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 🙂
Kaja let's go! 