Baguio City, round 1

Hello all, it’s been a while! I took a little hiatus from traveling until this past weekend, when I made a last second decision to go to Baguio City. It’s actually amazing that I’ve been in Pampanga for two months, yet hadn’t made it up to Baguio yet, considering all I’ve heard about it from people at work. But, now I’ve made it, and I really did enjoy.

First impression of Baguio was that the temperature was amazing. People in the Philippines always lead with that, so I was expecting pleasant weather, but living in Clark where it is constantly hot and humid, it was such a welcome break. So I guess there’s a reason people always lead with talking about the weather.

A friend who is an expat working in Baguio was my tour guide for the weekend. We spent Saturday and Sunday exploring the city. I finally rode my first jeepney – I know, late, but it’s really not that convenient in Clark – and we walked around the market, the downtown area, and ate lunch at a really cute spot, Cafe by the Ruins. Got some delicious, real brewed coffee (no Nescafe? I’ll take it…) before we decided to check out the Philippine Military Academy. We walked around there for a while, saw the war memorials and the grounds of the academy. As I mentioned before, the weather was perfect for walking. Only rained while we were riding the jeep, and after that, pleasant and cool.

After regrouping at home from our day of exploring, we headed down to the night market where you can get shoes, clothing, and knicknacks for cheap.  There were also a good amount of street food vendors. We met up with some coworkers as well, and I was successfully peer pressured into trying balut. It was really rough for me to get down at first, because I was too scared of it to eat it quickly. The key is definitely to take it like a shot of liquor and to not look at it. When I succeeded in that, it was not bad. I’m pretty sure I won’t be eating balut like candy any time soon, but I’m glad I tried it.

Sunday, we visited Camp John Hay, which is the US leisure camp they built after establishing bases in the Philippines, for a mountain retreat away from all the heat and humidity. There was an old house there, a little path through the woods, and I especially enjoyed the Cemetery of Negativism, designed by one of the camp commanders to symbolize the death of negativity. It was outdated, strange humor which I enjoyed. I included a picture of one of the headstones to kind of give you a better idea of what it’s all about.

I also visited Mines View, a barangay with a nice lookout over the mountains. It was a clear blue sky day, so I was definitely glad for it. Top that all off with real espresso, I was a happy camper this weekend.

Pretty “Land Before Time” around Baguio

Selfie with some tanks at the PMA

My face as I’m being instructed on “how to” eat balut

First you have to puncture the membrane, then suck out the juice

For a forced smile I think this looks pretty natural.

o hay from Camp John Hay

One of the headstones at the Cemetery of Negativism – all of them were like this, half understandable strange jokes.

Looking out from Mines View

🙂

My trip first trip to Baguio definitely gave me a good taste for this awesome city. Can’t wait to visit again and explore more. It would be awesome to do Mt. Pulag before my expat year is up…and of course to try more coffee shops around Baguio and the craft brewery. Also, I’ve heard about the flower festival all through February, so yeah, I’ll be visiting Baguio again.