Sanctuario del Santo Nino or Church of San Juan del Monte

One of the nicest churches I’ve been to is Sanctuario del Santo Nino tucked away in San Juan, Metro Manila. I first passed by this Church when I went with my mom to pick up my sister currently working as a nurse at the St. Martin de Porres Charity Hospital situated beside the church. I was awed by the simple but compelling beauty of the church since then.A bit of history.The marker found beside the entrance to the convent shares a bit of history about the chuch known also as the Church of San Juan Del Monte.

The church and convent were built in 1602 to 1604 by the Dominican Province
of the Most Holy Rosary on a site donated by Capitan Julian de Cuenca. Both
buildings were burned during the Chinese uprising of 1639. The new church and
convent constructed in 1641 were set on fire in July 1763 during the British
occupation of Manila. The present church and convent constructed in 1774 were
used by the insurgent forces of the revolution of 1898. This Sactuary is the
seat of the cofraternity of Santisimo Cristo de San Juan Del Monte approved by
Pope Innocent X on March 4, 1648.

- Historical Research and Markers Committee

inside the Church

Hmm.. Come to think of it, the town of San Juan could actually have been named after this Church.

The long wooden beams give a rustic feel. I loved the stained glass windows too.

So how do you get here?

Sanctuario del Santo Nino is tucked away in the middle of San Juan. Coming from Quezon Avenue, you’d need to make a turn for Araneta Avenue. Just follow the road til you reach the end of it where you’d have to take a left turn. Make a right turn at F. Blumentritt St. (you won’t miss it, there’s a 711 convenience store by the corner) and go straight ahead. It’s right after the Dominican College. You’d definitely see it right away.

Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte: Boracay of the North

Early this year, R expressed his intentions of heading out to the beach. We agreed on a date, but failed to really prepare for it. We were suppose to take the bus but RC volunteered to bring their van. I was able to invite a couple more people, and everything was set a few days before we actually took off.

March 30. Friday. Destination: Pagudpud.

the arch that says it all

RC fetched me from work, where we met up with R. We picked up M on our way to my place where A, JP, J, D and B had been waiting for us. By 1130pm, we were on the road. Unfortunately, before we even got to NLEX, 2 police officers in a car apprehended us. Don’t ask. They seemed like they were power tripping. After they let us go, things went smoothly til we got to Bangued where the van started to uncontrollably heat up. We had to make a series of stops to revent it from overheating. It was all good though, we got to take a bruch break at Vigan where most of my companions had never been to. After some photo op, we were back on the road.

When we finally saw a radiator shop in Laoag, B decided to have the problem fixed once and for all. We probably spent an hour or so there, watching manong and his assistant work. When they finally finished, we were on a roll! We did get lost a couple of times but this didn’t really dampen our spirits. We even stopped for a bit to take pictures of the gigantic windmills that can be seen from the hi-way. We finally reached Saud at around 5pm. I wasn’t sure if everyone was with me then, but since we were already near the infamous Blue Lagoon, I ad begged for us to find it.

by the rocky part of the cove

The trip to the Blue Lagoon was probably the longest 15 minutes of our lives. There was a time when we thought we’d never get there. But after a number of heart-stopping turns up, and down the steep slopes of the national highway, we finally saw the turn, lolo, the last person we askd directions from, was talking about. We had to deal with 5 minutes or so of another stretch of long steep roads until we got to the picnic area. We drove off further til we reached the first resort in sight.

sunrise in Pagudpud

After more than 18 hours on the road, we finally settled at Agua Seda, a resort owned by a former school teacher from Bais, who was very accomodating. We did take a dip in the lagoon for a bit before succumbing to hunger and weariness. We had some sinigang and grilled parrot fish for dinner which we bought from the locals. The following morning was spent exploring the area and of course, enjoying the sun and the sea.

enjoying the makeshift balsa and the sea

the lagoon

The blue lagoon is simply spectacular! The water is clear, the sand’s color is indeed comparable to that of Boracay’s, and best of all, we had it all to ourselves. We finally left the place a few minutes before 12noon but decided to pass by the stalls in front of Bingbong’s Restaurant as suggested by the resort owner, where we were able to buy lobsters at P300/kilo.

with the lobster

We would have probably enjoyed our trip better if we exactly knew how to get there and if we weren’t pressed for time.

Note: The only resorts within the area are Agua Seda Beach Resort (for inquiries, you may contact the owner at 0920-2431832 or 0920-4252709) and Kapuluan Vista Resort.