There are still a few patches of serene and picturesque areas amidst the urban chaos of Baguio City. And the Baguio Country Club (BCC) is most definitely one of those remnants of Baguio City's old charm. It was a great opportunity for me to relax after a tight schedule the last two weeks.
As soon as I arrived in Baguio, I went straight to the BCC since I wanted to rest before my cousin's wedding. I had a late lunch at the veranda and chatted with my relatives who were also billeted there. Then it was a power nap before proceeding to the church.The reception was at the ballroom of the BCC. The food was great! But I had to eat in moderation. Sigh! Anyway, I woke up late the next day since I didn't have any sleep the night before.
After lunch at the veranda, it was time for some recreational activities at the club's many facilities. I was toured around the golf course on a golf cart by the facilities manager. Then we passed by their new driving range and golf academy. It's an unusual driving range since it isn't flat. This is so that you could familiarize yourself with the terrain of the BCC golf course. And yes, I was given lessons at the golf academy. Looks like I'll try that more often.
Later in the evening, I went bowling at the bowling alley at the basement. Then I met up with my brod Jaysie at the veranda for dinner. Then I went back to the driving range for more practice shots. Then went back to the bowling alley, this time with my cousins, Carlo and Michelle for more frames. I was definitely maximizing my stay at the BCC. Haha! If I only knew there was a heated pool and jacuzzi, I would have brought some swimming gear. Anyway, after all those activities, it was off to bed for me.
Here is a photo from Carlo and Michelle's wedding reception at the ballroom of the Baguio Country Club...
Just received some horrible news from Baguio City! They are planning to build a bus terminal and multi-level vending station in Burnham Park. Some Baguio City officials really do not know how to preserve the city's heritage and the little charm it has left. The proponent is Councilor Perlita Rondez, chair of the tourism committee of the Baguio City Council. I hope this project is stopped. Let's keep what's left of Burnham Park an open space!
At least Councilor Elaine Sembrano, chair of market, trade and commerce committee, said that “vending in parks must not be encouraged.” For more details, read Burnham Park market, parking area mulled.Related articleHere are some excerpts from Remember Teachers Camp?:
"The distinct Baguio identity of mountainous terrain with green-and-white architecture nestled under pine trees is fast vanishing. The single largest remaining ensemble of that identity survives in Teachers Camp. Although no other city in Asia or in the Philippines has an identity like Baguio's, the identity today is vanishing rapidly."Unregulated development has caused Baguio to lose its luster as the Philippines' most popular mountain retreat. Nondescript concrete buildings and residences have replaced the traditional green-and-white architecture. Informal settlers' shanties now cover urban mountain vistas, once open green spaces, in sheets of rusted tin roofing."Pine trees, once a familiar sight of Baguio landscape, have practically disappeared. Heritage, whether urban, architectural, or landscape, neither protected by legislation or by zoning, does not appear to be within the sphere of interest of most city authorities and residents, therefore urban and architectural heritage is going fast, and vanishing rapidly also is its landmark umbrella of pines and multicolored flowers."Present-day Baguio is homogenizing into the generic, typical look of 21st-century Philippine cities. Only its mountainous terrain now reminds us that once this was the glorious Summer Capital of our Land and the only American Hill Station in Asia."Since Baguio mystique and tradition are practically gone today, it is necessary to maintain whatever is left of its urban, architectural, and environmental traditions for the future."
Today was the last day of our road trip. We got up just in time for the complimentary breakfast at Villa Cordillera. Eating at the hotel restaurant Le Terrace is always a great experience since the panoramic view of the pine tree-covered hill behind the hotel is very relaxing to the senses. After paying our hotel bill, we were off to La Trinidad's strawberry fields.
Right beside the boundary arch between Baguio City and La Trinidad is the entrance of one of Baguio's hidden secrets, a Chinese temple called Bell Church. Not many people know about it since it's quite far from all the other city attractions. And today, it is easily obscured by all the urban chaos that sadly accumulated along the way to La Trinidad. We decided to stopover for a few minutes to check it out.
It's my second time to visit the strawberry fields in two weeks. Picking strawberries was a bit cheaper this time around at PHP150 a kilo. The price of those sold by the vendors was the same too and I got several kilos of strawberries for PHP70 each. We had lunch at Kalei's. The place and ambiance is much better that where Jolly Yan is located. And the food, just as affordable with its "meat plus meat" at PHP50. But I still think the home-cooked meals of Jolly Yan are worth the visit.
