March 2, 2013: Baguio City: A Crazy Trip

I was home when boredome attacked me while watching docu t.v. news 11. Suddenly my itchy feet wants to go somewhere. I dont know where to go when I saw the Panagbenga Festival in Baguio.

I used to live in Baguio decades ago, so I'm quiete familiar to the place and my last visit was year 2008. Tagal na diba?

I brought this matter to my friend in the office. Called her local and talk about this plan, after a long discussion she decided to tag along with me, we mentioned this plans to my other friend whom I know has a dream to visit baguio for so long (she's been there when shes 9 years old) getting there would also a dream come true to her, because filing a V.L to our company is so hard, we agreed to have this trip short. 

We made our reservation from Cubao to Baguio via Victory Liner Cubao Station for March 2, 2013 at 11:00pm estimated travel time is 5 - 6 hours, and our E.T.A in the city of pines would be around 5:00am of March 3, 2013.

After the booking I decided to monitor the weather and made a little research. Search for the places that we can visit. I know this is going to be like an amazing race, we cannot visit all the tourist spot in a day specially when i added the visit of Ukay-Ukay. I did draft an itinerary too.

We waited for one week and everyone is full of adrenaline rush, everyone is excited, we even had our dress rehearsal, the bags that we will use and clothes that we need to used. (as if naman magtatagal kami) and that is our biggest mistakes to bring at least 3 kinds of clothes that we cannot use.. hahahaha..

And for the Budget Challenge: P1,500.00 per head - mmmm lets see if we made this.. 

After office hour of March 2 (saturday) we agreed to meet at Victory Liner cubao station at 10:00pm, my two companions was early (di naman sila excited) ehe..

AVA - at Victory Liner Cubao Station while wating for our ETD

We left Cubao Station at exactly 11:00pm, I was hoping that I can sleep on the bus so that I can gain strenght once we arrived but no avail.

It was 3:30am when we arrived in baguio.. too early right? Grabe, it was freezing cold, our clothes are not enough to make us warm. Upon entering at Victory Liner Baguio Terminal we proceed second floor ticketing office to book our return ticket on the same date, but unfortunately there is no available seat for March 3 so we decided to get a 12:40am of March 4, 2013. After we purchased our return ticket we went to comfort room to freshen up and had to wait more hours for the sunrise.

Ava and I at Victory Liner Baguio (this is a sleep friendly terminal)

Me - taking some nap while waiting for sunrise

Exactly 5:30am we hailed taxi going to Session Road to have our breakfast at any fastfood, then I forgot that Session Road was closed to all kinds of transport. We paid P45.00 from Victory liner to Upper Session Road Jollibee, we just shell out P15.00 each.

Ava - waiting for her turn 

Our breakfast

After our breakfast we start our City tour it was still dark then when we left the fast food. Headed down to Session Road and look for some posible pasalubong but most of the store are still closed. From session road we cross the Harizon Plaza to take a glimpse of Burnham Park. After Burnham Park, we went back to H.P to ride a jeep going to Botanical Garden 

Welcome to Botanical Garden (No entrance Fee)

The New Look of Botanical Garden 

We did explore the place change clothes and made a calls to our love ones informing them that we are in Baguio some of them are shock.. Di naman daw kami gala. ahahaha

calling his son -informing shes in baguio. hahaha

stairways to nowhere.. feeling lang

Botanical Garden 

We just walk from Botanical Garden to Wright Park, besides its healthy to walk.... right?! then I just did this pose (para sa wala lang) 15 minutes walk is not that bad huh!

Hitch !!!

Wright Park - You can have a horse back riding in this site so many horses to choose from.

Wright Park (No entrance fee too)

and because we dont have any intentions to have a horse back riding we proceed to take this 100 plus steps of stairs going to the Mansion, yes folks, you can take this one if you want some tiring hiking going to "The Mansion" hehehehe.. mabubuhay dugo mo dito sa pagod.. promise!

the Stairways to "The Mansion" 

We were sore tired when we reach the top, we had a little rest when a taho vendor offer a strawbery taho for P20.00 each. the taste is okey.

