My friends and I decided to go to Baguio for a weekend. Normally, I wouldn't be all that interested to travel such a long distance for just a weekend but I know that Baguio is now "only" about 4-5 hours away from Manila due to TPLEX. I also hadn't been to Baguio in such a long time that I felt I wanted to make this two-day trip despite the distance.
The last time I was in Baguio was in 2004, when my friends and I went up Mt. Pulag. However, that doesn't really qualifies as a proper visit to Baguio because we just really passed through. We stopped briefly at our meet-up point in Baguio so that we could convoy all the way to Pulag and on the way home, we just had dinner in Baguio before heading back to Manila. Prior to 2004, I went to Baguio in 1996 for an inter-university contest held in St. Louis University so I didn't get to go around Baguio that time either. The last time I actually really got to go around Baguio was in 1995, but I barely remember what places we visited when we were there.
This trip didn't really have a fixed itinerary but I told my friends that I wanted to go to Mines View Park (for the photo op LOL) and so that I could buy strawberry jam and ube jam in Good Shepherd which is just right next to the park. There were a lot of people when we went there but thankfully, we all still managed to have photos taken with the view.
I am also pretty happy that I was able to get three bottles of strawberry jam and four bottles of ube jam from Good Shepherd. My friends who had been to Baguio recently said that there was supposed to be a maximum number of bottles that people were allowed to buy. Thankfully, when we were there, we were told that we could buy as many bottles as we wanted. Also, in almost all my trips to Good Shepherd in Tagaytay, I had almost never been able to get strawberry jam there because it was always out of stock so I was pleased to finally get my hands on a few bottles of strawberry jam here. It also rained quite heavily when we were there. Thankfully, the rain didn't last very long.
The original plan was for us to go to Camp John Hay that afternoon but because it rained, the ground was quite muddy. As such, we decided to go to Bencab Museum instead (we initially agreed to go to the museum on Sunday morning). That worked for me since Bencab Museum was the other place that I absolutely wanted to visit.
I really enjoyed my visit here. The museum featured a lot of different artistic styles and media. I could easily have spent a whole day here just appreciating everything on display. Naturally, a lot of pieces featured in the museum are creations of National Artist Benedicto Cabrera but pieces from many other artists are also on display.
The museum also has a cafe at the lowest level. There is also a garden open to visitors. It was very foggy when we were there but that actually made for some interesting photos.
Of all the restaurants that my friends and I visited while in Baguio, my favorite by far was the first place we went to: Arca's Yard. The food was pretty good and their coffee has a free refill. There are some incredible views of the mountains and there's an awesome library at the basement of the cafe. I can imagine spending an entire day at this cafe, eating, having coffee, and maybe even reading a book from the library. It's a bit far from the city center but I did feel it was worth a trip.
I decided to leave earlier than everyone else on Sunday because I wasn't feeling all that well. I think the difficulty of driving - there was a lot of roadwork being done while we were there - and parking stressed me out a lot. (Travel tip: if you decide to drive to Baguio, you might want to just leave your car at the place you are staying and take taxis while you are there. Parking is extremely difficult.) Add to this the fact that it was cold and rainy and you have the perfect recipe for getting sick. After checking out of our Airbnb place (which I recommend), my friends and I had lunch in Good Taste before I bade them farewell and headed home. As such, I actually really only spent one day in Baguio. Despite this, and despite the fact that I actually got a bit sick, it was still a pretty awesome trip to a place I hadn't been to in years.
The last time I was in Baguio was in 2004, when my friends and I went up Mt. Pulag. However, that doesn't really qualifies as a proper visit to Baguio because we just really passed through. We stopped briefly at our meet-up point in Baguio so that we could convoy all the way to Pulag and on the way home, we just had dinner in Baguio before heading back to Manila. Prior to 2004, I went to Baguio in 1996 for an inter-university contest held in St. Louis University so I didn't get to go around Baguio that time either. The last time I actually really got to go around Baguio was in 1995, but I barely remember what places we visited when we were there.
Awesome view of the sunrise at our Airbnb place
This trip didn't really have a fixed itinerary but I told my friends that I wanted to go to Mines View Park (for the photo op LOL) and so that I could buy strawberry jam and ube jam in Good Shepherd which is just right next to the park. There were a lot of people when we went there but thankfully, we all still managed to have photos taken with the view.
Mines View Park
I am also pretty happy that I was able to get three bottles of strawberry jam and four bottles of ube jam from Good Shepherd. My friends who had been to Baguio recently said that there was supposed to be a maximum number of bottles that people were allowed to buy. Thankfully, when we were there, we were told that we could buy as many bottles as we wanted. Also, in almost all my trips to Good Shepherd in Tagaytay, I had almost never been able to get strawberry jam there because it was always out of stock so I was pleased to finally get my hands on a few bottles of strawberry jam here. It also rained quite heavily when we were there. Thankfully, the rain didn't last very long.
The original plan was for us to go to Camp John Hay that afternoon but because it rained, the ground was quite muddy. As such, we decided to go to Bencab Museum instead (we initially agreed to go to the museum on Sunday morning). That worked for me since Bencab Museum was the other place that I absolutely wanted to visit.
I really enjoyed my visit here. The museum featured a lot of different artistic styles and media. I could easily have spent a whole day here just appreciating everything on display. Naturally, a lot of pieces featured in the museum are creations of National Artist Benedicto Cabrera but pieces from many other artists are also on display.
Tribal Masks by Bencab (mixed media)
Chinamoy (season) by Cawaon Cablog (Oil on canvas)
The museum also has a cafe at the lowest level. There is also a garden open to visitors. It was very foggy when we were there but that actually made for some interesting photos.
Garden at the Bencab Museum
Of all the restaurants that my friends and I visited while in Baguio, my favorite by far was the first place we went to: Arca's Yard. The food was pretty good and their coffee has a free refill. There are some incredible views of the mountains and there's an awesome library at the basement of the cafe. I can imagine spending an entire day at this cafe, eating, having coffee, and maybe even reading a book from the library. It's a bit far from the city center but I did feel it was worth a trip.
Library in Arca's Yard
I decided to leave earlier than everyone else on Sunday because I wasn't feeling all that well. I think the difficulty of driving - there was a lot of roadwork being done while we were there - and parking stressed me out a lot. (Travel tip: if you decide to drive to Baguio, you might want to just leave your car at the place you are staying and take taxis while you are there. Parking is extremely difficult.) Add to this the fact that it was cold and rainy and you have the perfect recipe for getting sick. After checking out of our Airbnb place (which I recommend), my friends and I had lunch in Good Taste before I bade them farewell and headed home. As such, I actually really only spent one day in Baguio. Despite this, and despite the fact that I actually got a bit sick, it was still a pretty awesome trip to a place I hadn't been to in years.
No comments:
Post a Comment