2022 Baguio Trip: Travel, Dine, and Chill

 

Baguio City, the capital of Benguet Province in the Cordillera Administrative Region, is a famous trourist spot here in the Philippines because of its cold weather all-year round. As The Philippines is well-known to have a humid and hot weather,  Baguio has been the Summer Capital of the country and called as The City of Pines because of pine forests situated in the city. We went here this July and I know that this month won't be a good time to go because of the rainy weather, but anytime in general would be a good time to visit.

Myself and my girls decided to have a quick out-of-town getaway. Why not go to Baguio since we have not gone after a series of quarantine? Also, Baguio has been a safe place for tourists and the city has been open to public. You just need to confirm your booking where you will stay and until when, register online on the LGU, and keep your vaccination card with you. Do not worry, the host of your homestay will help you go through the process. We scheduled our departure at 7am in PITX and rode a Solid North Bus going to Baguio. We would like to start earlier but a friend had work until 5am, not a big deal though since we did not have any itinerary and the only idea was to just relax and chill. If you are wandering how to get there in PITX from Buendia, in front of Pasay City Academy meters away from Mcdonalds Buendia, I waited for a PITX bus. I am not sure if there are buses passing there any time of the day. When I googled how to go days before the trip, I have read that there are jeepneys or e-jeepneys that you can ride. At this time, I have not seen one. There are MOA cab but I am not sure if you can reach PITX when you ride one. It is still better to ask someone.

A quick tip, I recommend to plan your trip ahead and book your accomodation and if you have decided to commute, buy your bus tickets ahead online or reserve your tickets on the PITX ticket booth. This hits hard on us. We get there in PITX before 7am but the available bus tickets that we can purchased was already on 10am schedule. We waited for 3 hrs. Luckily, we did not have plans on this day so this did not stressed us big time. Solid North Bus has two types: Deluxe Buses which has 2x2 seats in a row with portable CR and Luxury Buses which has 2x1 seats in a row with monitor on each seat and portable CR. The bus availability is based on the time you purchased the ticket. No two buses will depart on the same time.

This is inside a Deluxe Solid North Bus. The portable CR is located in the middle right.

We rode the bus 30 minutes early and departed at exactly 10am. The trip will take about 6-7 hours so it is advisable to have a meal before. We reached Baguio at 4pm. It was raining and foggy. Scary to looked at but this was what we came for, right? Or was I the only one who was waiting for this? Guys, do not self-drive if you are not professional enough to drive through this foggy state; this is very dangerous especially that cliff is the other side of the road. Let the professional drivers do their work.

We arrived around 4pm and since we experienced a fully-booked bus schedule, we already bought bus tickets on our way home to this same day. So I also recommend to do this so that you know where the bus terminal is if you are not familiar in the area and have that planned bus schedule. Have you imagined that the bus was half full at this time. Also, on our departure from PITX, we are on the last seats of the bus. The next trip would be 12pm. We are fortunate to have those 3 out of 5 last tickets going to Baguio and take note, we have bought them before 7am for a 10am trip.

Our first stop on this 3-day trip, Vizco's Reastaurant and Cake Shop. Ok, I am a strawberry lover so Baguio City is such a heaven place for me. My agenda is to try as much as I can the strawberry-flavored kinds of food available around. But I am acidic so do not expect for drinks. As much as possible, I will stick to water. We are kinda hungry and this also served as our merienda and dinner at the same time, we ordered pastas for each one of us.

Mine was Baked Chicken Penne, the image on the upper left, next to it was Gambazette Pasta, and the lower image was Fettucine Carbonara. The food is somewhat pricey but they have generous serving. Over-all, the food is tasty and they made us full. But of course, since we were already here, who would not want to try their famous Strawberry Shortcake. This cake has been appeared on so many sites and motion pictures so why not try it for ourselves? We ordered a 6in. of this as takeaway. I also ordered for takeout a piece of strawberry tart and an unfamiliar Strawberry Vinaigrette. For the takeouts, wait for it later.

