I attended a Wedding Ceremony and Party in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija. I had been assigned in this place as a Brigade Commander of the 702nd Brigade of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army. My Headquarters is located in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija which is the adjacent municipality where the Wedding was held. The reason why I attended this wedding is because of an invitation from the relative of the bride. The relative happens to be a very close friend of mine whom I knew as a runner.

The church is located in a place where there are a lot of trees and it seems it is located in a forest. The place is very green and the air around is very refreshing. It has a lot of parking speces and shaded parts. The chapel is a small place which can accommodate only about 50-80 persons. It is a very private place!

I was seated at the second to the last row of bench inside the church and I just observed the people and the rites that was being held. This is the second wedding party that I have attended for the month of May this year. I will describe the first wedding that I attended on May 5, which was a Monday, the start of the week, in my next blog. After more than hour of observing on what were going on on the rites, I left the place, in convoy with my friend’s entourage to the place of the Reception Party.

The reception place is far from the place of the Chapel and in my estimate, it was almost 10 kilometers away which took us 20-30 minutes of easy driving in a paved/cemented road with no other vehicles around. We finally arrived at the Reception Place which is a Mountain Resort and Camping Ground. It is located in the mountains of Palayan City and it is overlooking Fort Magsaysay where I had my Special Forces and Airborne training when I was assigned at the Special Operations Command of the Philippine Army. I was surprised to see the place as it is very new. I think the place is only only one or two-year old place. The place is called The Nest and it could be searched through Google.

The reception party was held on the 2nd floor of the main building of the Resort. The Hall was just enough for 100-150 guests and the tables were arranged to accommodate such number of people. In other words, the place was packed with guests. The ceremony was managed by those called Wedding Planners and the rites/program/ceremony was too long and boring for old people like. After one hour of waiting and watching the program being held, my friend decided to leave the place together with his family and he brought me with him and we went to the restaurant within the Resort.

We had a sumptuous lunch and we had long conversation after almost two years of not seeing each other. It was a good way to bring the good old days when we were still strong as runners and ultrarunners.