Rodel Medina

Where did I begin? Thinking back, I fondly remember me being asked by one of my teachers " Where would you want to go, if given the chance? " I, almost immediately, would say " Baguio". And when asked why, I would say, in all seriousness, " Because its cold there!" Never been to a cold place other than a mall or a hospital lobby. And I would continue to babble about how I loved to see Camp John Hay, Mines View Park, Session Road, Burnham Park, etc. How I planned to have my picture taken with the Lion's head as my background. Fast forward to 2011, I FINALLY set foot on the land of my dreams. And I got to do it with a special someone. It was supposed to be a 2 day trip and it ended up having me to extend it for another day. I went to all the trouble of planning everything. And when I say everything, I don't leave anything off. I went to check trip schedules from Cubao, researched which companies have trip to and from Baguio, where they do stop overs and how many hours would it take the bus to arrive in Baguio. I even have a checklist of where to go, what to eat and what time we have to be there in order to maximize our short visit. I was even taking mental snaps of the places/ landmarks we pass by and what provinces they were. I was like a kid on a field trip for the first time. I go " Wow!" every single time. We went pass Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan and then La Union. As we approached Benguet , at least that was what the signage said along the highway, I was going " Lion's Head, here I come. " Then I saw " Welcome to Baguio, City of Pines " FUDGE!!!! WHERE IS THE LION'S HEAD?!? It was too late when I realized we went the other way and is no where near Kennon Road. So, frustrated but never defeated, we alighted in front of the hotel I booked in advance and dropped our bags and started strolling. We went to Burnham Park (check!). The lagoon was still under construction back then so we decided to go elsewhere. We went to Mines View, went up and down Session Rd, checked out the Central Market and went to KFC (Ketchup Food Community). Highly recommend you to try their Chopseuy,it was sumptuous!! We even went to the night market in Harrison Dr till 2 am. Even I was surprised to learn that I still have the energy to go around even with the fact that I was awake since 6PM the day before. So my wife slept from 3am to 8am while I was up and about around 4:30am waiting to see the fog by the window and testing if I can see "smoke" as I breathe. The second day started with a light jog to Camp John Hay, and a light visit to the Butterfly Sanctuary, a quick tour of the Bell house and Cemetery of Negativity. Then we went to the Central Market and even got lost along the way looking for the restaurant that serves Batil Patung ( a famous noodle dish from Cagayan). Then the third day came and I would say that it was the best day of our trip. We went to the Strawberry farm in Benguet and I fell in love with the Strawberry Taho (must try!). I would loved to go Strawberry picking but it was too pricey and I had to stretch our budget since we had to stay another day. Butterfly Sanctuary, Baguio 2011 So the time to say goodbye to Baguio came, and I was all tears. I never felt the need for sleep or hunger while roaming around Baguio. The fresh air, the veggies and the cold feel, things I would never get enough of. Now, begs the question, what's next? Now that I have set foot on Baguio, where to next? I have been to Baguio numerous (4-5) times since then, and I NEVER get tired of it. I will still make it a point to go back at least 2x a year. Specially now, we have Jensen Castiel with us. All the more reason all my #travelgoals would be worth the wait. Oh, so what's next? I will post a clue in one of the pictures.