Thursday, November 17, 2011

Baguio Been


Trip. The Victory Liner bus left the Cubao station on time, but it was only out of EDSA after about an hour. Traffic: very uncool. But what's cool is the bus had free wi-fi service, courtesy of Sun Broadband. I was able to test it out during one of the stop overs, and the verdict: Connection is good and the speed is fast enough. We finally reached Baguio at around 1:30am, or after seven and a half hours of being on the road.

Taxi. The taxis in Baguio don't have air conditioners, as these are very unnecessary. That makes the ride cheaper: flagdown is only at P35.00 with P2.00 increments. We took one to get to where we stayed for the night. We finally were able to doze off and rest at around 2:00am.

Been. After some setback, we were finally able to explore Baguio in the afternoon. It was still drizzling a bit, but the sky thankfully lit up soon after. With only limited hours in our hands, we were able to go to Burnham Park (where I learned that I suck at rowing), Mines View Park, the Mansion House, and Wright Park, as well as a quick stop at the front of the Baguio Botanical Garden. We then ended up at SM City Baguio, before we headed back to base. After a good night's sleep and a good breakfast, we headed early to the Victory Liner terminal for our 9:40am return trip to Manila.

Thoughts on the City of Pines

Hot Destination. We were at the Cubao terminal of Victory Liner at 1pm to get tickets for a bus ride to Baguio, and after more than an hour queuing, we got our tickets to the next available trip: 6pm. Now there is a trip every 30 minutes, so that means the 2:30-5:30pm schedules were already fully-booked. So it's hot to be cool, eh?!

Delicacies and Souvenirs. Baguio is home of several food treats. They have strawberry and peanut products, as well as ube jam and lengua de gato among others. Souvenirs such as keychains are also for sale. These are available at very reasonable and friendly prices. Thumbs up to the people of Baguio for not overpricing their goods!

Shiver. It's so cold, I was shivering while taking a bath! According to the indoor thermometer at base, temperature was at 21°C. According to Microsoft's Weather gadget, it was 31°C in Cebu. So 10° is all it took for me to go from "I want an airconditioner" to "I want a fireplace!"

Acknowledgement. Special thanks to Lola Luz and Robbie Lou, Uncle Jayson and his wife, and Lolo Fred and Lola Neneng for our Baguio accommodation. Special shout out to Megan (he's a guy) for being sort of our local guide.

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