After we dined in Vizco's, we went to SM City Baguio to bought some goods so whenever we get hungry, we can have something to eat. We actually bought several snacks and canned goods. Yes, we were scared to get hungry. This is the only SM City that I am amazed or I have not gone to any other better than here. I am fascinated with its structural and its architectural design. They truely maximize what Baguio can offer. Anyway, we booked a grabbed car going to the homestay. More than a month ago, we checked AirBnB and booked our accomodation. We booked Lugay's Homestay for 2 nights. It is located near Mines View Park. The hosts are friendly and helpful. They even offered the fireplace and set it up for us. Overall, we had a nice stay. You can easily contact them if you need anything. For 3 girls, the place is somehow bigger. Adding one person is fine. We did not have a problem. The place is serene and from other reviews, the place is also pet-friendly. I truly enjoyed the warm bath. I bathed in the morning and before going to bed. On our first night, we had some chitchat to pass the time since we were not so tired and ate some snacks.

Remember the foods I taked out from Vizco's? I ate them this morning on our 2nd day. The Strawberry Vinaigrette has a unique taste. I was not sure how to describe it but I liked it. It was tasteful and it compliments to the salad. Though they did not liked it, I like strawberries in general so...yeah. The vinaigrette was not so sour, it was with strawberry puree. You can see the consistency of the strawberry. I am so sorry I did not have a picture of this but you need to try it whenever you are in Baguio. Some restaurants aside from Vizco's also offer this.

The goal in our 2nd day is to visit BenCab Museum, buy some yarns in Hangar Market, and check out Baguio Night Market. We went to BenCab Museum before lunch so we can explore it with not too many people. The weather is good at first but then after, it was raining and hoping that it will not last since we still have places to go. But before we went in, we saw a Dirty Ice Cream (Sorbetes) stall with Strawberry and Avocado flavors. Of course, we need to try them. Anything strawberry in Baguio is totally legit, no added flavoring. That is why if you want a true Strawberry flavor, you can never go wrong in Baguio.

Inside the museum, you can take shots with the arts but no flash. There are also artworks and galleries from other artists. Do you like art? Do you like to go to museums or art exhibits? I like museums. Why? I am so fascinated on how they interpreted things using art and different mediums, how an art can make you feel, and how it can reach people in any way possible. You can also see what kind of a person the artist is through his/her art. It is fascinating and emotional at the same time. Here are some that I found more pleasing to me.

On the ground floor of the museum, there is Cafe Sabel and a garden where you can stroll around. There are several dishes available in Cafe Sabel to choose from. Though pricey, they are tasteful. I ordered a burger, my friends ordered an omelet and pancit, and for all-together snacks, we ordered a fingerfood. While resting, we talked about where we will go after. It started raining. Sadly, we removed Baguio Night Market for this day's go-to. So maybe we will just stay in the homestay through the night.

Since it was still early, we came up to the decision to continue our adventure. Fortunately, it was drizzling. We went to burnham park and walk around. The park was wet and we did not know where to go so we go straight to Hangar Market. One of my friends who was with me has a hobby of crocheting. We went to yarn stores and there, she bought kilos of yarns. I will be honest, I never thought that there would be too many types of yarns and have too many colors. They also bought kilos of grounded coffee, different kinds.

While walking along the session road, we reached the staircase of a church. Because I still had full energy at this time, I walked the stairs until I reached Our Lady of Atonement Cathedral. Sadly, I was facing the left side of the church but I had seen the interior of the church after the mass has ended.

We went to SM City Baguio to spent some time because it was still dizzling and to have some rest. Before the sun set, we went to Ili-likha artist village to ate snacks. It composed of many restaurants. Every floor has its own artistry, you can choose what restaurant to dine since the food they serve are somehow different from each other. I ordered a lemonade, and for my friends were black forest coffee and house blend coffee. A friend also ordered potato wedges. I am so sorry, I was so tired at this time. I have not truly appreciated the place but there is this one that intrigued me. I found this scary though. And I attached our pictures of course.

