The City of Pines

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Baguio City, is known as the Summer Capital of the Philippines, owing to its cool climate and one of the most popular destinations here in the Philippines.

The best time to visit this place is during December and January. So January last year I decided to take my family on a trip. I made an itinerary, search for a good and affordable hotel, best food to eat and famous places in Baguio.

By the way, this was my second visit and I was delighted to return. And probably a better tour guide to my family. Hahaha..

So whenever you have plan going to Baguio, You must have your bus ticket and a hotel reservation ahead of time for a No Hassle No Problem Vacation. 😉

Traveling to Baguio can take up to 7hrs

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So I went to Victory Liner Terminal in Pasay to buy tickets for our trip, it cost Php 455.00 per head for a Regular Aircon bus. And I booked a room in Mountain Lodge Hotel for about 3days and 2nights, the rate of the room that time was Php 1,440 per night. But the rate depends on the room that you will avail.

And here's our Room. This is good for 4persons and they have a restaurant.

Pictures above came from their website

Mountain Lodge is just a walk or ride away to most Baguio's attractions: Botanical Garden, Teacher's Camp, Wright Park, Mines View, Mansion House and Camp John Hay.

It's an old hotel with some old pictures of baguio city hangs on the hallway like a gallery.

To start our first day, We eat our breakfast in their restaurant. They serve hot and delicious meals.

And overlooking to their morning sun-kissed garden.

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✼ Our First Day Trip ✼

Our first destination was in the Burnham Park. We rode a jeepney and took us 13 mins to get there. We stroll around the park and saw the man-made lake in the area. We also tried biking. It's such a nostalgic feeling, when you feel like a kid again.

Our next stop was the Mines View Park. We were all amazed of the panoramic view of Benguet's gold and copper mines. And the Cordillera mountains. And of course we can't miss this chance to take our pictures.

And as we go along the city, We got to see the Wright Park. the main entrance is the circle park wherein you can see lots of horses. Some horses have their hair dyed. So cool to see those Pony horses. And as we go on, a long stairway leads us to the rectangular long pond and its called the "Pool of the Pines". So we took pictures with the Pool background.

And we saw an ice cream man "Mamang Sorbetero", he sells typical flavor and also the famous one "The Strawberrry Ice Cream". So we bought both flavors Cookies 'n Cream and Strawberry.

And right across from Wright Park is The Mansion. Since this has been the official summer residence of Philippine President. All we can do was to look at it from afar and take photo with The Mansion at the background.

After strolling all the parks. We decided to try the famous food park in baguio. The Ketchup Food Community, they offer different cuisines. Rancho Norte - Filipino food, Happy Tummy - Thai Cuisine, Green Pepper - Gourmet, Pasta, Salads, Rumah Sate - Indo - Malay Cuisine, Canto - Pork Ribs, Pizza, Burger

Our target was Canto even if it has a long line. 'Coz we wanted to try their best seller, LOMO Ribs. We also ordered Grilled Chicken and Fish.

End of our Day 1

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✼ Our Second Day Trip ✼

We had our breakfast in the hotel. And right after that we went to Botanical Garden. And in front of the main entrance we took our photo with a group of Igorots who are dressed in their authentic native attire. They were all welcoming and willing to pose for our souvenir photo, for a small fee.

This Garden is FREE for everyone. So we stroll around the park to see different kinds of sculpture, variety of plants and colorful flowers. My mom and dad wanted to try the Igorot Costume and take some pictures.

Igorot Costume rental is Php 20.00 only.

Our next target was Bencab Museum. We took a cab to get there. It costs Php 100.00 for about 30minutes travel time.

The Entrance is at Php 120.00 for adults and Php 80.00 for students and senior citizen.

We are not into art but as we enter the museum, we admired all the art collection of Sir Benedicto Cabrera also known as BenCab. So we took pictures in some of his work. And we saw the beautiful landscape outdoor garden.

We also visited the TAM-AWAN Village, a 19 minutes ride from BenCab Musuem.

Entrance is at Php 50.00 for adults and Php 30.00 for students and senior citizens.

This was a project of the Chanum Foundation (a group of artists headed by Ben Cab ). Tam-awan is a local word which means "vantage point". This Village is the same as the Bencab Musuem. We saw Baguio's Art, culture scene, and the traditional Ifugao Huts.

And after a very tiring day visiting those inspiring work art of different Filipino Artists. We decided to have our dinner in Good Taste, one of the best restaurant in Baguio. But if you come in late, expect those long lines waiting for your food to come out. So Patience is a Virtue. Hahaha. After a few minutes of waiting, our food was served. The serving size and price was good. You will definitely go back. Sorry i don't have pictures since I'm so hungry that time. Hahaha. 😬

And of course we cannot missed visiting the Night Market in Baguio, They sell clothes, shoes, accessories and street food at a very cheap price. Night Market starts at 9pm, so the Harisson Road is closed. Since this place is also known to be very crowded we made sure to secure our valuables at all times. So, I don't have pictures on how the Night Market looks like.

So I got this picture for you guys.

Source: Flickr.com "Shot by Dino Royo"

End of our Day 2

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✼ Our Third Day Trip ✼

Again we had our breakfast in the hotel before heading to our last tour. So early in the morning we visited The Lourdes Grotto to avoid large crowds of people. When we reached the place, we saw the long stairs that has a 252 steps. We need to climb to access the top of the grotto. And that was so tiring but After reaching the top its all worth it, we lit up a candle and pray.

Also, we saw a beautiful panoramic view of a part of the province of La Union. And of course we love taking pictures.

In Baguio, They made a variation of taho and its called "Strawberry Taho". And we've tried it.

And our last destination was Strawberry Farm located in La Trinidad Valley, Benguet, you will get there for about less than 10km or 30 minutes from the center of Baguio City.

We got to see fresh strawberries in the farm. And Took more pictures with my family.

And before heading back to Manila. We went to Baguio City Market to buy some Pasalubong ("Souvenir"). We bought veggies, strawberries, and souvenirs.

End of our Trip

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Overall, it's a nice place to visit with your loved ones. Enjoy the beautiful places and the cold weather.

That's all for now. 😉