After lunch, we left Doc Ryan in La Trinidad and began our trip back to Metro Manila via Kennon Road. For most people, since the trip back to Manila is relatively long and tiring, they just keep on driving as fast as they could down Kennon Road. And as a result, we rarely notice the scenery along the route. I'm sure we've all seen the waterfalls along the route. But have you ever stopped to check them out up close?Bridal Veil Falls actually caught our fancy since there was a pedestrian suspension bridge that connected it to Kennon Road. So we parked the car in front of a store and crossed the makeshift bridge. Below us was a mountain stream that emptied into a vast riverbed further down the road. I guess the falls got its name from the fact that it resembled a bridal veil as the water cascaded down the smoothened rock into a small pool.
I really think that the entire length of Kennon Road should be declared a protected cultural landscape because most of the scenic route - the picturesque view of the mountains, lush vegetation and pine trees - is still intact. There is a need to regulate the construction of new structures in order to protect the historical fabric of our country's oldest mountain road which was completed in 1905. I hope the National Historical Institute or the National Museum act fast before it's too late.
Anyway, we finally crossed the Benguet-La Union boundary and just a few kilometers away, the boundary of Pangasinan. I had to pass by Rosales for a while to talk with the mayor. I was pleasantly surprised that the restoration of the old municipal hall was finally complete. Unlike other towns such as Moncada, Tarlac which bastardized their elegant colonial-era town halls, Rosales chose to preserve theirs. In fact, even the pre-war statues of a farmer on a carabao with his wife were rehabilitated and repainted, bringing out the vivid colors that were very chic during the pre-war days.
Our last stop for the day was the Isdaan Resaurant in Gerona. This one is an attraction in itself. I congratulate the owners for such a great concept. If you've heard of the Tacsiyapo Wall (tacsiyapo is a Kapampangan expletive), you can find it here. From cups at PHP15, to clocks and working television sets, customers can purchase these items to hurl at a wall to release their anger. On the wall, several target words are painted such as 5/6, ex-wife, professors and classmates; sugal, alak and babae; boss, managers, and supervisors; and many others.
The food is a bit pricey though and expect to spend at least PHP200 per head. But you go here for the experience. And the food is great too. We ordered Innapoy rice rolls for our appetizer which was suman with longganiza, bakang maanghang and chicken curry in it. It's something new and I really liked it. For dinner, we had binalot rice meals. Anyway, after this dinner stopover, we continued our trip back to Manila.I have class tomorrow and a report at that so I guess I'll just be home preparing for it.
Today, I decided to stay in the hotel the whole day to finish pending school requirements. Baguio's climate is so conducive to thinking and sleeping! But Jiajin and Doc Ryan were able to cover a lot of ground. So I'll talk about their adventure here.Baguio being a tourist city has well-established tour options. And one of them is on a taxi. Ryan said that there is a standard rate (according to the driver that is) and a standard three-hour tour on a taxi for PHP700. If you go to the tourist attractions individually, the cost of taxi would total close to that amount so might as well charter one.
On this list of places they visited was the Mansion House which was built and used by the American government as residence and office of American governors-general during the summer months. And has since been used as the official residence of Philippine presidents while they are in Baguio. Near the Mansion House is Wright Park where visitors can go horseback riding.
The two also visited Mines View Park which offers a panoramic view of the old mines in Benguet. I haven't been there for quite a while and I wonder if the view has not been enundated by illegal structures and houses like many of Baguio City's mountain vistas. At the entrance of the park is a flea market where one can buy souvenir items, local food products and plants among others.
Since Jiajin had enough of churches when we went to Ilocos, they skipped the Baguio Cathedral and the Lourdes Grotto and went straight to Camp John Hay, the former rest and recreational facilities of the US Military which was turned over to the Philippines in 1991. It's good that this area of Baguio is still well-preserved. In fact, this is one place of Baguio City that I do not mind visiting because of fresh mountain air and pine trees all over.
Last night, on our way up Naguilan Road, we had our windows down so that we could enjoy the fresh mountain air. The moment we entered the city limits, we had to close the windows again since the exhaust from all those jeeps was just horrible. Anyway, the landscaping at Camp John Hay Manor is simply superb! Last time I was there, my mind wandered in the large garden behind the hotel. It's a great place to relax and unwind.
