Baguio City Trip, Day 1

Monday while I was at my sister's workplace waiting for time (I attended the opening of Figaro Fort Pointe lunch time) before I head to Greenbelt 3 for the movie screening of "A Moment in Time" sponsored by Max's Restaurant. While waiting for 6pm, I was just there... browsing the Internet. A message on Facebook from my cousin Marge came through asking if I was game to go on an overnight trip to Baguio City "tomorrow morning." I quickly said yes and when we met at the cinema, she told me the details about the trip.

I only had a few hours of sleep because after the movie finished at 10:30pm, brother and I went back to sister's workplace to wait for her shift to end at 1am. It was already 3am of Tuesday when we got home, and I quickly went to bed so I could prepare for my trip. Call time was 9am of Tuesday and I was just happy to get there in time.

Pictures from Day 1 of the trip:


An hour of traveling, we decided to stop by Pampanga to eat snacks. There were only three bloggers for this trip - Iris (of PinayAds) and Jen (of Kikay Corner). Both of them I got to meet before; first time I met Iris (and her husband Montsch) was during the Enchanted Kingdom "Magikalympics - Bloggers Edition" in 2009, Jen I got to meet on several blog events... last time we saw each other was during Marjorie's wedding as she's one of the wedding coordinators. It wasn't difficult to get along with them... they're super nice and fun to be with.


By 3pm we reached Baguio City. The organizers of the trip asked us to relax a bit in our hotel room. Iris and Jen shared one room... I had the room all for myself! Cool? Yeah I guess.. but us talking about ghosts and spirits made me a bit scared. Hahaha.


Business part of this trip started around 4pm. We were briefed about tomorrow's program, then we went on a little tour around SM City Baguio - checking the Pine Tree Nursery and giving us a sneak peek of their float for the Panagbenga Grand Float Parade on Sunday.


We still haven't eaten proper lunch, but we decided to just go for some snacks at it was already late and we didn't want to spoil dinner so we just went to have a hot cup of drink (Jen and I both had chocolate in different flavors, Iris went for coffee) and a serving each of the Suman Puti with Mangoes. It is a known fact that sticky rice goes well with mangoes, but this one's so different from the usual suman at mangga. So delicious!


We were given to explore the mall and heart of the city, and that's just what we did. We went to check the view from the balcony of the mall first - catching the sunset and allowing ourselves to contemplate for a while.


From SM City Baguio, us three walked along Session Road until we reached the Public Market where we bought some pasalubong. I bought 4 pieces of native (weaved) placemats, Iris and Jen bought several keychains and food items. We also took time to check the vegetable section of the market and bought quite a lot of veggies. I bought broccoli, snow peas, and celery. One thing that made our heart melt and made us giggle - the vendor thinking we were college students on a field trip. Do we look like ladies on their early 20s? Sweet! Anyway, it was fun walking along the streets of Baguio City at night (and cold, too)... braving the thick crowds... and unexpectedly crossing the street while the green light was on. It was fun to laugh out loud, to explore the city without much expectations, and to enjoy walking without sweating one bit.


Jen was texting a blogger friend who's from Baguio City, and she met us for dinner. We were planning to eat dinner at Oh My Gulay! But all the walking and carrying heavy loads of veggies and other stuff made us scratch the idea. Instead, we ate dinner at Point and Grill and we had Chicken Pinikpikan and Kare Kare. Iris was complaining a little at how "out of place" she was... with our names - Jenn, Jen, and Gem... and that us three ordered the Pinikpikan and she had the Kare Kare. Hahahaha.


After dinner, it was time for us to head back to the hotel, and what a sweet gesture for Gem to drive us back using her vintage VW Beetle! So amazing to be riding this little car around Baguio City!


Of course, we didn't sleep right away... we still took the time to chit chat about lots of things and enjoy more hearty laughs. It was my first time to meet Gem, but we instantly became friends.

By 11pm, it was time to say goodnight, but it was around 1am when I finally turned off the lights in my room. Part of me was scared of ghosts... which was why I was glad I didn't feel any that night.