Baguio Birthday

When you read an article on a Friday morning saying that Baguio is experiencing the coldest temperature in the past ~50 years, the only logical thing to do is to spontaneously go to Baguio on that same weekend – which was also perfect as a getaway for Yza’s birthday. No preps, no plans because planning is for the weak. =)

But before Baguio, there was Nuvali. We spent Saturday morning for Yza’s work-related errands in Nuvali and sneaked 1 hour of leisure biking around the area. Yza had fun (proof: photo below).



Straight from Sta. Rosa, we started driving up to Baguio after lunch. Yes, from South to North on the same day! Well, I thought it would be a faster drive since a part of TPLEX has been opened up already (until Paniqui). It was faster… until you exit the expressway. The traffic in the Urdaneta and Rosario areas were unusually heavy, bumper-to-bumper because of closed lanes due to road works.

So… we still arrived in Baguio around half past 6PM. And because we didn’t plan anything, we went around Baguio for almost an hour looking for a place to stay. All the pension houses and cheap hotels were all fully-booked. Just as we were about to give up and just probably sleep in the car (and spend the whole night regretting not planning at all. haha), we found Palazzo d’ Bliss along Military Cut-Off. It was affordable and had complimentary breakfast so it was a GO (as if we had any other choice. hehe).

Dropped off our things, went to 50s Diner to grab some dinner and headed to Kaffeeklatsch to relax, listen to good music and have some hot drinks to counter the 11 degrees weather. Yza loves the place so much, I’ll buy her a coffee shop like this someday.


It was very cold in Baguio that night, people were already wearing earmuffs and bonnets! The hot drinks did not help at all, it was still freezing cold when we went outside. Despite the very cold weather, it was still a great salubong for Yza’s birthday. Happy birthday!

The next day, we attended mass at Baguio Cathedral.


…and hoarded very cheap potted plants just outside the church.


Next stop was Mt. Cloud Bookshop. Yza loves the place so much, I’ll buy her a bookstore like this someday.


Then we went to Cafe by The Ruins for late lunch. We arrived past 2PM already and there was still a waiting list! Amazing!


We skipped all the usual Baguio sights and just went for BenCab Museum before heading back to Manila.


At the lowest floor of the museum was a beautiful garden…



..and Cafe Sabel. We ordered a couple of hot chocolate drinks to keep us warm.


Just right before leaving, we saw Mr. Benedicto Cabrera himself! We didn’t really notice him at first, just walking by the cafe like it’s no big deal. But Yza saw an article posted on one of the walls which had his face on it + some random stranger approached him for a photo = confirmed to be the real BenCab. :)



Although it was a very short Baguio trip and I literally spent most of the time driving to/from and around Baguio, it was still enough to de-stress for the work week ahead.



Bonus: Since it was very cold in Baguio, we had to come up with our own rendition of Frozen’s Love Is An Open Door. :)

Cheers,