Another place worth visiting is Fort del Pilar or the Philippine Military Academy. If you are lucky, there may be a parade. I think the cadets where practicing for graduation when Jiajian and Doc Ryan arrived. There is also a park reserved for military relics. But aren't the military equipment used by the AFP today also relics? Hehe! But seriously, I hope the new generation of cadets will really serve the country and not a particular group's political interests.
They then went to the Kennon Road View Deck and Lion's Head along Kennon Road which has become a welcoming landmark of Baguio despite the fact that there are no lions in the city or its history.The only place they went to which I have yet to see is Tam-awan Village. The place contains several authentic Igorot huts which give visitors a window into the old Cordillera way of life. It also plays host to a community of artists which uses the conducive environment to release their creative juices.
I met up with them late in the afternoon at SM since I wanted to check mail (I hadn't seen my mailbox in ages). We decided to have dinner at Don Henrico's. Just like at 50's Diner, Don Henrico's had value meals too. My plate of spaghetti and garlic bread, chicken and fries was PHP140. I didn't expect the servings to be large since for the same amount in Manila, you had small portions.
For our midnight snack, I ordered a pizza for take-out. As soon as we got back at the hotel, we asked the staff to start up the fire at the fireplace on our floor. And we spent the night watching TV and munching on pizza. Tomorrow, we go back to Manila. But Doc Ryan wants to bring Jiajin to La Trinidad, Benguet first to check out the strawberry fields. So I guess we'll have lunch there too before we go down Kennon Road.
It was time for our drive down south to Baguio City. It was a leisurely drive from Pagudpud to Laoag since there were just a few vehicles on the road.
We would have stopped by Bacarra to check out their church, a national cultural treasure, which is known for its gargantuan bell tower. But since we had a long list of churches to visit today, and since I been there already, we decided to skip it and head straight to San Nicolas, just a few kilometers from Laoag.
But before that, we stopped over at the Museo Ilocos Norte so that Jiajin could take a look. At the same time, I needed to take a photo of it for the 2008 HCS Calendar which will feature examples of adaptive reuse. The museum, housed in what was formerly the Tabacalera Building, won the Gawad Alab ng Haraya for Outstanding Cultural Conservation Program (Adaptive Reuse) in 2002.
The San Nicolas town proper has a good collection of colonial buildings including the church and convento, municipal hall and elementary school. We stopped by the church to check it out. Our next stop was Batac to check out the Marcos Mausoleum again. This time it was open and we were able to view the body of President Ferdinand Marcos preserved with wax.In Batac, we also passed by the General Artemio Ricarte Shrine as well as the Gregorio Aglipay Shrine. The town is very lucky since it got a lot of attention when Marcos was president. So there are several monuments, parks and shrines around town. These open spaces are in the town center and provide breathing spaces for Batac residents. Of course, we ate again at the empanadahan. This time i had a "double double" which is a double serving of egg and longganiza inside the empanada.
Another town I had always wanted to check out was Badoc since the reconstructed house of Juan Luna, another national shrine, could be found there. They also have this quaint church, the San Juan Bautista Church, which houses the image La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc. So we stopped over for a few minutes to check them out.
Next on our list was the town of Sinait which is home to a darkened image of the crucified Christ or Cristo del Perdon that has a sizeable following. I was happy to see that the interior of the church was very much intact. Is it something about the priests in the Ilocos Region (Pangasinan not included) since they seem to understand the historical fabric and cultural value of the churches under their stewardship. I hope it stays that way.
From Sinait, passed by Cabugao, then went straight to San Vicente, another town beside Vigan. Just like San Nicolas, it had a nice collection of heritage buildings in the town center. The church still has its original fence. While the school and municipio are of Spanish colonial vintage. The municipio even has a coat of arms embossed on its facade.
Another impressive (but abandoned) structure is the Asilo de San Vicente. An edifice which was once uses as the vacation home of the governor, it became the home of the Community of St. Paul of Chartes Sisters of Asilo de San Vicente when it was turned-over to the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia. Being a home for old women and orphans as well, it house a school as well which the sisters managed until 1946, the year they left San Vicente. It was managed by lay administrators until it closed in 2001.
