Happy 2015, family’s holiday off!

Welcoming the new year & celebrating our Nanay’s dual citizenship, hello 2015! Here’s a summarized post of our family’s trip to the Summer Capital of the Philippines, “Kaja let’s go to Baguio City!”
This trip was planned years ago and repeatedly cancelled because of my father’s hectic schedule of passengers. Finally, as a welcome to the new year & my mom’s 60th birthday celebration, our family bonding pushed through. Our last visit here was year 2011 with my sister’s family and this time, it’s with my brother’s family.

Before going up to Baguio City, we attended the 1st morning mass at 5:30am of December 31, 2014 at Manaoag Shrine, Pangasinan. Glad that we were blessed in our front row seats since we usually attend the mass here outside the church. This was also part of our commitment to my mother as a birthday gift to her.

Manaoag Shrine

We will no longer include the Getting There / Commuting portion of our usual blog post, since going to Baguio City’s already a giveaway nowadays. We went to Baguio with our private car via NLEX, SCTEX and the new TPLEX. For commuters,  several bus lines like Victory Liner will get you there w/ a round trip bus fare of P 1,000.00 each.

Accommodation

The city’s known for transient houses, a match for groups / families looking for a homey and budget friendly place to stay, like we did. For those who still opt for more comfort, several inns and hotels ranging from low to high class are also found in the city. We stayed at the humble place of Aling Mila located at Barangay Gibraltar near Mines View Park and Good Shepherd. The house has 2 bed rooms, living & dining room, 1 bathroom w/ heater, kitchen w/ basic kitchen equipment & utensils.

 

Touring the City of Pines & it’s neighbors

• Day 1 – All tired and spent by resting at home. Dine, drunk, bonfire, welcomed the year 2015 🙂

doesn’t look like a lion anymore

• Day 2 –  Lourdes Grotto; Bell Church; Strawberry Farm; Sitio La Presa

We toured most of the spots outside Baguio City, this is to maximize time and avoid lesser traffic. Bell Church and Strawberry Farm are located in La Trinidad. While Sitio La Presa is situated atop the Kabuyao Mountain which might take some of your time, best if you come here in the morning or finish your tour before sunset. You may also check our post about Sitio Pungayan a.k.a Sitio La Presa 🙂

 

• Day 2 – PMA; White House; The Manor @ Camp John Hay; Burnham Park

As the tourists seemed to flock the city after the new year’s eve, we now roamed the spots near our transient house. We skipped other places because of the traffic building up, it’s all about smart planning.

Day 3 – Baguio Cathedral; The Mansion; Wright Park; Good Shepherd; Mines View Park

This was my mom’s birthday and so we attended the 1st mass at 6:00am to start the celebration. The Mansion and Wright Park is ours since it’s still early, we did some trademark photo-ops while waiting for the Good Shepherd’s opening at 8:30 am. After pasalubong shopping, we ended our Baguio trip by enjoying the nice view we had at Mines View Park.

All thanks to the TPLEX and my father’s driving skills, we arrived in Manila after 4 hours, whoa! Then we had our late lunch treat for my mom at Toho in Binondo. Our family’s holiday off was one memorable bonding trip we had, and indeed it was a memorable birthday experience for my mom too.

Baguio City has really turned into a tourist magnet, consistent throughout the years. Just noticed that the place is getting denser in our every visit, the ambiance as well is very city-like, comparing it to the old Baguio vibe when we were still young. But still, the easy access to cold weather vacation spot for every Pinoy is at Baguio City.

Enjoy the remaining chilly days of the country, thanks for reading our post 🙂

Sitio Pungayan a.k.a. Sitio La Presa – A Stroll Turned Into A Quick Adventure

“You were just a dream that I once knew”…la la la…“you’re all I need to be with forevermore.”  (imagine the background song “Forevermore” by Side A playing)

superman & lois lane ;p

Isn’t that Xander & Agnes?! Haha nope, it’s just us, John & Joan 🙂 Let us share with you our “stroll” which turned out into a quick adventure trek to the fast rising highlands tourist spot in Benguet.. “Kaja let’s go to Sitio La Presa or should we say, Sitio Pungayan!”

