Baguio, Here We Come

BAGUIO, Here Come The Sisters...

Apparently, Baguio is still the 'Summer Capital of the Philippines.' I would have asked why, because all along I thought it was Boracay, but the fog-covered surroundings gave it away at frst sight. It was my first time to see fog so low and actually felt it.

We have just come up from a hefty dinner at this ala themed-park restaurant called Isdaan in Pangasinan.

Our senses actually overloaded from the food, the big-butted two-storey high statues and the Tacsiapo section

that allowed us to throw plates, cups and even televisions (although, we didn't get to throw TVs because they cost P1,500.00) to release pent-up frustrations, but seeing the fog, having walking all over it created a heaven-like sensation.

(take a wild guess to which I was aiming at, definitely not the boss, like my Dad...

(so, who is his boss again?) hmmm

I was actually tired from the long drive, but it was worth waking up in the middle of the night. Our parents had to try very hard, they said, but thankfully, my Mom was not the kind of person who would let us miss a rare opportunity. Grudgingly, I woke up ater ten minutes and my sister,who is usually very difficult to wake up at times, did so after another ten more minutes. Although it took awhile before the fog registered into my sisters sense of sight, the moment that it did, she was genuinely excited. Our car windows were intentionally opened and the fog came in, so it really seemed like heaven. We stayed there for ten more minutes before heading out to the nearby bed and breakfast. It wasn't much, but we didn't really care. Besides my Dad was zonking out, and that was not a good thing, being near the cliffs and all.

The next day, first destination was Burnham Park!

"Yehey, 'said Zeth.
(Nothing says 'yehey' better than being carried like a baby. Enjoy this year, Zeth. Seven-year-olds are no longer babies.)

The last time I was here, I could barely hold my own baby bottle. I was a few months old back then, so this visit is officially my first, just like my sister's. My parents reminisced about their childhood experiences, biking and boating, so we definitely had to try those too. But before we did, we had lunch picnic-style, which seemed like one of the most favorite things visitors did in the park. We brought food from the mall and spread them out on the stone table. It was not as fancy as I thought it would be, but it was another first experience.

After, my sister and I each had a cup of hot milo and coffee, as expected, for our parents. We thought that would be done in a jiff, but the drinks were so hot, we had to wait like forever. It was only like fifteen minutes, but when you have been waiting to go biking and boating since lunch time yesterday, every second can feel like a day.

We went around the park, and smelled the flowers. There were nice flowers. Sadly, though extremely tempted (look at her face),

especially my little sister whose biggest enjoyment is giving flowers to our Mom, picking flowers are prohibited. Zeth has just learned to read already, but she knew what the word 'no' meant long before that. So, she contented herself with picking flowers that had fallen on the ground already.

Finally, the last sip of coffee was done and the cup was thrown into the properly segregated trash bin, and we started choosing bicycles. Who knew it required such a skill? Because apparently, the bicycles had different kinds of features. There are those with umbrellas, horns, oroccan chairs, and some looked odd.

I chose the two-wheeled balancer-free bike,

Zeth had a funny-looking trike and our parents took the challenge of working a bike with a sidecar. It was going great, after all, where else can anyone ride a bike in the city. Until, it started drizzling some twenty minutes later, which we brushed off, but then it started to pour. We had to literally race our way to shelter.

In the shelter, we had another one of our many Baguio firsts--taho with 'authentic' strawberry sauce. I asked our Dad why it was labelled authentic, but the Manong answered instead. Apparently, strawberry fields were abundant in the region. We would actually have had the fields in our itenerary, but we did not have enough time.

After the scrumptuous taho, the rain had died too, and we finished whatever was left of the one-hour bike rentals. Then we headed off to another first-- boating!

We would have taken the swan, but it was too big for us. We had to take the boat-tito (mini-boat), that perfectly seated four--Mom, Dad, Zeth and me.

There was Mom. Zeth and me on the one side, and

Dad--all his 180 plus pounds--on the other. The three of us, were heavier, of course.

After boating, we had to take a break for snack. After all, eating is considered a major part of vacation.

We went to get our steaming chocolate and puto-bumbong meal at Sulibao Restaurant, an age-old landmark in Burnham Park, also where my Dad had spent many memorable Baguio visits with my grandfather when he was still alive.

(Not to be missed are bibingka

and hot chocolate,

but where there is Zeth, there is also ice-cream)

Lolo Judan, my Dad's dad and my grandfather, was actually with us, on my very first visit in 1996, so imagine his face while telling us his stories. Thankfully, there weren't many changes, if there were at all, so he could actually relive much of those memories, as though my Lolo was actually with us. I'm sure, in spirit, he was...

ADVENTURES TO BE CONTINUED