Explore With Us - Travel Blog

By: Eden Lorren Pabalan

Of Parks:
Botanical Gardens, Mines View Park, Camp John Hay and Burnham Park are the main attractions of Baguio City. I enjoyed myself most in Camp John Hay because it is serene and quiet. The horses in Camp John Hay are also more well-groomed than Wright Park’s horses where there are horse poop everywhere and it stinks. I took a 30 minute horse ride and I was so shocked to realize that it was difficult to do horseback riding! It was fun albeit it almost made me wonder if I’ll still live after being shaken thoroughly by the horse.

Camp John Hay is located near Baguio Country Club where there’s a world-class golf course and the best raisin bread in Baguio. Yum! It was mouth-watering. Baguio Country Club requires membership to enjoy its amenities and facilities, and the most common hang-out place of Baguio’s well-off people.

Meanwhile, Mines View Park, doesn’t seem like a park at all for me. It was full of shops where you can buy, of course, pasalubongs! T-Shirts, keychains, toy puppets, pens, hats, and other things which tourists can bring home and brag just to prove that they went out of Manila. My parents bought each of us a shirt, Baguio caps, and Baguio keychains.

Later in the afternoon after lunch, our family went to Burnham Park, where there are boats for tourists who want to just float in the water without getting wet, and go sightseeing even if there’s nothing much to see. My sister and I took a swan boat which can be run by just stepping on the pedals which can be tiring to the legs. I almost had cramps after an hour of pedalling on that boat. Then, after tiring out our legs on the boat, we rented bicycles for 40 pesos an hour to tire our whole body out and pass out. Luckily, I didn’t pass out. I didn’t even sweat the whole day we were out on the streets of Baguio. I just freezed in the cold despite the fact that I was biking at 1 pm in the afternoon. Imagine doing that in Manila and people will laugh at you tremendously.

Of Weather:
Speaking of weather, the temperature of Baguio is also the best and worst experience for a tourist, especially if you’re a Manileña. Walking and running on the streets won’t give you a sweat, you don’t need a refrigerator to have cold water, and you won’t die of heatstroke, which is very common in the the metropolis.

But this is where the problem occurs: sleep freeze, brain freeze, body freeze, soul freeze, food freeze and all types of freeze! My legs and ankles had this weird cramps whenever the weather is cold, and yes, for three straight nights I had a hard time sleeping because the cramps repeatedly haunted me. Every morning instead of looking for cold water I looked for coffee and it was very difficult to take a shower. I think I can live in Baguio forever without taking a bath. Kidding. I thought I’d like to live in a place where there is snow. But thank God for this tropical country. I could not ask for more.

Of Food:
I’ve already mentioned the raisin bread above, right? Baguio Country Club has the best raisin bread, and Mommy (my granny) has a friend in Baguio who also orders the best sylvannas in the world! Of course I’m exaggerating, but sylvannas is really one of my favorite desserts. For tourists, the infamous peanut brittle, the ube halaya (purple yam), and strawberries (love it!) are still the ultimate pasalubongs. I also like a certain brand of choco flakes in Baguio named Mikasan, and their veggies which are really fresh.

In totality, Baguio is a place of escape for people who want to chill (literally) and relax. The flowers, food, weather, and quiet parks of Baguio are the reasons why vacationers always make Baguio their hideaway place from all the hubbubs of the metropolis and the pollution.

By: Kathleen Yu

My sister shuddered as the tiger edged closer, its fangs bared. She didn’t know what to do; she was trapped. She trembled in fear, wondering if the savage animal would maul her to bits. I watched in fascination as the tiger continued to sniff its surroundings. Did it smell my sister? It was impossible to tell. All I knew was that my sister was definitely freaked out. Her eyes were wide and she was shaking like crazy. And then…we drove off and moved on to another part of Zoobic Safari.

