Celebrating Multiple Events in Baguio..

Baguio is a place too special for me as the first and second time I was there, I was with then my boyfriend whom I married exactly eleven years ago. That said, we got tons of reasons to justify the four day trip in Baguio last January 31 until February 4. You see the month of February is the most romantic month for me not only is it because of Valentine but because our marriage and my husband birth happened to be in this month. Thus, triple celebration trip that was! And the fact that Grand opening of Panagbenga Festival and Chinese New Year (long week-end) were timed on the first and second day made our trip sky high more than worthy! I hit five in just a stone! So wise.

I couldn't say enough words to describe Baguio. In Baguio, peace never fails to embrace me. The freshness, the flowery smell, the pine trees making the view green and cozy and romantic...and giving me a kick of Bella-Edward twilight delusion? Hell yeah.

Now let's get into the highlights of the trip, shall we? I only got few of the photos to show to you..for now. Because I took roughly more than a thousand! What the hell. Due to the fact that I cannot post everything at a time, I will post them by batch so you won't get too jaded. 

Ready?

The view. Here is the collage of some places I was able to take shots of. On the upper middle is the famous haunted white house. It never gave us any creeps though.

I spent so many sleepless nights browsing through forums and blogs to get good ideas about where to stay in Baguio. There are lotsa nice but affordable hotels in Baguio but because of Panagbenga opening, most of them were fully booked even on a way advanced reservation inquiry. I started making reservations two months before the actual check-in date and I still couldn't reserve my ass in some attempts. It was crazy like that. In fact, there were group of tourists sitting near us at the bus who told us they did not have a place to stay and asked us if we have some place to recommend. Seriously, if you plan to go places specially during peak season, it wouldn't hurt booking early otherwise you will end up either sleeping at the park or staying at the hotel which is two times the regular rate. How common is common sense?

The hotel.  This is the hotel where we stayed for two nights. It's few minutes walk to burnham park, it has seven-eleven store at lobby side, our room is spacious for the three of us, so is the bed (california king?), it has fan and aircon which we never used obvioulsy because of the chilly weather. Ours located on fourth floor with tv, hot and cold shower and very very clean toilet and bath room. For only 1400 a night, a good choice right?

The lodge. I made a decision to stay away from the crowd on our last night because I wanted to have a relaxing and quiet time with my boys. This room, I fell in love with the moment I saw it. The fireplace is really for the kill, agree? You couldn't help but be emo by just staring at the fire. Son never requested for his mittens because we never felt the cold the entire night. The bed though a little small, is very soft and comfy. The chandelier made the room ambiance kind of yellowish. For 2,200 a night, you will never go wrong.   

They kept playing chess while I was so ignored. Times like this, what is camera for?

Dinner by fireplace-light, anyone?

Either they play chess or they just sleep their butt off... 

     

The food. Because I am such a wise spender, I won't risk going to unknown restos and then let them suck my wallet dry. Just like hotel, I researched for affordable but good restos in Baguio. True to bloggers reviews, we tried three restos from the list and, we thought nothing to complain about. We went to highly recommended 50s diner, we also tried Don Henrico and the one near the city center mall called Good Taste. All of them serve huge servings but for a cheap cost. With these three, our bill never went up more than 400. Even way below the cost at the turo-turo bulaluhan we tried in the street and wow that was highway robbery! I thought I was deaf when they said our bill was 500+!  Tip, if you wanna cut back even more on food spending, try buying half a kilo of lechon good for more than three persons (we had leftovers) only 180 pesos at the market. Promise it tasted yummy! We also bought sliced watermelon only 10 pesos (so sweet and huge good for three)

   

The parade. The grand opening of Panagbenga happened on our second day (Feb.1). I have never seen colorful a parade as this. So grand...the participants were well practiced and the costumes/props were well created. My son never blinked an eye. Just amazing.

     

The competition. I was also part of drum and xylo group in highschool so I know the pressure being one of the competitors. The practice and discipline are really tough. Let alone performing while dancing and wearing a costume heavier than a bass drum! I was a fan.

See? The crowd is having fun.

This is all for now my friends. Up next, our pictures from day one, day two, day three and day four respectively. Catch them if you can! Until then....