Strawberry Taho P20.00 each

sige lakad lang

"The Mansion" (No entrance fee)

After "The Mansion" we took taxi going to Minesview, we paid P50.00 for this ride. Mababait ang mga taxi driver sa baguio they are giving sukli.

our Taxi going to Minesveiw

dapat ako din...

Minesview - Photo Opts with Doughlas - the working dog - P50.00 for 3 shots, a bit pricey but I just love dog..

Welcome to Minesview - 

 opcorrsss.. minesview viewdeck - you should not miss this area, agawan kaya ng pwesto dito because this a picturesque site. Before you reach this area you will pass a colorful horses where you can have a pictures i think its P10.00-20.00 per shot.

minesview viewdeck

after "Picture Taking" time go buy pasalubong, we haggle on this store for varieties of jams, brittle and lengua de gato etc. I bought strawberry jam, lengua de gato each cost 25.00 per piece not bad right? then proceeded to Good sheperd to buy also the UBE Jam - I heard that they have a very delicious jam.

Minesview stall 

Took 7 - 10 minutes walk from minesview going to Good Sheperd, I know medyo matagal na lakaran ang nangyari, but you cant blamed us, we carry heavy load of bags on our way from minesview (remember, we already bought pasalubong there) I don't have any plans to buy another jam because of budget, I need to keep a few buck coz we are still on tour, upon arrival tourist flocks on each counter buying boxes of jams, then decided to join my friend to get jams too, and in fairness, the ube jam and strawberry jam are delicious, you can use your credit card for 11 pcs above purchases and thats what we did (that if you dont have enough cash like us)

Good Sheperd

After good sheperd we ride taxi again going to Philippine Military Academy (P.M.A) the taxi did passed at John Hay from Minesview, the driver says that, that is the fastest way, along the way we took some shots of this parade display, paid only 120.00 for this ride 40.00 each.

Camp John Hay

Upon entering you need to leave your I.D at the guard and they will not allowed anyone to wear sandals like fliptops so better bring extra with you.

Philippine Military Academy (P.M.A)

The Famous Tree House in P.M.A

another tree but not house =)

Behind is the Tree House

look how clean each streets

Feeling maglakad talaga

wala lang

sa sobrang tuwa ko sa linis ng PMA I took a lot of Pictures on each street na madaanan namin. It was a tiring walk in PMA and we are hungry and we agreed to end the tour, so we waited for about 15 minutes for Jeepney back to Plaza. P18.00 each, I forgot how many minutes travel basta ang alam ko naka idlip kami sa biyahe heheheh

We ate at KFC SM Baguio, yun lang kasi ang may mauupuan sa sobrang dami ng tao remember its the end of Panagbenga beside where tired and hungry and we need to hurry for our next spot, we left our baggage to SM Supermarket para light lang diba?

Our next stop: Tam-awan village instead Lourdes and Dominican Hill, coz 2 of us already visited the Lourdes and Dominican and we are already tired. Fall in line at SM Baguio taxi lane, grabe ang haba ng pila teh, as in, and we can feel the breeze again. As usual mabait ulit ang nasakyan naming taxi driver, sabi sa inyo mababait ang mga taxi driver sa baguio eh, he gave us some information about tam-awan, how far it is from lourdes and dominican and he also gave me an ideas where to buy ukay and that is in the Bayanihan daw, so knowing the place we agreed that after our tam-awan village tour we will go straight to bayanihan.

Tam-awan Village entrance is P50.00 per head you they will give you some maps which is going to be your guide, you are on your own, so for us this, is going to be a bit of fun, reading maps hahahahaa.. It was getting cold by the time we started our tour.

welcome Tam-awan Village

The camera battery run out by the time we get on the second level of Tam-awan, so most of the shots came from my phone. Tara, lets start the tour...

