a tale from the cold
Don't you just love how it is only in the Philippines that you get to buy a one peso airplane ticket? Yup! That's how they advertise it, but that's not exactly the amount you actually pay. Cebu Pacific may not have a straightforward advertisement, like the warning in a pack of Marlboro cigarettes saying "Smoking Kills," but we bought tickets at their promo prices and we're happy about it. It was big savings after all. Two thousand seven hundred pesos++ per person brought us from Cebu to Manila and back.
The Valentine's week trip - three days of paid leave, two weekends, six unique individuals, three dynamic pairs, a cold Baguio vacation, an enjoyable Manila trip, two nights of rocking at the UP fair, a million memories made and of course hundreds of photographs to cherish. That's basically how our much-needed vacation can be summarized.
Our few hours of sleep were compensated the moment we arrived in the nation's capital, plus the thought of finally getting the vacation we had long wished for kept our spirits more awake. We went straight to the bus terminal, catching more nap hours in the 7-hour trip to Baguio. It was almost zero visibility on the ascent of the zig-zag road and the fog made me want to believe in the feeling of heaven. Damn me for not bringing a jacket and no thank you to my body fats, which weren't enough to give me insulation from the cold. After a late lunch at Steaks and Toppings, my usual food stop every time I go to Baguio, we left our baggage at the hotel, visited the Cathedral and proceeded to have coffee at Starbucks SM after what seemed to be a brisk shopping at the flea market, read: ukay-ukay. While waiting for my mom and sisters and while admiring the fabric architecture of the mall, it's hard to resist the thought of someday owning property in this city on a plateau.
Dinner at Kubo Grill made us learn a lesson: not to eat in open areas during nighttime, as it may just leave you shivering from the cold breeze, but we enjoyed the variety of dishes they offered, nonetheless. It's also funny to note that we went to Alberto's bar. Had we known earlier that the bands playing there sing "Wowowee!" and that their Red Horse Stallion is unreasonably priced, plus their weird sign on the dance floor that dicourages man to man dancing, we would not have bothered to enter. We settled at Brew Yard in Nevada, a chill-out bar with a more civilized crowd and relatively inexpensive beer. With the booze flowing and the cold growing, wifey dared me to play along with Justin on stage. Knowing nobody recognizes us, we did three impromptu alternative tracks and shamelessly failed to finish two of them. A quick stop at seven eleven and then we were at our respective hotel rooms at around three in the morning of Valentine's day.
Lights out, cuddles and hugs... ...and that ended our first day in the summer capital.
I hurriedly went to the concierge to get the bouquet of a dozen red roses around eight in the morning just in time to surprise Allison as she woke up. Blame it on cupid for being such a sharpshooter that made me quite romantic to give my wife flowers for the first time. (Yup, first time indeed, I courted her bringing a box of beer in cans.) To the ladies' surprise, they just wondered how the boys got the bouquets when we were together all the time and there were no flowers for sale at the front desk - "We got resources!" is our answer in unison. We really wanted to be cool romantics. With the start of the obvious cheesiness and eternal mushiness, we had breakfast at the least romantic fastfood store - KFC.
Coffee at Cafe Zola perked the mood even more, and we were ready to paint Baguio's tourist spots red. A quick stroll at Burnham park was first on the list. Mines' view was next, and we enjoyed wearing Igorot costumes. We also bought silver jewelry and other memorabilia there. Like scenes from mushy Tagalog movies, we amused ourselves with horseback riding at Wright Park, as well as posing for photo ops at the Botanical Gardens. Because of the limited time, we weren't able to visit Camp John Hay and PMA. The sloping terrains of the city was more than enough to make our stomachs rumble with hunger - so we indulged in one day old chick, boiled sweet corn, pizza and pasta at Volante in Session Road. Then there was the need to go back to the hotel to freshen up and rest, well let's call smooching and the moments it will lead to next "rest" for now. We had a late dinner at 18BC in Legarda and we decided to stay in the same place to gulp a couple of rounds of beer. The place was cozy and the live band's music was to our taste.
maica, alli, mhon with their respective bouquets
stephen, justin, toni fight as igorots in Mines view
And so another day ended...still with lights out, cuddles, hugs and "rest"
We felt like Chinese traders enjoying breakfast after a tiring morning at Sunshine Lunch and Panciteria. It's one of the oldest established food shops in the city, which offers a variety of noodles, soups, big siopao and other food choices. A hot meal fueled our haggling prowess in the city market for delicacies and pasalubongs. Vacations are always synonymous with the obligation to bring something for friends and family back home. What was three bags at first turned into five. So little time so much to do, that always sucks to hear. But we took the 11:30am bus going down to Manila because we needed to. So farewell to the cold atmosphere, it's time to get to our next leg of the Valentine's week vacation.
the three pairs pose at Mines view park
outside our hotel room, our last day in Baguio
That wraps up half of the third day.... we'll continue further on the next pose.
final dose:
view photographs of our trip here
and more pictures on this album too
The Valentine's week trip - three days of paid leave, two weekends, six unique individuals, three dynamic pairs, a cold Baguio vacation, an enjoyable Manila trip, two nights of rocking at the UP fair, a million memories made and of course hundreds of photographs to cherish. That's basically how our much-needed vacation can be summarized.