We made a brief stopover in Vigan to buy woven blankets at the city market. But before that, we made a quick drive along Quirino Boulevard to check out the old houses such as the Quema House and Syquia Mansion.Another stop was the Church of Sta. Maria de la Asuncion, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But we didn't go down anymore since we were a bit tired and I wanted to rush to one last church in that of Luna, La Union, which is a national cultural treasure. I had wanted to check out the one in Bangar since from photos of the interior, I could say that it's one worth stopping over too. But since it was getting dark, we rushed to Luna.
I was a bit disappointed when I entered the Santa Catalina de Alexandria Church in Luna since although the interior was intact, I noticed the santos were quite new for it to be considered a national cultural treasure. In fact, Bangar has ceiling murals which would make it a better choice. But I would later find out from Archt. Richard Bautista of the NCCA that two ivory santos were stolen from the altar which may explain why the santos are new (they must have kept the old ones). At the same time, the built environment it was located in was another factor with a well-preserved colonial town center around it. But sadly, as Richard puts it, the local government "Agoo-fied" (if you notice Agoo, La Union is full of all these fake colonial buildings, while they renovated the facades of their old buildings such as the basilica with this horrible unpainted cement finish) the place.
Anyway, we took Naguilan Road up to Baguio City. It was my first time to use this route and sadly, it was to dark to see the scenery. There are five roads that lead to Baguio namely Kennon Road, Marcos Highway, Naguilan Road, Halsema Highway and a road which connects Baguio to Nueva Vizcaya via Ambuklao Dam, one which I have yet to use. I think we arrived in Baguio at about 8 p.m. and went straight to Villa Cordillera where we had booked our stay.For dinner, we met up with Doc Ryan at the 50's Diner which I really enjoyed since it was value for money as well. Imagine a plate of chicken, spaghetti and garlic bread, a slice of pizza, french fries and pork chop all for PHP100. I don't think Shakey's bunch-of-lunch can beat that!
After an exhausting day the other day, and since I was on vacation, I decided to wake up late yesterday. Ching was up early since she had errands to do and meet some friends too. At 10 a.m., I passed by for her and Joyce at the Baguio Cathedral and from there, we drove to La Trinidad, Benguet to check out the strawberry fields of the Benguet State University.
We easily found the place. You simply made a left in front of the last gate of BSU where a large sign pointed you towards the strawberry fields. We had planned to pick strawberries but since a lot of people had visited the day before, all the ripe strawberries had been harvested already. If you picked your own strawberries, the price at that time was PHP200 per kilo. Anyway, we just walked around the fields and took photos.
Of course, the strawberries there were relatively cheap since they were in season and you were buying them at the source. One kilo of small strawberries was just PHP60. I got the larger strawberries for PHP80 a kilo. There were really large choice strawberries at PHP100 a kilo. I regret not buying more to take back to the lowlands.
The day before, while waiting for the parade, we had strawberry flavored taho on the street. Taho vendors added strawberry bits and syrup to it. In the BSU area, the sorbetero naturally had strawberry ice cream with strawberry bits. Yummy! I also bought a serving of fresh pinipig (or duman to us Kapampangans) which I had been munching on since this morning.From the strawberry fields, we went the Benguet Provincial Capitol to meet up with Ryan. Before lunch, he brought us to the store of the Entrepreneurial Project of BSU to buy some local treats.
Aside from the staple peanut brittle, strawberry jam and ube jam (their ube jam is quite popular), you had pure arabica mountain coffee (PHP50 for 250g); honey products such as creamed honey, raw beepollen and propolis, and honey wine with herbs; yacon and bignay wine; yacon and lemon grass herbal tea, powdered roasted soybean drink; chayote champoy, santol candy and pineapple-papaya jam among others.
We then walked across the street to this hole-in-the-wall type of place for lunch at the Strawberry Fields Arcade at Gladiola Center in front of BSU. Jolly Yan Meals is hidden in one corner but people flock to it since meals are cheap but tasty. The “meat plus meat” package (two meat dishes or your choice) served with mountain rice and soup was just PHP45. Another option was “meat plus veggie” just for PHP35.Anyway, I had to rush back to Pampanga to do some work. So after our trip to the store, we drove down via Kennon Road since we wanted to check out the scenery. Kennon Road is actually a heritage road and its stunning natural scenery should be protected from unsightly urbanization and vandalism.
And sadly, election graffiti was all over the place. Shame on ANC party for painting their initials on every single rock along the road! Same goes to candidates Defensor, Osmena and Pimentel whose names are also painted all over. Mike Defensor even has his non-biodegradable paraphernalia nailed to trees! I hope the Comelec acts on this immediately and issues an ultimatum to candidates and parties to remove the paint before other candidates follow suit as a result of their inaction. Let’s spare Kennon Road and the environment around it from all this election trash!