From Ili-likha, we went home. We were not hungry enough so we just ate the Strawberry Shortcake from Vizco's and I ate my fresh fruits I bought in the grocery on our 1st day; they were sliced avocados and sliced dragon fruit. I never thought that they are not familiar with dragon fruit. Anyway, the Strawberry Shortcake had several fresh strawberries. Though the fruits tasted somehow sour, it was complimented by the cream on the cake. The cake in general was not too sweet, it tasted good. Now I know why this is so popular. If you are in Manila, I know that they have a branch near. I will also include here the Strawberry Tart from the same cakeshop. Surprisingly, it was big from what I expected and it was full of strawberries. The inside was filled with cream, I was not sure if it was cream cheese, whipped cream, or cheesecake. Anyway, I liked it. Just try it also and be the judge.

Our last day was Pasalubong day. And we get up early because we wanted to buy Ube Jam from Good Shepherd Convent itself. Yes, it was minutes away from the homestay and minutes away also from Mines View Park. Have I mentioned that walking in Baguio was like working out? This is maybe because of its high location and having thin air. Not to mention the inclination of the roads and walkways. On the Good shepherd Convert, the opening of the gate starts at 10:15AM and also for those who will buy their products. Since their Ube Jam is well-known, tourists can only buy 2 of this. It is better if you will go there when the gate opens because when the line for tourists ends, they will give way to the reseller which I think the locals of the town. Sadly, they have no strawberry products so I need to buy them on the reseller stores. Before I forgot, we ate lunch near Mines View Park. We ate Bulalo for the three of us and danggit breakfast for each. We also had strawberry taho. A fresh taho with strawberry as flavoring is good for the tummy.

View from Bulalohan

We went inside the Mines Vew Park and bought some fresh Strawberries. I have not thought that this was so small. There was a view deck where you can see from above the city of Baguio. A friend of mine said that before, there were no houses to be seen but now, you can see them clearly. But still, we enjoyed it. We stopped by for some time and since there were no other to be seen and we still need to packed things because later was our schedule going home. I just wanted to share that all the prices of pasalubong have increased. Also, a kilo of fresh strawberries now costs Php550. So be financially prepared. Though things have been pricey, it is still better to buy on the city than on resellers outside. There are also fresh vegetables that you can buy.

For our last stop before we went home in Manila, we ate lunch at Cafe by The Ruins. We arrived lunch time and happily, we get into the queue. Though we waited for almost an hour, foods are worth waiting for. I ordered Shrimp Mango Curry and for my friends, they ordered Bagnet Sinigang, and Baguio Bagnet. The foods were tasteful and the ambience was good. I enjoyed the food and the place. We rest for some time while we waited for our departure.

Shrimp Mango Curry

We had a hard time going to bus terminal because we wrongly calculated the time. We forgot that the roads are inclined and the walks will be that hard. Not to mention, we carried a significant amount of kilograms: our things including pasalubong. Blessed, we got in on time. We rode Luxury Bus of Solid North. For Luxury Bus, a seat costs Php850 while for Deluxe Bus, it costs Php750. Like I said earlier, their differences are lesser seat in a row and a screen on each seat. Honestly, I had not used the monitor since there were no pre-installed movies in there. The only thing that made me want the luxury is the comfortability due to large space reserved for a seat.

This is inside a Luxury Solid North Bus. The portable CR is located in the middle right.

Supposedly, the travel time will take only 4-5 hours but it was raining so it took us almost 6 hours. Blessed, it was still a safe travel. From PITX, I rode Carousell going home. This conludes our 3-day Baguio journey. We had so much fun and I, myself, would like to come back. I still have many attractions to visit and foods to try. My soul is happy.

Some photos grabbed from friends.