Funny how most of the tourists there shouts… “Di ‘to La Presa…isa ‘tong La Parusa!” in English…”This is not La Presa, but La Parusa! (parusa in Tagalog means punishment, which generalizes the tiring situation in visiting that place).

Just a heads up, Sitio La Presa does not really exist, all because of the hit “teleserye” or prime time drama series “Forevermore” starring Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano. Sitio La Presa is just a fictional name given to the local community where Agnes (leading lady) lives & she loves the place so dearly. It’s locally known as Sitio Pungayan located at Tuba, Benguet not in Baguio City as what most followers are saying.

Getting There:

For Commuters – Honestly, the place is not commuter friendly, it’s located at the top of Mount Kabuyao near the Radar Station. Believe us when we tell you that reaching the place itself is considered already an adventure, requires some patience too. What we can suggest for commuters is to hire a taxi going up and vice versa, no idea on their standard rates though, you’ll have to haggle on this one since they know it’s a touristy place. Or you can ride a taxi going up but prepare yourselves on your way back, which is way far from the main roads where you can access a ride back to Baguio City.

father’s expert driving skills *proud

 

For those with Private Vehicles – You’re the lucky ones, minus one stress point! But prepare for traffic going to and from La Presa. With Google Map or Apple Map, just look for Sitio Pungayan and follow the directions. The main entry point going there is via Marcos Highway. Then, just ask the locals for directions like we did.

traffic not quite seen here but it’s there and walking up is the only option

I remember we asked for directions/distance 6 times and most of the locals are warning us that the place is quite far and traffic builds up. Well, they were all right and yet after almost an hour of driving in a zig-zag foggy road, we reached the “almost” top of Mount Kabuyao that already looks like a parking area.

You’ll just have to follow the road going up, go straight until you see the three crosses, some snack houses, and oh the Radar Station which is also gaining the tourists’ attention for selfies, etc. At the top, all of these picturesque views will surprise you…

Of course, a time for some “couplie” (our own term for self-taken shots since we’re a couple haha) *bright idea awardee

You won’t get lost and miss out Sitio La Presa, just follow the tourists going there as well. After the radar station, you’ll see a dirt road with a small store, that’s the road to Sitio La Presa / Sitio Pungayan.

The fun part is….you’ll have to walk..again! It’s a bit long road going down and it’s even harder on your way back / going up, I even did it with my boots lol. All the views are a stress reliever anyhow, so it’s all ok!

Sitio Pungayan a.k.a Sitio La Presa

silence please..who is Ferdie, btw? 🙂

Shout for Agnes or Xander’s name once you reached the place, just kidding. The sitio itself is just the usual scenery for the locals and frequent Baguio / Benguet goers. What really makes this place a big deal? It’s a shooting location of Forevermore. *oh the power of media & showbiz We enjoyed the views and the cold weather that aids some of our tiredness, we don’t get to see and experience this in Manila.

Main attractions? The wooden house where Agnes lives and the wood signage “Sitio La Presa” which can create an income if all photo-ops were charged accordingly hahaha.*bright idea awardee

the famous wooden house

The Forevermore hype to Filipinos…and we even saw some foreign tourists or maybe they are just some foreigners residing in Baguio City.

can i take home that signage ;p

blockbuster

And these….we wouldn’t miss it….Xander and Agnes the Kaja Let’s Go version 🙂

On our way down, heavier traffic’s present and we passed by an irate man shouting all over, they can’t drive up anymore. He was a local resident near the famed sitio and others are agreeing with his sentiments at that time. And so we thought, will this place still be a big deal or touristy even after Forevermore drama has ended? This place is just the normal and quiet highlands before it was discovered and hyped, of course, pros and cons will apply. Sure, some of the locals were given the opportunity for business thus extra income, but other locals like the irate man shares some contradicting thoughts with this too. Pollution and littering aside from the traffic are the other main concerns here. Also, their privacy or quiet ambiance of living highlands is somewhat disturbed by tourists.

So much to say but that was just our thoughts from our experience up there. We found the drive and trek tiring but being nature lovers, seeing all the landscapes up there is a great rewarding experience. Every time we see the 2 radars from afar while driving in Baguio City, we can’t believe that we trekked that place and a bonus for me and my boots 🙂 lol

That’s about it!

We’re working on upcoming posts for our Baguio City tour, do watch out for it, very soon! 🙂