Baguio 2014

Weekend with my favorite girls in Baguio!

After our Quezon Province trip, me and my best buddies decided to celebrate our 10 years of friendship up in the north. 

One Saturday morning, we woke up at 8am, took a bus in Cubao (via Joy Bus - fare is P750 each for one-way deluxe) heading to Baguio and hola! Hello, flowers and strawberries! ^_^

 with my pretty girls inside the cozy room we rented for a night...

(not in the picture is my friend's bf/photographer :p)

Yes, we just rented a room for only P2,000.00 pesos per night, with two double deck beds for four (4) of us, a kitchen (you can cook since it was equipped with all the basic kitchen appliances), hot/cold shower, and a nice veranda. 

Our itinerary during our first day wasn't that jam packed because we arrived in Baguio at around 4pm. We strolled in the busy street of Session Road to have our early dinner and then checked some 'ukay-ukay' items (sadly, I didn't found anything to buy because I prefer Divisoria in terms of buying cheap clothes, though my friends enjoyed it because of the bags on sale)

Our second day was a bit busier than the first, first stop was the "Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto".

From the home we stayed, it was only one jeepney away (10 minutes) so we opted to head here first.

From the Grotto, we took a cab to The Mansion....

At the Botanical Garden...

Mines View Park...

Camp John Hay...

admiring the beauty of these orange and yellow flowers...

Before ending this blog post, I just noticed that my photos from PMA - Philippine Military Academy, Good Shepherd and Benguet Strawberry Farm were missing! :(

Anyway, here is a sample of a 2-day Baguio Itinerary for your guide, I edited this one because our time of departure from Manila wasn't highly recommended.

The best time to visit Baguio is during December to February, though there will be so many people around but the weather is definitely good!

Leave Manila @ 11pm (Friday) and you will arrive in Baguio the next day before sunset (Travel time is 6 hours from Manila).

You may want to have breakfast at Pizza Volante (open 24 hours)

After checking in the hotel...

Option 1: If your hotel is within the city, the best way to start is to visit the Baguio Cathedral, Burnham Park, Botanical Garden, The Mansion, Camp John Hay, Mines View, Good Shepherd then end it with Night Market in Session Road and Harrison Road.

Grotto, PMA, and Strawberry farm will be your destination on the second day.

Option 2: If your hotel is on the opposite side just like ours, you may opt to visit the Lourdes Grotto first, followed by Baguio Cathedral, Burnham Park, Botanical Garden, The Mansion, Camp John Hay, Mines View, Good Shepherd then end it with Night Market in Session Road and Harrison Road.

PMA, Bell Church and Strawberry Farm will be your destination on the second day.

Hope this helps. ^_^

Melai

Sagada, Mountain Province 2014 - Day 1

Up in the north!

When I heard my friends that we will be going to Sagada, the first thing came to my mind is 'oh! no... it's cold there!' Yeah, I am not fond of cold places because I prefer tropical islands. I love the beaches and sunlight! (isn't it ironic that I am a die hard fan of glutathione and whitening products?). To further explain myself with that, I prefer humid places because I can wear comfortable clothes and enjoy the water (may it be outside the beach or inside the hotel room). But since my friends are very eager to spend the weekend in the chilly mountains of Sagada, I gave it a shot.

We left Manila at exactly 10pm and arrived at 6am.

Before we started the activities listed in our itinerary, we had our breakfast at a local restaurant in Banaue located near their market, it was a bit foggy so we waited for the sunshine to say hello before we continued our journey.

First stop, Banaue Rice Terraces. I told you!!! it's foggy.. :(

 The weather didn't allowed us to take a picture of the mountain, too bad I was so excited to see the rice terraces as it is 1 of the 7 wonders of the world. Although, technically I saw it but the camera lens can't capture it, I still put a check on my bucket list now. ^_^


And I really tried hard to get a nice shot to show you the beauty of the rice terraces but this is only I can get...

So we opted to have a 746745274837 photo along the highway! :))
nice view though.

After capturing hundreds of photos in the highway, we decided to start the trekking when the sun greeted 'hello' to us.

 

Trek Aguid Rice Terraces.

 

More trekking!

and more.....!! haha. but mind you, the weather didn't cause any sweat in spite of the kilometers we walked down to see the marvelous falls.

...and finally! Swimming at Bomod-ok Falls (aka Big Falls)

The brave souls who went for a dive to experience how cold the water was... Don't look for me in the picture coz I didn't tried. Let's just say that cold water + me = don't click *wink*

After a short swimming in the cold water of the falls, we headed to our hotel to have our dinner and inuman session with the gang! :)

 

 

How to get there:

We decided to get a Tour Package from http://www.touristas.com.ph/ 

(highly recommended, they can also take your pictures for free, manong driver has his own DSLR :p)

 Pick up (and drop off)  point is in Trinoma (Quezon City).

 

Inclusions:

*Round trip van transfer (Manila-Banaue/Sagada/Baguio-Manila)

*Driver, Tour Guide, Diesel, Parking & Toll fees

*Hotel /Lodging stay (either of the ff: Sagada Homestay, Misty Lodge, Residential Lodge, Igorot Inn)

 

Sample Itinerary c/o of NEC tours:

http://www.touristas.com.ph/uploads/1/0/9/3/10932380/sagadatour2015.pdf

 

 

Melai