Our few hours of sleep were compensated the moment we arrived in the nation's capital, plus the thought of finally getting the vacation we had long wished for kept our spirits more awake. We went straight to the bus terminal, catching more nap hours in the 7-hour trip to Baguio. It was almost zero visibility on the ascent of the zig-zag road and the fog made me want to believe in the feeling of heaven. Damn me for not bringing a jacket and no thank you to my body fats, which weren't enough to give me insulation from the cold. After a late lunch at Steaks and Toppings, my usual food stop every time I go to Baguio, we left our baggage at the hotel, visited the Cathedral and proceeded to have coffee at Starbucks SM after what seemed to be a brisk shopping at the flea market, read: ukay-ukay. While waiting for my mom and sisters and while admiring the fabric architecture of the mall, it's hard to resist the thought of someday owning property in this city on a plateau.
Dinner at Kubo Grill made us learn a lesson: not to eat in open areas during nighttime, as it may just leave you shivering from the cold breeze, but we enjoyed the variety of dishes they offered, nonetheless. It's also funny to note that we went to Alberto's bar. Had we known earlier that the bands playing there sing "Wowowee!" and that their Red Horse Stallion is unreasonably priced, plus their weird sign on the dance floor that dicourages man to man dancing, we would not have bothered to enter. We settled at Brew Yard in Nevada, a chill-out bar with a more civilized crowd and relatively inexpensive beer. With the booze flowing and the cold growing, wifey dared me to play along with Justin on stage. Knowing nobody recognizes us, we did three impromptu alternative tracks and shamelessly failed to finish two of them. A quick stop at seven eleven and then we were at our respective hotel rooms at around three in the morning of Valentine's day.
Lights out, cuddles and hugs... ...and that ended our first day in the summer capital.
I hurriedly went to the concierge to get the bouquet of a dozen red roses around eight in the morning just in time to surprise Allison as she woke up. Blame it on cupid for being such a sharpshooter that made me quite romantic to give my wife flowers for the first time. (Yup, first time indeed, I courted her bringing a box of beer in cans.) To the ladies' surprise, they just wondered how the boys got the bouquets when we were together all the time and there were no flowers for sale at the front desk - "We got resources!" is our answer in unison. We really wanted to be cool romantics. With the start of the obvious cheesiness and eternal mushiness, we had breakfast at the least romantic fastfood store - KFC.
Coffee at Cafe Zola perked the mood even more, and we were ready to paint Baguio's tourist spots red. A quick stroll at Burnham park was first on the list. Mines' view was next, and we enjoyed wearing Igorot costumes. We also bought silver jewelry and other memorabilia there. Like scenes from mushy Tagalog movies, we amused ourselves with horseback riding at Wright Park, as well as posing for photo ops at the Botanical Gardens. Because of the limited time, we weren't able to visit Camp John Hay and PMA. The sloping terrains of the city was more than enough to make our stomachs rumble with hunger - so we indulged in one day old chick, boiled sweet corn, pizza and pasta at Volante in Session Road. Then there was the need to go back to the hotel to freshen up and rest, well let's call smooching and the moments it will lead to next "rest" for now. We had a late dinner at 18BC in Legarda and we decided to stay in the same place to gulp a couple of rounds of beer. The place was cozy and the live band's music was to our taste.
maica, alli, mhon with their respective bouquets
stephen, justin, toni fight as igorots in Mines view
And so another day ended...still with lights out, cuddles, hugs and "rest"
We felt like Chinese traders enjoying breakfast after a tiring morning at Sunshine Lunch and Panciteria. It's one of the oldest established food shops in the city, which offers a variety of noodles, soups, big siopao and other food choices. A hot meal fueled our haggling prowess in the city market for delicacies and pasalubongs. Vacations are always synonymous with the obligation to bring something for friends and family back home. What was three bags at first turned into five. So little time so much to do, that always sucks to hear. But we took the 11:30am bus going down to Manila because we needed to. So farewell to the cold atmosphere, it's time to get to our next leg of the Valentine's week vacation.
outside our hotel room, our last day in Baguio
final dose:
view photographs of our trip here
and more pictures on this album too
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the daddy
drawing inspiration from his little boys and wife. he writes
mostly about topics on family, fatherhood, about architecture and the arts. know more about TONI here
hot momma
the proofreader and the ever dutiful wife and mother. she shares her philosophies and writes about friendships and on being a mom. learn more about ALLI when you click here
big brother
he is crazy about lego. he can be playful and naughty sometimes. get to read his views on childhood, playmates, toys and kiddie stuff. get to know more about ZAI on our about us page
'lil bro
he is the newest Cortes, Tristan Azi is now the baby in the family, get to know more of him when we update about his development through the years. learn more more about AZI on our about us page
5 comments:
hmmmm... just click the picture to get a clearer view. =(
heyyy looks like you enjoyed your trip to baguio as much as we did when we went ... i forgot na when he he it's been that long.
Lami gani isaka ug friday night via victoria ay victory diay liner, walk around saturday morning, ngumpra sa mercado ug gulay nga 3 for 100 or was it 5? nya sakay napud victory pauli manila on saturday night.
ok no?
yeah we did enjoy our trip very much.
lami isaka sa baguio bisag on weekends lang, pero mahal na lang jud ang bus trip. P400 na, imagine.
ei sory ta bambs if wala jud ko ka pangita time to meet up with you. so busy ang schedule.
Uy good to know you enjoyed your stay in my hometown of Baguio City! Sure, it's more crowded now, but still, there's no place like home.
ey watson. yup we enjoyed our trip to your hometown very much. indeed it's crowded already but it still has that "laidback lifestyle"
unfortunately, we were a week earlier for the Panagbenga festival.
=)
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