went to Baguio the weekend before Holy Week. we arrived at 430AM via Victory Liner. we took the De Luxe bus which is faster, more convenient with fewer seats, a lavatory inside and no stopover. the P715 fare also comes with a free bottle of water plus cookies.
we stayed at
PNKY Bed & Breakfast.
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| Van Gogh room (for 3pax) |
it was nice. malou, the one in charge of the accommodation, let us check in at 5AM for an additional fee of P200 only. very nice of her!
they also have a PNKY cafe downstairs and all the waitresses are nice and smiling all the time. i like the vibes! not only that, they serve very good food! you can feel the love of the chef in every plate served. i tried almost everything (except dessert) in their menu and i can say i liked everything i ordered especially the tomato soup and the Baguio Longganisa breakfast. compliments to the chef!
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| Baguio longganisa breakfast (yum!) |
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| American breakfast: ham and egg |
whenever i travel, i like to stay at beautiful hotels. yes, some people would say it would be a waste of money because you'll be out most of the time anyway. but if you go home after a day of walking and you can't sleep well because of the condition of your hotel room, that can ruin your vacation, don't you think so?
i definitely would stay again at PNKY next time. it's a very private place but still in the heart of Baguio. it's also very near Victory Liner terminal. it's a little more expensive than other hotels like Casa Vallejo which was recommended to me. we went there and looked at their standard room which was so small and cramped! good think i didn't book there. and their restaurant is overpriced and the food is not really memorable. it was the most expensive lunch we had in Baguio. i wouldn't recommend it.
anyway, the first thing we did was to eat at Cafe By The Ruins. they don't serve my favorite food there anymore. i forgot the name. they also expanded the place. every time i go there, it gets bigger and bigger.
then we went ukay-ukay at Bayanihan which offers cheaper Ukays than the one in Session Road. i bought 3 items. i helped my sister choose her ukay items because she badly needs some color in her outfits. i chose this flowery top for her for only P100 and then this bolero for only P100 or less. i think we haggled for the price.
Day 2, we went to Bencab museum. it's quite far from the city. you'll have to pay P100 per person to enter the museum. if you're not an art enthusiast or just hungry like we were, immediately go downstairs to eat at Cafe Sabel.
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| Tuna sandwich and coffee. love it! |
then after eating, you can hang out at the garden and do a photo shoot.
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| pond |
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| tried to read |
but there's really not much to see. there's a pond, a small garden, the mountains. if i knew it would be like that, i wouldn't have taken that long trip. it would have been nice to just sit there and read but i was with non-readers so after eating, we went upstairs to look cursorily at the paintings (mostly acrylic) then exited the museum to our waiting cab to go to the market!
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| flower shop |
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| if Mcdo and Jollibee were partners... |
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Baguio market is full of old beggars and kids who sell you bags and offer to carry your shopping bags for you for a price of course. they'll follow you everywhere until you say yes.
this old woman was begging for alms. i asked her for a picture and she readily smiled for the camera.
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| colorful broom! i should have bought one! |
vegetables were so cheap! we bought kilos of them!
on Monday noon, we went back to Manila at 1215pm via Victory Liner again. i booked for a De Luxe bus but something went wrong and they gave us this bus which had no CR and with one stopover. without being asked, VL immediately refunded us P100 per person which is nice of them.
i would definitely recommend taking Victory Liner going to Baguio than renting a smaller private vehicle. 2 days before going back to Manila, i heard about the accident involving AJ Perez, the 18-year-old actor. apparently, the driver of their van overtook a truck and didn't see an incoming Partas bus. the bus ended up hitting the left side of the van and killed AJ.
on the way back, i immediately realized how easy it is to get into an accident in the MacArthur highway (is that what it is called?). just imagine, buses and trucks ply this route with tricycles and slower vehicles! our bus had to overtake at least 5 tricycles and several slow-moving trucks because they were just too slow! but the good thing about it is that we were in a bus and the driver can see everything in front of him including the other lane. just imagine what the ABS-CBN van driver saw that night. in front of him was the truck and it was midnight so his visibility was limited. it was irresponsible driving on his part.
(rest in peace AJ!)
anyway, we arrived at 5PM in Manila.
i love Victory Liner!
i love PNKY B&B!
i don't love Baguio as much as i did 5 years ago but it still has its charm.