That was probably the highlight of our first family trip to Subic. My sister screaming like a banshee as the tiger edged closer and closer. I kind of wish I’d taken a picture. That way I’d at least have some remembrance of my best Subic trip ever, so to speak. I never realized that there could be so much to do there, and in such a small place at that. We only stayed two days, but those two days made up the best memories of my entire summer.

Road Trip!
The road trip to Subic was probably one of the longest in my life, next to Baguio. My siblings and I were cramped in close quarters the whole time, and when we finally got there-our backsides were rather sore. We were on the road about three hours, and there wasn’t much to see outside–mostly highway, and a little trees. To top it all off, my younger sister had a fever and she was shivering and groaning the whole time. Music to the ears…but she got a little better as we went along. It’s a bummer to get sick during a road trip, especially when you’re squashed in the middle, like my sister was. It was a relief to everyone when we finally reached Subic. I was excited to see the place, since it was my first time there.

The Courtyard Inn
My dad had reserved a room at this really swanky place, The Courtyard Inn. Our room was really cool, especially the bar. We had a late lunch there, BBQs we’d brought from home. My parents were too cheap to buy anything from the place, and to their credit-the food there was pretty expensive. I wanted to have a little siesta afterward-I’m not much of an out-and-about person-but as usual, I was overruled. The rest of the family wanted to go to a beach, and do some swimming. So to the beach we went.

Beaches are Very Dangerous
We found a deserted beach after we’d been looking for about an hour. My dad parked the car while the rest of us headed off for some fun and frolic. Except we didn’t find fun and frolic. Just a whole lot of hermit crabs, and a starfish that looked nothing like Patrick Star from Spongebob Squarepants. Then my brothers decided to do some extreme stunt diving and before you knew it…KABLAMO! My brother had hit his head on a sandbar from diving into really shallow water. Good thing it wasn’t that serious. I tried some swimming myself. The water was pretty clear, and I had a fun time exploring it. We even persuaded my hydrophobic younger sister to dunk her feet a little. It wasn’t much, but for someone who’s hated swimming all her life, it was a good start. All in all, the trip to the beach was a pretty exciting one.

The Tiger from Zoobic
The next day saw us at the Zoobic Safari. There were all kinds of animals there…even some tigers imported from who-knows-where, and a bunch of fluffy pink flamingos. There was even a cute little lamb that I hugged, and almost dropped when I found out it had fleas Then there was the trip to the tiger’s den, which traumatizes my sister to this day. For my part, I thought the tigers were rather cute. They looked like overlarge cats with funny stripes (which is exactly what they are) and one of them even yawned in this really cute way that made me want to cuddle it. Maybe I’ll buy a tiger cub someday, and raise it from scratch. That would be pretty cool.

Horses have a Mind of their Own
Afterward, my brothers and I went horseback riding. We explored some of the forests around Subic, which was really exciting. There was even one point when my horse outstripped the rest, and the trainer had to chase us down the street because I didn’t know how to control the animal. But I had a fun time laughing at my brothers, who reminded me of those cowboys from the movie Brokeback Mountain.

Jet-skis are Pretty Expensive
My brothers insisted that we go jet-skiing before lunchtime, and since my parents couldn’t think of anything else for us to do, that’s exactly what we ended up doing. Riding a jet-ski was pretty fun, except there was always this danger of falling into the water and getting mauled by the propeller. I tried not to think about it too much, because it made me picture a whole lot of blood and gore. The ride took about thirty minutes, and cost us P2,000.00. It was highway robbery…sort of. You can’t put a price on fun, after all.

Stomach Cramps and Loose Bowel Movements
This is one part of the trip I’d much rather forget. We were lunching on the way back when I started to feel a strange churning in my stomach. Next thing I knew, I was…awwww, forget it. Some things are better left unsaid.

The Way Home
Coming home from Subic was a real bummer. I was kind of hoping we would stay forever. But a vacation is still a vacation and even the best vacations have to end. One thing’s for sure, though. Our family trip to Subic was a big success.