off my beaten path

baguio in july. a little wet with random patches of sunshine. definitely worth the trip.


somewhere a little down south, someone could've been basking in the sunshine and blue waters of a hundred islands, but he chose to cavort amidst towering pines instead. and so the result was (see above picture) a major pictorial of a teddy bear in the woods. hahaha!


i've been to baguio a number of times in recent years and thought myself to be more or less familiar with the pasikot-sikot around the city, but i was proven wrong. cause in those trips (nearly all of them work-related), there would always be someone to guide the way. in one random trip with friends two years ago there were always cab drivers to shuttle us around. that was the case in the first part of this trip (work-related, again), but when the crew had left and the teddy bear and i were left behind to become tourists for a day, i found myself a little lost. pano nga ba makapunta sa minesview park? anong jeepney (yes, jeepney, kasi ayaw ng kasama kong mag-taxi...hmpf) ang sasakyan? ano pa nga ba, bukod sa minesview, burnham, at camp john hay, ang tourist spots sa syudad na to? i couldn't come up with the appropriate answers. kaya mega-tanong na lang kami sa mga locals. and that was when i realized that i knew so little about this city that i'd been raving about in this blog for the longest time.

lunch was at the solibao resto along burnham park, an outdoor cafe with the sprawling view of burnham's sunken garden-esque football field. we treated ourselves to a mini-banquet of deep-fried fish, meat, and veggies. the weather was cloudy-cool and the food was scrumptious, which made this lunch one of the most memorable ones i'd had during this trip.


we decided to skip rowing in burnham's man-made lake (na-try ko na yon once with friends, pero pag teddy bear ang kasama mo, baka matawa ka lang sa pagka-cheesy ng eksena, hahaha) and opted to catch the ponies in minesview instead. kaso may curfew pala ang mga kabayo at hindi na sila pwedeng mag-trot-trot-trot 5pm onwards, kaya pictorial galore na lang kami sa overlooking spots around minesview park.


a little trip to camp john hay was also in the itinerary, because of the towering pines. the teddy bear wanted evidence that he was in baguio (first time kasi makalabas ng maynila, hehe) and i could think of no other familiar spot with baguio's trademark pines than john hay. i remember my semi-harrowing experience in this place two years ago and couldn't help laughing. mukha talaga syang set ng horror movie, even during daytime.


shopping wasn't a major priority in our itinerary but i managed to pick a few items for the family along the way. syempre hindi mawawala ang mga munchies (the oatmeal bars were the best, a relatively novel alternative to the tried-and-trite peanut brittle), a few knitted accessories (mura at maganda, kaso madaling matastas!), and a wood-carved statue of a native cat for my wonderful person of a highschool bestfriend (thank you gift ko 'to sa kanya, for a favor that she did for me). the man-in-a-barrel trinket is the most popular tourist item in these parts but we decided not to purchase one because of the prices (P75 for one little weaner {oops, pun intended}...imagine that!).

in the evening, a modest dinner in one of session road's restos overlooking the city streets (which ironically looked a lot like the streets of legarda and avenida, palitan mo lang ang fog ng smoke-belcher usok). at dahil mukhang walang authentic native cuisine ang baguio, we managed to get ourselves full with the common chicken barbecue and one-day old (dito lang ako nakatikim uli since i was, what, ten years old!). coffee (kahit 3-in-1) is best enjoyed when it's drizzling and you're watching the streets down below.


all in all, kulang ang oras at araw (pagkagat ng dilim, parang nagiging ghost town ang mga suburbs sa baguio!), pero masaya pa rin naman. first time kong makapaglakad lakad around the city, kahit umaambon at halos di maaninag ang mga kalsada sa kapal ng hamog. at hindi araw-araw nangyayari na nakakakita ako ng teddy bear na tuma-tumbling tumbling amidst towering pines. hehe.


i know we missed a lot. those off-the-beaten-path, less familiar yet definitely picturesque spots, like crystal cave (where we shot the baguio bold movie last november) and probably a dozen quaint little towns in the city's outskirts. even the strawberry farms miles away from the heart of the city ought to be worth the quarter-day travel. and the famous good shepherd ube (purple yam) from the nuns (nasarahan kami kasi may curfew din ang mga madre!) should well be worth the 7-hour trip from manila.


all that and more, but surely, there's always the next baguio adventure. for now, i'm happy enough for this little side trip. a wonderful breather from the normal ngaragan lifestyle. :-)