Entrance to Tam-Awan Village

stick to your map and you wont be lost, the place is quite confusing but we learned it easily though. My other travel buddy felt the coldness of weather already besides its already past 3:00pm when we get there and theres a little rain shower already, So i told her we need to walk further so that our body can produce some heat, but she felt that she cant make it anymore. We left her at the third level, ava and i continued our trek until we reach the summit of Tam-awan

Second level - really did enjoy this one

 The trek will start on easy and as you reach each level is it getting harder and harder, beside our feet is already sores from lots of walking, and tam-awan village was quiete slippery that time because of a rainshower but Ava and I enjoyed the moment of trekking besides this will determined if she can make it to El Nido (anong connection ng baguio sa el Nido?) . I enjoy the scenery really. I love nature, and walk and pass this road refresh me from tiredness.

We went confused by the time we reached the middle part of the "jungle" (jungle daw oh) hahaha. we dont know which road we should take until we met some "hikers" going down and pointed to us the right directions. (feeling mountainer kami eh) and they said "goodluck nalang sa inyo" and then they laugh. mmmm we stared at each others eyes and ask "what do they mean?" but then we chose to take that as a joke and proceed to our trek. Finally we reached the summit.. I was wondering then. "where is the summit, Where is the dream catcher here?" because according to the map thats already the end of the trek, then Ava pointed out something to me sorry guys forgot to take some shot of the "dream catcher" we just laugh together and realized yun pala ang sinasabi nilang "good luck" sa amin nung mga kasalubong naming tourist..

The summit - Where it is?

 Anyways, ang mahalaga narating namin ang summit, fulfillment na din naman yon it took us one hour of trek back and forth

going down

 We did enjoy the view and the fog at the top

took noticed of this site while coming down, its creepy once you stared this one inside and I didnt dare to do it second time (takutin daw ang sarili.. haaha)

quiete creepy eh

 Before we went down we visited the tam-awan colesium again, forgot to take some shots and made a little chat to the employees, after the trek we cleaned up, ikaw ba naman ang pagpawisan despite of the fog, they have a nice rest room, continous water on the faucets.

waiting for taxi

While waiting for the taxi the fog came down and we shiverred on the coldness, when finally after 10 years of waiting nakasakay din kami ng taxi.

ginaw ...  grrrrr

Ask the driver to drop us at Bayanihan paid P78.00 for this ride. We bought jackets at ukay -ukay, mura lang kasi and good quality ang mga products, unexpected things happened, the rain poured out that evening.

Sa dami ba naman nang bit-bit namin namin from ukay plus tomguts na din kami, my travel buddies doesnt want to ride a taxi, mahal daw, but ending up riding on a jeepney and walk so far... tawa nalang ang ginawa namin kesa mainis diba. Ate our dinner at SM chowking, sa labas kami kumain daming tao sa loob, and it was a wrong decision coz its freezing cold already after dinner we get our things at sm baggage counter, from here we took taxi again, paid P45.00 we are sore tired and so sleepy by the time we reach the victory liner terminal, freshen up change our clothes pack our things and waited for our time of departure, the rain didnt stop and we can feel the coldness in our bone that very moment.

Back home at 7:00am of March 4, 2013, and have no energy to report for work, took my leave for that day and slept all day.

Authors Note:
1. Bring extra sweater aside from jacket with you if your planning to visit on those seasons, you cannot feel the breeze while the sun is rising, but if you want to avoid pnuemonia better take an extra cautions.
2. Don't dare the explore Baguio City for a day like what we did, one day is not enough to visit each spots two days and one night will do.

Thank you God for your provisions and your protection on this baguio trip, glory to you Jesus that I able to write and share my experienced and thought about this trip, Thank you Holy Spirit for helping me to create this post.

Happy reading....

The Birth of My blog

The Birth of my Blog

My passion for writing was an ancient dream of me. Since I was in High School, I really wanted to join a writing contest, but I don’t have the courage to do it, because I know within myself that I cannot win, I kept this passion within me for so long until 2012 came when  this dream came to past.

I am not a techie person, I just know the basic knowledge of computer such as excel, word, internet, facebook, skype, messanger but I didn’t know that there was a “blogging world” that exist on the net.

It was the time when my friend and I booked a ticket for Manila - Bohol early month of February and we will travel on the Month of May and I was in charge for the itinerary.

