Tag: Baguio

Baguio 2014 || Baguio City Market + Oh My Gulay + Camp John Hay + Choco-late de Batirol + Christmas Village

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For our last day, we spent the entire morning at Baguio City Market buying pasalubong and cheap vegetables. When we saw a lottery stall, C and I bought scratch cards. Who knows, we’ve been lucky so far? 🙂

I had to bring C to Oh My Gulay – where we had to climb four flights of stairs carrying kilos of vegetables and four brooms. Haha!

Kabute Pasta for C

Lumpia Salad

Oh My Gulay Rice

Once we checked out of the hotel and gathered all our belongings inside the car, C and I went to our last stop in Baguio. Camp John Hay.

C were just driving around when we saw the sign that said “Mini Golf”. I have never played any kind of golf before while C has had experience. But after 18 holes, though, I won! I play to win, you know. 😀

We then roamed around Camp John Hay and found ourselves at the Bell House.

The Cemetery of Negativism would’ve been great if only there were no statues missing and all the tombstones are readable.

I told C that I wanted to try Choco-late de Batirol, however, we couldn’t find it. I was busy trying to fend off sleep (semi-napping in the passenger seat) when I noticed C park on the quaint driveway of the cafe. We each had Choco Mallows which tasted infinitely better than the version Swiss Miss have and very reminiscent of choc-nut. We also had their steaming hot bibingka to eat with the chocolate drink. Yum!

We passed by Christmas Village in Baguio Country Club earlier that day and decided that it was to be our last stop at Baguio. It was a good idea (if I must say so), given that it was prettier at night with all the lights on and the fake snow (soap foam). It would have been very picturesque if not for the swarm of people inside. Well, at least we got a few decent shots here and there.

C and I both changed in the car (hihihi) before going back home, and in turn, reality (work!). The funny thing though, is that traveling in a confined space for more than 600 kilometers, instead of driving the both of us crazy (in a bad way), we felt closer than ever. There is nothing like off-key singing, foggy mornings and comfortable silence to strengthen a bond. ❤

I am so glad to have spend seven Christmas holidays with this guy. I cannot wait for more. 🙂

Baguio 2014 || The Mansion + Wright Park + 50s Diner + Session Road + Burnham Park

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I hope everyone had a nice Christmas day! 🙂 Rousing C from a 3-hour nap isn’t as easy as one would imagine, but I accomplished it and also managed to convince him to walk to The Mansion. Thankfully, the weather conditions made C amenable to the idea of walking. And so we walked. I honestly want to live somewhere cold enough to wear layers of clothes on, but that would mean practically moving out of the country.. or moving to Baguio/Sagada area.

The Mansion is the official summer residence of the president – hence, tourists are not allowed inside.

Right across The Mansion is Wright Park (again). Every time I think about this place in my head, I revert to my childhood memories and sometimes get underwhelmed at how it looks like in the present.

C has never had strawberry taho (silken tofu treat with caramel syrup) in Baguio, so we bought some when we saw a peddler.

And some corn after eating taho. Hahaha! Aren’t we great food buddies?

You can dress up in Igorot costumes for Php 20/person and take unlimited photos. Yup, the best couple shot ever coming ahead. Hahaha!

Tourist spots will be amiss without souvenir shops. C and I didn’t buy anything here though because the prices were jacked up.

C was so exhausted with all the stairs we had to take so I brought him to Glenn 50’s Diner. C had Grandma’s Fried Chicken which had three ginormous fried chicken pieces.

And I had She – which included a piece of beef, pork chop, fish, fried chicken and a jumbo hot dog. #foodcoma

We decided to walk to Session Road from the diner because we were both so full and a kilometer walk did not sound that bad at all. However, we made a pit stop at SM Baguio (which was spilling over with people) before resuming the trek to the infamous road.

It started drizzling when we got to Session Road and we couldn’t find any food establishment we can sit in, so we went on walking the length of Session Road (after trying for more than an hour to hail a cab). We went to Burnham Park and the night market/ukay, _ignoring the drizzle, and decided to make the most out of it. Hailing a cab in that particular part of Baguio at night proved to be such a pain in the ass (and literally in my calves, legs, feet, back, head.. you get the picture).

When we got back to our room, we spent the rest of our time awake, munching on junk food while watching the television. I didn’t even notice when we both passed out from exhaustion. Haha! All in all, a day well spent with this awesome guy. ❤

Baguio 2014 || Ketchup Food Community + Horseback riding at Wright Park

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One of the things C and I tend to do at least once a week is meet up in Alabang. We’re usually both coming from work, and I get dropped off by the shuttle at Town and he drives by to wherever I’m waiting to pick me up. We proceed to a coffee shop or a cafe, sit down and just talk about our day (or our week).

On our way home, we were both singing to an Eraserheads song, when we decided to go on a road trip for the weekend! Since we were stuck in traffic, I started looking for a place to stay and a few days later, settled on Ridgewood Residence. I wouldn’t recommend it to my friends, though. The staff may be super nice, and the location quite favorable (for me, I don’t like staying within the vicinity of busy Session Road) – but for Php 3,100 – the room we stayed in have seen better days (it was quite worn out as evidenced by the peeling paint on the walls and the rusty balcony) and the breakfast buffet literally left a lot to be desired (it’s not really a buffet if you only serve garlic rice, longanisa, egg, Koko Krunch + milk, marshmallows and coffee on a Sunday morning during peak season).

After driving all night (and staying awake in my case while C drives) and arriving early Saturday morning, we arrived at the hotel/apartelle. Unfortunately for us, our room is not yet ready and we were advised to check in around noon. Hence, we decided to explore the nearby Ketchup Food Community.

I was told that Happy Tummy will certainly make my tummy happy (hehehe), so I insisted we eat our breakfast there. I had the Frankfurter meal (doesn’t look like a Frankfurter but okay) and coffee.. nothing spectacular. C had the bacon meal and went meh.

We crossed the road to get to Wright Park – and to where you can go horseback riding! C and I have had this inside joke about riding horses and horse-drawn carriages (it is so not dirty!) for years so we did not pass up on the chance to rent a horse. We rented a horse for an hour and a guide. Instead of riding down the usual track, we went for the scenic ride. The guide (we honestly forgot his name) had my camera the entire ride and he took about a hundred shots of C and me. Most of those shots were candid and very teleserye-ish. Haha! It was C’s first time to ride a horse, while I have had enough experience to know how to make the one I was on run and handle it (my parents let me ride a horse without a guide whenever we were in Baguio since I was a kid.. which used to be often since my grandparents lived in Pangasinan and dad went to school in Baguio). I kept having to stop and wait for C and the guide. C was seated on a rather stubborn horse that refused to budge at times.

When we got back to Wright Park, it was already noon so we went back to the hotel to rest for a few hours. What we did for the rest of the day on my next post! How have you guys been spending your holidays? 🙂