Baguio-La Union Labor Day Weekend

I already made plans to go to Baguio on Labor Day, but I realized that 3 days is too long for a place that I go to often. Thank god that Jane and Nikki invited us girls for a weekend in La Union. After x changes to my plan, I decided that I will go to Baguio on Thursday night and spend the whole Friday there and by Saturday morning, I will head down and join the rest of the gang in Elyu  for surfing.

Once again, this plan is not ironed out ( I think that's what make my trips unforgettable because expectations are not set and since I don't usually have an itinerary, I can pretty much do whatever I want), but on the last minute, I went with my Plan B. On Thursday, instead of heading straight to the Victory bus terminal in Cubao, I went home because my bag is not ready yet. I decided to have a shower as well.

I arrived at the terminal at around 11PM and man, there were TONS of people! I kinda pinched myself for the wrong decision, but I decided to be on the "Chance Passengers" list because I had no choice. All the other buses are booked. After 2 hours, the line only moved 3 meters (I'm not kidding you, G!) and it was really draining. My back was starting to hurt and the couple next to me were arguing non-stop. Ugh... they were not only pissing me off, but everyone else in the line. It's a good thing that Kuya who was in front of me is dedicated to get to Baguio so around 1AM, when all hope seems lost, he decided to look for food and about 20 minutes later, he came back and asked me if I was willing to take a van to Baguio. It's missing only 2 more passengers and with 80% hesitation, I said "yeah, why not!" I noticed that he did not offer the seats to the couple, maybe that's how pissed he was with them as well.

So with a doubtful heart (situations like this, I always think of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I dunno why), I took the van and paid Php 600. It's the first time I tried this kind of commute and TBH, I will not do it again! It was the most sore ride ever. I thought that I could sleep because I was seated in a tiny corner with my perfect-as-pillow bag, but hell no, I was so wrong. I did not sleep at all.

The van took the Kennon Road route because it was not allowed in Marcos Highway because they are colorum. For the first time ever, I saw a glimpse of the famous lion/monkey/dog head. I was already 20 feet up in the mountain when I saw it. Haha!

The van arrived near the Victory bus station at around 6 AM. I got off and I thanked Kuya for tagging me in the van ride. I did not get his name, but I think it's only proper that I thank him. The crisp and cold morning air of Baguio greeted me (but honestly, it was not as cold as I expected) and confidently, I hailed a cab going to CJ and Mark's apartment in Upper Pinget.

When I arrived in their apartment, Mark was nearly finished cooking pigar-pigar. This is an Ilokano dish that Mark promised to cook for me the last time I was with them (October last year).

It's my first time to taste this dish. It's basically beef not cooked in its own oil. Mark added cabbage and we dipped it in patis with calamansi. Basically, it's beef tapa on another level. It was muy delicioso, G! It was a nice welcome after the most sore ride to Baguio.

After breakfast, CJ got ready and since I have a very "foodie" itinerary, our first destination was Tsokolate de Batirol in Camp John Hay. We got lost looking for this cafe because it doesn't look like your typical one, and the sign was very small. You can't see it if you  don't really know where it is. 

Tsokolate de Batirol is tucked in a bougainvillea entrance of Camp John Hay Gate 4. A small pathway leads you to a rustic spot filled with wooden tables and Instagram-worthy corners. The comfortable smell of chocolate filled the air and even though we are still stuffed from breakfast, we chose a small table outside.

I ordered the strawberry infused chocolate and CJ chose a classic. We also ordered suman with latik and boy, it was the perfect combination!

The suman looks like turon, eh? Mine's the one with the red stick. I think my strawberry chocolate was lovely, but I also think that they just added commercial strawberry syrup. I can't taste any Baguio flavor in it, even though it said in the menu that it's a Baguio special. 

We spent at least a good hour catching up in this cozy corner. As expected from our nearly Tita age, our topics ranged from our future, marriage and career plans; but of course, tsismis will always be in order. 

After finishing our chocolates, I asked CJ to take photos of me near the bougainvillea because you know, it is the ultimate favorite plant of hipsters and being a wannabe hipster, I always have photos with it. 

Me and my favorite hipster jacket doing my best hipster pose. Wachutink, G?

So, after  our mini pictorial, Sandra texted that she's already in Session Road. CJ and I hurriedly hailed a cab and met up with her. It's nice to see familiar faces in a city dear to my heart. Sandra was with her daughter Lean, my inaanak. Lean is another reason why I'm in Baguio--to celebrate her late birthday. Lean is such a cutie! 

We argued for a few minutes where to eat (again! I tell you, all I did when I was in Baguio was eat!) and we decided on Farmer's Daughter. The restaurant is just outside Tam-awan Village. We chose this because according to Mark, it served authentic Ibaloy food. In case you don't know what Ibaloy is, they are the native people of Baguio and is some kind of a tribe of the Igorots (now I'm not sure about this because I was not paying attention when Sandra was talking). 