More photos in Multiply.
After all those years watching the parade on television and seeing photos of the colorful floral floats published in our national dailies, I finally saw the Panagbenga (Baguio Flower Festival) with my own two eyes. It was late when we decided to actually trek up to Baguio City to brave one of the biggest crowds that jampack the city annually.
Since hotels would have been fully-booked and buses filled to the hilt, we decided to drive up on the morning of the float parade, just in time to find a good vantage point for festivities. We left Pampanga at about 12 midnight. It was a sleepy but smooth drive given that heavy traffic was factored out of the picture. So we made it to Baguio close to 3:30 a.m. if I'm not mistaken. We took a quick nap at a place where some friends were staying and at 6 a.m., we were off to Session Road for breakfast.
Our plan was to try out the breakfast meals at Swiss Baker. But since they had a catering service that morning, they did not offer breakfast that day and we were left with the turnovers from the night before. As we were eating, we noticed that the sidewalk was slowly being filled-up so I rushed out to reserve a place for us. To make the long story short, we waited for close to two hours before the parade reached us. By that time, there was layer upon layer of people behind us. So it really paid to come early.
First came the city officials and the superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy followed by the colors borne by cadets from the PMA. Then came two great floats from the Baguio Country Club and Chowking, both in the Hall of Fame. I especially liked the Chowking float which was very creative.
The parade was so orderly and there was enough crowd control and police to keep people within the rope on either side of Session Road. Of course, the floats which were out of place were those of the candidates. When the people carrying the letters CHAVIT passed by our area, everyone shouted "boo!" with their thumbs down. I thought it would have been the same reception when the float with the candidates passed by. But then, Cesar Montano was on it, so the boos became shrieks from fans.
For some reason, we managed to get out of the rope and find a great vantage point in front of the Baguio City Market. How we were able to do that without being noticed by the police is a trade secret. Haha! Anyway, we saw even more floats. I liked the ones from Greenwich and SM (even though I still could not forgive SM for demolishing the Pines Hotel and chopping hundred of pine trees on top of Session Road all in the name of money).
It was nearing lunch and the parade was not yet done. So we decided to call it a day and headed towards St. Joseph's Parish where my SSEAYP batchmate Tanjo Tambol was waiting for us. He treated us to lunch at Villa Cordillera which is of the best-kept secrets of Baguio (for the meantime). Managed by the Baguio Country Club, this hotel and restaurant offers a relaxing view of the green golf course and pine-covered hills.
I was surprised to find out that you could get a room for two here for as low as PHP1000. But that is an introductory price which would change by April. I regret booking elsewhere since there were rooms available when we arrived since as I predicted, everyone would have checked-out and were on the way back to Manila by Sunday afternoon. Anyway, lunch was great and the prices were quite affordable.
Since Baguio City was jampacked, we decided to stay at a spa for the afternoon. Spa Ultima at the top of Session Road was very recommended. We got a full-body massage for just PHP340! By the time we were done, it was already dark so we had dinner at the restaurant above the spa, Broad Meadows Cafe. But the food was nothing special.After dinner, we went back to our inn to rest for a while. At about 10 p.m., we met up with my China-ASEAN batchmate, Dr. Ryan Guinaran who brought us to this cool hang-out called Kaffeeklatsch. The place was very homey with live acoustic perfomances entertaining the guests. The place was out of the way but it had its regular denizens which was not a surprise since it had a very cozy ambiance. After a few ours of chatting, we called it a night.
More photos in Multiply.
When family and friends hear you're on your way to Baguio Country Club, one pasalubong request stands out: raisin bread! The next day, we had breakfast in the Raisin Bread Shop of the BCC. And of course, I bought their signature raisin bread and banana bread to take home.
Don't miss out on their equally famous blueberry muffins among many other muffins. I'm sure their cakes are equally mouth-watering. In fact, the cake display case beckons to every customer who enters. But I had enough sugar for the morning. Also available in the bread shop are deli sausages and cheeses among many other products.
I had wanted to stay an extra night but I had to rush to an evening meeting in Makati. So that ends my 3 weeks of non-stop travel. It's back to school. In a way, it's time for a vacation from my vacation. Hahaha!
