Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Cat and LP take a holiday

Again, sorry for being incognito the past month. As most of you probably know by now, only work can keep me from my blog.

Let's fast-rewind to the holidays. I had planned on spending Christmas eve and Christmas day in Baguio City, and had in fact reserved a room at the Mile-Hi Inn in Camp John Hay. (The Manor Hotel was unfortunately fully booked for the season, and even if there were rooms available, I'd have been too cheap to spring for it.)

I had been looking forward to the much-needed vacay for weeks, daydreaming about the cool weather, pine trees, and great food. By some ironic twist of fate, LP fell ill days before the scheduled vacation, and was still sick on Christmas Day. During her illness, we paid two wee-hours visit to the ER...it was that bad. Consequently, I had to prepare Noche Buena instead of the planned Christmas dinner at the Manor. Argh. Cooking. Lots of work, but I couldn't help but make a Crown Roast braised in beer. Yummmm.


LP got well soon after that, and I proceeded to make arrangements with Mile-Hi for the 28th to the 30th. The lazy ass that I am, I decided that taking a Victory Liner bus to Baguio would be more comfortable and hassle-free than if I drove, and besides, I don't have particularly sharp navigational skills. ("Dalagang Ina, nagmaneho papuntang Baguio, nawawala!" headlining Abante was too much of a premonition for me.)

The day before our re-scheduled vacation, I got sick. I countered my cold with a day's rest in bed, liters of water, plenty of Bioflu, and time-tested broad-spectrum antibiotics.

No dice. Was still sick, though not feverish, when we boarded the bus. Argh. I spent afternoons asleep and feverish in the hotel room while Andolini and LP moved around Camp John Hay. Mornings and evenings, after some good hours' rest, were spent sightseeing.

So here's LP's first trip to the fabled city up north:

Tam-Awan Village.

A charming Igorot-inspired village cum art gallery that artists call home. A guided tour will take you around the different huts in the village, a minimal fee will get you board and lodging in one of the huts for that real Igorot experience, and for a measly hundred bucks, you can have your portrait sketched by the artists there. Four artists gamely sketched LP's portrait:



I was so happy with the results that I gave them a generous tip of 500 bucks. (Almost coyly asked if they could, um, share the "pot," get it?)



Camp John Hay Adventure Eco-Trail

LP had tons of fun here. She got to slide down a cable and rappel down a wall. All for a hundred bucks.



Downtown Baguio at Night.

Nothing beats walking down Session Road on a cool evening. Seriously, it's so different. (OK, it's a given, we were tourists.) Turn left and check out the tons of ukay-ukay stuff laid down on the sidewalk. Walk towards Burnham Park, grab a sweet corn from one of the street vendors, and take a leisurely (and tourist-y) boat ride on the man-made lake.

Mine's View Park



Spectacular view. Spectacular crowd, too. Crowded. Crowded. Crowded. Don't forget to visit Ibay's silver shop next door.

Oh yes, Camp John Hay.

I was one of the few lucky Pinoys who managed to get a pass from the Americans who lorded over the place twenty-odd years ago. I was 8 at that time, with my American uncle who had served in US military, his Pinay wife (my dad's sis) and Amerasian kids. As I remembered it, it was like I was in real mid-western town where fair-haired people walked the streets, the air was sweet with the scent of pine trees, groceries were carried in large brown paper bags, and stuff were paid for in US dollars. It was also the first time I saw a real fireplace with real fire, and real smoke came out of the real chimney.


Plenty have changed. The development is at a dizzying pace, and the small-town charm was no longer there. I couldn't even smell the pine trees. (My nose was not that stuffy, mind you.) But still, the place was...nice. Nevermind the commercialism, Andolini was ecstatic at the free Wifi at the Manor Hotel, and I was much too happy with the mint-spiked green tea from Starbucks that eased my cold and sore throat. The view from our room was not bad, either:


Pardon the paltry number of pics, the Cyber-shot locked down yet again the day we got to Baguio, and I had to make do with my phone's camera.

As I'm typing this, I'm in bed running a slight fever and a very nasty sore throat. So much for the holidays. Hope yours were merry, too!

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