The weather was something I did not expect upon our arrival. I expected a breezy and cool weather just like the one I experienced when I visited the place in March 2011 along with my brother and my  parents who were then celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary. But though my expectations about the weather were not met, I anticipated and looked forward to something wonderful about our 3-day stay in Tagaytay City. It was already past 1pm when we got there on Friday. Our group did not make it for the morning tour which composed of choices at the Sky Ranch, Picnic Grove, Mansion Puzzle, Zipline and Palace in the Sky. Among those options, Picnic Grove is the only spot I've gotten to see as of yet, thus leaving me with good reasons to go visit again  Tagaytay someday. We proceeded to the venue of the conference, waited a little while at the function hall while our coordinators checked on our room assignment. After a few minutes, we headed on to Room 17 at the Elijah Hall which is at the far end of the center, beside the playground and the basketball court. It was already past 2pm when we finished settling down and oh boy, by that time, we haven't had our lunch yet! It's a good thing however, that we have our leaders, Phebe and Len, who gladly did us some favor such as buying lunch for us, among others.  And we were just so grateful for their hearts to serve! They delivered meals to our place, which we enjoyed at the parking lot (we were not allowed to do it anywhere else inside the center). We were in a hurry, and I think I've finished my chicken meal in 5 minutes and after that we proceeded right to our assigned room and prepared for the opening program.

Me during the first day of the conference

Singles from the different sectors gathered at the plenary hall for the opening program. I was greatly encouraged to see the couple, Phua Hee and Angie Low, our guest speakers from Singapore. My fond memories of Angie include a lesson time of our D-group with her. I was not expecting that the couple still know or remember me, but I was glad that when I approached them before the opening program, Angie managed to recognize me that she even took notice of my haircut (I used to have a long hair)! Aside from them, it was also great to see the rest of Filipino singles from Singapore, Joie and Joy,  who have come back here for good, as well as Doris whom at first looked so familiar to me and I thought I've seen in one of the events until we both finally realized that it was in Singapore that we met and got to fellowship with each other !  Oh no! my memory is perforated with holes that I barely recall things! The second day was full packed with different lessons intended to cater to specific and varying needs of the delegates/participants. Among the classes I've attended were the following: (in the morning: Fan (the faith) Into Flame and Stewardship of Talents and Gifts. For afternoon lessons, I chose the classes on Defending the Faith, Church History  and Antidotes of Impurities. It rained hard in the afternoon thus leaving a cool weather in the evening, which I liked very much.  On the third day was the closing program, during which we posted on a big butterfly wall a piece of paper which contains the specific character or areas that we want to change or grow out from. I am hoping that I keep myself reminded of the thing I wrote in there. 

My paper was posted somewhere there!

In the entirety, the conference was awesome! It's true that I was not able to get my desired tour nor fill my cravings for hot soup of bulalo while enjoying a good view of the Taal Volcano. It's true as well that I did not get to experience the windy Tagaytay and the theme park at Lemery, Batangas just like the way I did during my previous visit - but I pretty much enjoyed the conference even so.   By the way, below are some of the photos during my visit in 2011 which captured a windy Tagaytay (take notice of my hair!!! haha!)

This is where we enjoyed a sumptuous bulalo lunch while having a good view of the Taal Volcano.

Do you see how the leaves of the palm tree are being blown by the wind? (I am not sure if it is a palm tree anyway ehe.) That's how strong the wind was when we went to Tagaytay in 2011

ooops! Bad hair day haha!

The tripod could not stand the strong winds (with emphasis on the word "strong")  So I have to ask the guard to take a photo of us :-)