I just search through goggle about Bohol and there I accidentally bumped with bloggers with information and I feasted my eyes with their pictures and drinking every word that I read on their blogs, there and then I know I wanted to be like them.

My reading for blogs awaken my sleeping passion in writing, and I search myself if I really wanted it, the answer is “yes”, I really want to write to inspire people (hopefully), and help my readers the way those blogger helps me to all my trip.

This blog is personal, you can read my travel journey, and you can hear my thoughts with many things. But I am praying that may this blog be an inspiration to those people who will bump here.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

There is a time for everything, and a season of every activity under heaven

And I believed on this verse, it was God's plan for me to create my blog on this moment..

Happy Reading...

El Nido - Island Hopping Tour A

Island Hopping – Tour A

Good Morning El Nido.. We are here!!!

our View from our Accommodation

We begin our morning with prayers and thanks giving to God that day and asked for another favour that we can enjoy our stay and give us a good weather throughout our stay in El Nido.

Breakfast 

My sibling woke up early (well maybe, they are excited J  ), prepare our things, we ordered different breakfast in Marina Garden (continental, american and filipno breakfast), after settling our bill I asked them where can I find the Servant Tours to arrange our Island Hopping Tour.

Rate of Island Hopping:

Tour A   P700.00 (Small Lagoon, Big Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Simizu Island, 7 Commandos)

Tour B   P700.00 (Snake Island, Cathedral Caves, Pinagbuyatan Island, Entula Island)

Tour C   P900.00 (Matinloc, Hidden Beach, Secret Beach, Helicopter Island, Star Island)

Tour D   P800.00 (Cadlao Lagoon, Paradise Beach, Nat Nat Beach, Bucal Island)

Additional P200.00 for Eco Tourism Development Fee valid for 10 days, you must present your receipt before leaving for Island Hopping.

Package includes sumptuous buffet lunch without water, so bring water and snacks with you because swimming and snorkelling is very tiring and you might feel hungry and thirsty.

After a brief negotiation at Servant Tours, they gave us discount for Tour A with free use of snorkel gear (others charge P100.00 – P200.00) we headed to Midtown Bakery to taste their precious egg pies yet in a very cheap prize. What I read about this egg pies is true, for me, they are the best egg pies that I’ve ever tasted for P20.00 and for the price that’s’ quite a steal. I bought 3 pies as our snacks for island hopping that day and my sister Dhing bought some “piyaya” (too bad I don’t have a picture of that), but that is also delicious.

Waiting for our Island Hopping

James Dadule (the ever reliable tour guide) fetch us for our Island Hopping, we are 14 excluding our tour guides and captain, 12 Filipinos and 2 foreigner.

James Dadule - our reliable and wonderful guide
you can contact him if you want to arrange a private tour
(+63915-261-0532)

The Boat left at 9:00am, and you are require to wear your life Jacket, listen to James very carefully as he is going to give you a little briefing on island hopping and history of El Nido and each island you are going to visit.

Now let me take you through Pictures. Too bad, we don’t have underwater camera so we weren’t able to capture the beauty of marine life on each island.

Now Let me tour you

We forgot to take picture on the whole menu because we are
all famished when they served it and we attacked it  :)

The Lunch was being prepared by the captain and James in one of the Island where everyone has a free time to nap, to snorkel while waiting for food to be served. I choose to snorkel with Jun the second tour guide with the other lady, but Madam was a little bit scared when we got a little far from the shore, she decided to stop and I continue my snorkelling with Jun.

Big Lagoon (group picture)

7 commandos - our last stop for island hopping tour A

Jun and James are very reliable tour guide, you can see in their actions and faces the sincerity of what they do, and i witness how hard this job is, it very tough specially if all the tourist doesn't know how to swim, just listened to them very carefully because they value your life more than you, your safety is their number one concern, always wear your life vest if you don’t know how to swim J

The Island hopping end at 5:30pm. At 7:00pm we ate our dinner at Squidos

Spicy Seafoods Curry at Squidos

After our delicious dinner, we roamed around but because we are already tired from our first day island hopping we decided to get back to the resort and have our early rest so we can gain strength for the next day.