SUMMER CAPITAL OF THE PHILIPPINES, BAGUIO CITY: FAMILY BAM
Baguio City is known to be the Summer Capital of the Philippines. Many tourists go here because of its cool weather throughout the year due to its altitude.
I really want to go to Baguio even my relatives until the long wait is finally over. Our family planned to have a three-day getaway in Baguio City to experience the unusual cold weather, to taste the delicious strawberries straight from the farm, to see the tall pine trees, and to go to the different tourist spots.
So, let me share to you our awesome Baguio Trip. Enjoy!
Yey! We're going to Baguio!. My other relatives were busy preparing their things, that's why they were not in this photo. We decided to drive out early in the morning (almost 5 AM) to be safe.
It's already 10 AM when we passed by this giant lion's head.
They say that Baguio trip would not be complete if you do not have a photo with the lion's head. Unfortunately we decided not to get out of the car because there were so many people taking pictures as you can see in the photo above. I just took it a picture inside the car when we stopped a little bit there.
We finally arrived in the house that we rent at almost 11 AM (so the travel is around 6 hours from Laguna). Sorry I don't have a photo of the house. I forgot to capture it, I'm not a pro blogger HaHa. After arranging our things in our respective rooms, we started to prepare for the Day 1 tour.
THE PHILIPPINE MILITARY ACADEMY
The Philippine Military Academy is the school of the future officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. If you have a patriotic heart and planning to be a soldier, try to enroll here.
We had so much fun taking photos with the different war machines that were used before. We were also lucky to witness the marching precision of the cadets and had the opportunity to have a photo with some of them. By the way, there is an entrance fee of 20 Php only.
There's also a museum in PMA (already part of the 20 Php entrance fee). If you are interested with military history, this is a good historical place to visit.
THE MANSION
The Mansion is the President's summer residence. It was built in 1908 but was destroyed in 1945 because of the battle. And later, they reconstructed the structure in 1947. Aside from being the vacation home of the President, many important conferences happen there.
The Mansion's grand gate is huge and elegant. It is great for taking pictures.
According to gobaguio.com
The elaborate main gate of the Mansion is said to be a replica of that at Buckingham Palace in London, England.
The good thing here is that the admission here is free. We were not allowed to get nearer but it is enough for us to have a beautiful photo.
THE MINES VIEW PARK
This one is the most visited park in Baguio City. You need to go to the observation deck to see the breathtaking view of mountains and cute little houses of different colors. This experience should not be missed when visiting Baguio.
There were vendors too in Mines View Park. You should try this one, "soy pudding with strawberry syrup and tapioca balls", or "taho" in Filipino term. It's sweet (sweeter than your love ones HaHa). As fas as I remember, it costs 20 php for a medium sized cup, very affordable.
That's all for Day 1, let's now proceed to DAY 2 of the tour.
EASTER WEAVING ROOM
Easter Weaving Room is the home of native fabrics and handicrafts in Baguio City. Everyone was allowed to to enter the working area of the weavers and we were glad that we were able to witness the traditional cloth weaving.
Those things on our left side are wind instruments while the thing that we were holding is wooden bolo. For addition information, I researched about the meaning of bolo.
A bolo is a large cutting tool of Filipino origin similar to the machete. It is used particularly in the Philippines, the jungles of Indonesia, and in the sugar fields of Cuba. The primary use for the bolo is clearing vegetation, whether for agriculture or during trail blazing. The bolo is also used in Filipino martial arts or Arnis as part of training.
By the way, I bought this souvenir cellphone holder for my sister. It costs 190 Php. Quite pricey but worth it because of its good quality.
BURNHAM PARK
Burnham park is the heart of Baguio City. It is one of the famous landmark there. Let me give you a trivia.
Burnam park is named after premier American architect and urban planner, Daniel Hudson Burnham, who also designed the original plan for Baguio City.
Some of my relatives were biking but some of us chose, particularly me, to go boat riding. We paid 150 Php for an hour of boating. I was the one whose rowing. I was quite hard because it caused a little pain in my shoulder but it was fun besides, it was my first time to row a boat. I was like singing the song of "row row row your boat", only in my mind ofcourse HaHaHa.
THE DIPLOMAT HOTEL
Now, it is called as the Heritage and Nature Park.
They say that many killings happened here during Japanese era.
Do I look like I'm enjoying and happy? Deep inside, I felt some creepiness in this place specially when there were no people in the spots that we were taking photos.
All the fear and creepiness we felt gone away when we reached the roof top of the abandoned building. The beautiful panoramic view of Baguio City was awesome and truly breathtaking.
Just click the link below for the History of the Diplomat Hotel.
So, let's now move on to the DAY 3, the last day of our Baguio Getaway.
We just went to the Strawberry Farm in La Trinidad, Benguet, try that's all HaHa.
We bought some strawberries and other strawberry products there. Very yummy. Whenever I look at this picture I am always salivating.
After buying strawberries, we went back to the apartment to get our things and we went home. This family getaway will never be forgotten. 'Till next time Bagio!
I hope you enjoyed reading this. This is my first time to do a travel blog and honestly speaking, I know that I'm still not good at it and I am looking forward for more improvement on my future posts. Thank you.