There was nothing special about the place and I appreciate them for it because I was focused on eating. We ordered this: 

Pako pako salad, pinuneg (which is basically betamax sausage) and kinuday (their version of liempo, but tastes more smoky). I must say G that Ibaloy food tastes good. I hope that we can eat here G in the future. 

P.S. how awesome does my food photo look? 

We got sleepy from all the food so we decided to nap. It's a good thing that Sandra's house is along the way going to the town proper. We decided to crash her place. Once we got to her house, I immediately fell asleep. It was much deserved because I did not sleep from travelling. I took a 30 minute nap and that's what all it took to get my energy level going up again. I played with Lean until 5 PM. 

Here's Lean opening her gifts from her ninan CJ. I had no gift, but I'll make it up to her in Christmas. 

The Titas from Bicol volt-in to celebrate Lean's birthday. This is CJ, btw G. One of my closest/BFFs from high school. 

Since we (actually, just me) had plans to go to Baguio Craft Brewery, Sandra brought Lean to her friends so they can babysit her. I dragged CJ to Ili-Likha Artist Village before we try BCB. Actually, it's just my excuse to have merienda (see, I told you, all I did in Baguio was eat). Ili-Likha is located near Assumption St., near the Baguio Cathedral. I haven't been to that church ever! 

This stairway in Ili-likha is becoming famous because it is one-of-a-kind. It has a stained glass effect and I think they patterned it after a rainbow? Anyway, here's my usual Baguio host, CJ.

Compared to Oh My Gulay, Ili-likha is more artsy-fartsy. I think Kidlat's art ensemble will go all out with this collective and I am kinda excited to come back here when this is fully done. This is just a small corner cafe in Ili-likha and when we went there, there are still a couple of spots being renovated or constructed. 

We ate in one of the operating cafes in Ili-likha and there was nothing special with this one. We opted to just have merienda here instead of dinner because we plan to have beer after and we just ate tons like 2 hours earlier. After we finished this, we moved to one of my favorite spots in Baguio:

Argh! Baguio Craft Brewery: One of the reasons why I pursued this trip. They have great beer selection and majority of the ingredients are sourced locally (except of course for the hops). Starting from the left are the fruity beer (flavors include strawberry, passion fruit, etc. I liked the passion fruit the best) and then it moves to the darker beer. I forgot what I chose, but it was more on the darker taste. I saw a man brought his own mug from the US and filled it to the brim from here. I guess that's how good the beers are here. I think that we should totally visit this place next year. Fun fact: they let you have a small sip of the beers just so that you will get acquainted with the taste, just like in Gelatissimo.  

We are being #titasofmanila here. Instead of having a full pint, we just opted for half glass because we are so full and we are not so much in the drinking mood. Also, Sandra (the one in the foreground) is still somehow breastfeeding Lean so she's trying to avoid alcohol.

After this shot, we decided to check the roof deck (BCB owns the building so its 3 floors of all things cool and beer-related) and man, it just made me love Baguio more. Even though it's foggy, it wasn't too cold and all I could see are the lights from the city. I wished that moment that someday, really, I will TRY to live here even just for 6 months. After hanging out at the roof deck, we decided to go home. We were thinking of still eating dinner, but we decided to call it a night. 

The next day, CJ and Mark prepared breakfast before I head down to La Union. They cooked itlog na pula and tinapa. I left Baguio with a heavy heart, but optimistic because I know that the next time I'm there, there will always be something new to try. I went down to La Union solo and I must say, I was a little nervous because I've forgotten about the place, but thank god for the kind bus conductor, he really stopped the bus exactly at the park near Nikki's house. 

I reached La Union after lunch, but they were still cooking so it was perfect timing. We ate lunch a little after 2 PM already, but it was okay because the food was yummy. I think we had tinola even though it was so hot. 

Photo from Mark/Jane's FB. Look at Nikki's house, so pretty na di ba? The gang and the kids. After this, we just chilled in the afternoon and waited for sunset before going to the beach. It was so hot and we didn't want sunburn.

Remember this beach? It's still the same beach we visited 3 years ago (I think) but now, it has more people compared to years before. It was a nice day to swim, but there were a lot of jelly fish. Jane even got stung. I wasn't because I was wearing rash guard (see, I told you it has its benefits). 

Sunsets in La Union are always pretty, eh?

I really like this shot. I think this is Leica. 

At night, we decided to have dinner by the beach, bonfire style. Grabe, galing lang talaga ni Nikki sa mga ganitong pagkakataon. She's the one who had the brilliant idea of cooking the hotdogs this way. We also cooked pork chop on the beach and everyone was eating with their hands. It was so much fun. Nice weather and it wasn't so cold. For a few hours, we had the beach all to ourselves. This is also the first time that I ate by the beach at night.

Photo from Mark. Here's the obligatory "family" pic. As you can see, I left a space for you, but I don't know how to Photoshop so I'm just pointing to air here. Haha. This was also the Sunday that Pacquiao lost to Mayweather. Everyone was sad for his loss. 

This is basically how my Labor Day went. 

PS: After 8 months, this piece is finally up!