunity to take more pictures. I realized that Sierra Madre can be compared with Baguio, it’s also a cold place and surrounded by trees and mountains. In a few minutes, we reached the upper part and found ourselves playing at the hanging bridge. We ate our late breakfast and left the resort at 10 am. It was fun! Despite of the bad weather, I still enjoyed my birthday with God and nature.

Date: March 25-26, 2009

Place: Sierra Madre Resort

Budget: Php 800.00