Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Truly Baguio Part 2


Waking up in a cold weather definitely is a first for me. With 19 degrees temperature it's really a must to sleep without electric fan or aircondition. We woke up early to start our day right and ofcourse to visit many places. We met up with my Dad's other college friend, who suggested the place, to catch up and meet his family.

It was a ladida-dida moment with his family. A quick and abrupt talk I guess would be the best way to say it. My mom is a big fan of wood carvings so when we passed by this shop she went shopping spree buying a lot of things for our house. Mind you these are made of fine class of woods and she got some freebies also.

Tito Charlie (with his son:Chico). Dad, Jelai. Mom and Cristian 
Shopping time for mom 

We were really famished because of all the waiting. Oops I forgot to tell that my Dad's friend went to this wedding so we opted to wait for them until the celebration is finished. And that is the reason why we were so famished.

I have learned that restaurants can really be profitable here in Baguio. I am telling you guys that everywhere we go all the restaurants are full. Some restaurants do not allow take-out orders because they can no longer accommodate and provide service to the consumers.

After hours of waiting we got the chance to eat in an Asian restaurant which serves Malaysian-Indonesian cuisine. We have to wait for an hour for our food because of the terrain of people in the restaurant. The presentation of the food is normal but the food taste awesome! Spell-binding I would say. It was my first time to taste Cherry Iced tea. But to my dismay it was no near of that taste of Cherry.
Waiting for our turn outside the restaurant


Cherry Iced tea 
Sweetened Chicken and Barbeque (P150 each) 
We went to this place which I forgot what it is called but I know that it's a park. You can ride the horse with some other tourists. We decided not to ride and roam around there because of the smell. I'm really sorry but it smells like poop there and also I do not like the fact they dyed the hair of the horses making them pink, violet, red and etc. They are beautiful enough and need not to be played around using chemicals which could damage their skin or hair.

Look how beautiful these horses are without hair dyes. 

Jelai, Me, Ruby and Mom 
Mines View Park is our next destination. You can find there a lot of stuff from our favorite Sundot-Kulangot which is Picking Booger for my siblings to different variety of plants which has different purposes in life. Good Shepherd perhaps is where almost all of the tourists go to to get their Ube Jam. They are famous not only with their Ube Jam but also different kinds of sweets. Good Shepherd is run by nuns to help children go to school. For me they do not only produce the best tasting Ube Jam but also they deliver a good practice of helping other people.

I think there is no secret recipe in their Ube Jam, it is just that these were made with love, passion and faith to God. Again you are not just buying but also helping other people attain their dreams by sending them to school. I have a friend from my University who had finished college. university because of Good Shepherd. So I really assure you that the money goes into good.

Good Shepherd products 


Mom with Boomer (St. Bernard dog) 

Me, Jelai, Medi and Cristian in Mines View Park 

Mines View Park View (redundant? haha)
Our head gears per se, cost from P100-P150 pesos only. When you go to Manila I think it cost around P300. After buying Ube Jam and plants in Mines View Park we went to Camp John Hay, a shopping center, a place where imported goods are sold at a fraction of the original price. We plan to eat there but all the restaurants were full. We do not like to eat at restaurants which we could find in Manila. We like to experience food which can only be found in Baguio. So went to Rose Bowl Restaurant instead. Actually we didn't know how to get there but thanks to the Iphone's GPS we reached it. Well We were kind of lost but still we found it.

As expected there were a lot of people there. As I have said before restaurants in Baguio are really profitable because of all the tourists. We only paid P2,500 for our food in the restaurant. For adults they said that the food was great but perhaps for our generation it was just Ok. Not the typical jaw-dropping food that we drool on. But still it's food so we have to eat what is in our plates and give grace to God.

Lastly your trip or our trip rather will not be complete if we do not go to the Ukay-Ukay (Goodwill Shop). You can find there all sorts of product! From shoes, bags, clothes up to stuffed toys! But you must haggle I tell you.

Camp John Hay 

The Rose Bowl experience 

A lot A lot of second hand stuff 
So as you see our day really am very tiring. But it's all worth it.

Top- from United Colors of Benetton 
Belt- from Mom 
Pants- from Forever21
Shoes- from Ralph Lauren 
  
                                                                                                    Love Lotsies,
                                                                                                 Ecka

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Vague You Baguio Part 1


           Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines, is the place to be during the cold season. One must prepare not only jackets and sweaters but also palpable amount of fun and excitement. This year my family and my family's friends decided to plan and hit the road to go to Baguio. A place where one could embrace the coldness of the weather. 

           Eventhough we would be facing the gruesome hours of travelling by road. We still went through it. My family and friends hit the round around 5:30 am to start the day early. So everyone was up and running at 4:00 a.m. We hired a van and a driver to ease the tiredness of my father from work. In my opinion it is a good thing that we hired a van and a driver so that we could truly have the vacation that we needed.

We slept like babies in the van and when we woke up around 11:00 am we stopped by Matutina. A restaurant in Pangasinan which offers Filipino cuisine at a very affordable price. 
Sauteed Shrimp and Smoked Fish 
Our group eating our sumptuous treat 


We have a lot of foods by the way with a tower ice tea. All in all we only paid P1,500 for all of our meals. Keep in mind that our group is composed of 10 people.

Carrying on with our travel. We were on the road again at 12:00 noon. Yes, we have a tight schedule. Again after eating we slept. Yeah I know sleeping is our thing. :-). At last we have arrived in our apartment named Baguio Apartment. In my opinion it was a steal for it's a two floor apartment with a den, 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms with warm and cold water, dining area, living room area, TV, Refrigerator, Kitchen and utensils. Again it is a complete house! We only paid P5,500 per day for the apartment. So all in all it was P11,000 for two days good for 10 persons.


View from our Den 

Medi, Ann and Ruby outside our Apartment 


After settling down and unpacking, we decided to go the well-renowned BenCab (Ben Cabrera) museum. Ben Cabrera is a national artist in the Philippines, well known for his paintings and art works. The museum is situated near our apartment. Before one can enter the museum. One must pay the entrance which cost P100 per person and if you are a student with I.D. then you'll only pay P50.

His artworks I might say are very captivating and depicts his versatility in using different mediums. Taking pictures is allowed but flash must not be used because as we all know it could damage the art works. The buildings has 3 or 4 floors (I'm not really sure). A garden and a pond in my opinion is the best part of the museum where families can gather have and enjoy the food which is served in the cafe.


Inside Ben Cab's museum 
Truly a work of art 

Ruby and Me in BenCab's garden 
The museum closes at 5:00pm and we were famished from all the travelling. So we decided to hit SM Baguio first to buy a memory card for the camera. Afterwards we ate in a restaurant which caters the best sizzling food in town (according to my Dad). We did not took pictures because we were so hungry that none of us can pull our cameras out. Including me!

Good thing we arrived there at 6:00 pm because at 6:30 p.m. people are literally squirming inside the restaurant. I could say that the food is great and it was pretty cheap I guess. Because we only paid P1,800 for our dinner. Let me remind you that we are 10 in the group.

We are so ready to sizzle!!! 

Dad, Tito Pays (his college friend) and Tita Chloe (Tito Pays's wife)
It was indeed a very tiring but fun first day in Baguio... :-)


My Outfit: 
Earmuffs- borrowed from Medi 
Jacket- from my Tita 
Scarf-from my Mom 
 Gray top- from Zara
Pants- from Forever21
Bag-from Ninewest 
                                                                                           Love Lotsies,   
                                                                                       Ecka