The path to Baguio

At midweek, the road to Baguio was clear. We didn’t have the big buses driving madly past us. Private cars were not anxiously cruising through. This was a spur-of-the-moment trip organized by our youngest sibling for some sister-to-sister bonding and yes, an escape, brief as it was, from the hectic preparation for the holidays.

In two hours, we reached Urdaneta, Pangasinan, needing lunch and drinks. We stopped at what appeared to us like a suitable place – the CB Mall (named after its owner C. Balingit) which had a wide selection of restaurants and lots of Christmas items for sale. We chose Jollibee by the entrance on the right. At an hour before noon, they had run out of their popular Chicken Joy. Their offerings include packed meals, each with a main course and a piece of cake. Ingenious! Service was rather slow, but courteous.

We reached Baguio through the old Kennon Road in another three hours and checked in at the Country Club. For a weekday, it was teeming with guests, some lugging their golf clubs (pity our younger sister did not have the chance to use hers since there was no time between catching up and eating). Merienda was at the veranda for a steaming bowl of chicken mami. Immediately we noted the gracious and courteous staff. All of them must have been well trained. The rooms, as always, were comfortable. Dinner was at Hamada, the Japanese restaurant which has pockets of Japanese gardens. We took our place at a misono table and were served tender beef, succulent salmon and veggies with Japanese rice. We had to have eel and gindara to appease our craving. 

We always look forward to breakfast at the Club, either buffet or a la carte. The breads are freshly baked and for once in quite a long time, we chose the tiny Baguio longganisa with cups of robust Mountain Province coffee.

We then drove to Session Road, another place in a sad state, being so old and unkempt with old buildings needing at least a coat of paint and vehicle and human traffic in disarray. Where has the beautiful Baguio gone?

Lunch was at Rose Bowl with so-so pork in sweet-sour soup, noodles, and fried rice. Sadly, we remembered this was where a relative was pickpocketed of her very valuable collection of diamond pieces. Thus we avoided going too far into the downtown area.

We drove through Camp John Hay and went to the much recommended Everything’s Nice coffee shop for its popular cassava cake.

It is not pure cassava – it had strips of buco. We still prefer Cloyless sold in Tarlac. Of course our last stop of the day was at Good Shepherd where we got our usual pasalubongs – bottles of ube jam and casuy brittle.

Prior to turning in, we dropped in at the bake shop, which is always a beehive of guests making their orders to take home. Note this must be done a day prior to checking out or you will get nothing. The baked goodies go very fast. New to us are the cheese roll and coffee crunch bread. Surely, every Baguio visitor has delighted in its raisin bread.

With that we drove off the following morning with a van full of Baguio goodies, including Sagada oranges sold by a woman on the grounds where the horses are.

Down Marcos Highway on the return, we stopped by one of the stalls selling Mountain Province products, including brooms now costing P120 each – quite a shock to us who used to get them at three for a hundred pesos. Those days are long gone.

Ilocos garlic sells for P120 a kilo – really cheap, because in Manila they tag this at more than P300.

Baguio at near-Christmas time is ideal to visit. And when sisterhood is involved, the stay is made more memorable. Spend a bit more time with your siblings.

Have a happy and blessed Christmas!

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