February 1, 2008 (1:00AM)
My hubby and I at the edsa pasay victory liner waiting area rested our feet, while waiting for our 2am trip to Baguio...
Arrived around 8:30am in Baguio, before we even reach the bus terminal we decided to walk since the bus was not moving at all due to the parade. We learned that it was the start of the Panagbenga Festival. Armed with a map of the city, we looked for the Cathedral (also referred to as the Lady of Atonement). We were able to find the church by tracking first the post office. There's a shortcut going to the church behind the post office.
We said our prayers, then looked for the Baguio-Benguet Cooperative Center (BBCC), the place where we had our reservations for one night. The room rate was very affordable, its only 300/head. Also, BBCC is located at assumption road cor. Gen Luna Ave. It is just a walk from session road.
When we finally got to the place, we were dismayed because the room reserved for us was located at basement 3 of the building. It was creepy. So, I asked our contact person, to transfer us to a different room. They had rooms with 6 single beds and another room with 4 matrimonial beds. We chose the room with matrimonial beds since it has a great view of the city, we just added 100 (so we only paid Php350/person). There was a separate toilet and bath (with hot shower) but the room was way better compared to the first one .
We just freshen up a bit then walked to session road and then had lunch at Burnham Park.
After that, we took a taxi going to Mines View, the fare was I think Php45. We had fun taking pictures at the place. My hubby enjoyed the view, though it wasn't like 10 years ago.
We then went to goodshepherd, we just walked along the series of stalls selling all kinds of stuff.
We bought strawberry jam (Php190) and peanut brittle (Php125). We also tried the strawberry calamansi juice and baked siopao.
My hubby was not feeling well that time, so we decided to go back to BBCC to rest. We just passed Wright Park, Botanical Garden, and the Mansion. We weren't able to visit these sites. Anyway, we rested the whole afternoon at BBCC.
I think it was around 4pm that day when we toured session road and the ukayan stalls. We waited till it was dark before we went to SM Baguio. My friends said that the mall has a great view of the city and it really did. It was quite romantic, actually. We dined at a restau grill at the 2nd floor, with a view of the city. We were lucky at that time, because there was 5-10mins fireworks display.
We then had coffee at Cafe deli, one of the coffeshops along session road. We orderd brewed coffee (Php35/cup) and fries (Php40+). We stayed there for 2-3 hours. Just enjoyed each other's company.
February 2 (Saturday)
We got up early, wore jogging pants and sweaters, we took a taxi going to Lourdes Grotto. We bought candles (Php20/8pcs). There vendors selling flower offerings. Also, when you reach the top of the Grotto you'll see stalls selling all kinds of Baguio products. When said our prayers and then took pics.
Our next itinerary was PMA, we were informed that there will doing a silent drill for the day. We enjoyed the scenery at PMA. We just walked from the PMA gate to the PMA building. We were also able to buy 2 PMA shirts for Php250.
From PMA grounds, we just rode a jeep going to Camp John Hay, fare was only Php11/person. We had fun posing at the butterfly farm (with Php40 entrance fee/person).
We rested at the Choco Batirol Reastau, we bough their traditional choco and bibingka.
From Camp John Hay we headed back to BBCC to check out. I already texted the Bluemountain hotel that we will be checking in. By the way, the hotel is located at 18 Marcos Highway, we regretted that we didn't stay here on day1. We found it more convenient compared to BBCC. There's a grocery store plus eatery below the hotel and it is just 5-10 mins. from the city by jeep/taxi. Each room has a terrace. You may chose the mountain side with a slightly higher room rate.
We rested for a few hours. Made our way back to the victory liner terminal to purchase advance bus tickets for the next day. We then walked to ukayan area in session road, Burnham Park, and then to the Public Market.
Tip for those planning to buy pasalubongs. There are so many choices at the market, like me you might get confuse on what products to buy. According to my friends, if you want to buy peanut brittle, choose "Romano" brand. We enjoyed our ukay-ukay escapade. We decided to have dinner at the hotel.
February 3 (Friday)
We woke up late. We thought that we won't have time to go to La Trinidad (Strawberry farm), so we just decided to attend mass at the Cathedral. Funny though, because we did not understand a word, I think the dialect used was Ilocano. We then toured the city on foot. By 10:30am we headed back to the hotel, rested and then checked out at 12:30pm. Our trip was 1:10pm.
The waiting area at victory liner was quite clean. There were also many passengers lining up. We arrived in Manila at 8:00pm.
All in all. This was a much needed get-away for both of us. Though Baguio city has become congested. We still enjoyed every minutes of our stay... Can't wait for another romantic trip with my hubby.
