"First Timer in The City of Pines" - Our Baguio Vacation (Day 2)

So, how did a 31-year-old first timer fared in his recent fare to Baguio City?

In the first part of this feature of our vacation in Baguio City, it was shown that we chose to spend Day 1 of our trip by doing stopovers before going up to the City of Pines itself and just visiting places around the vicinity of Burnham Park when we got there. For Day 2, however, we picked up the pace and started things early as we have the "whole" day ahead of us.

To check out the first day of our trip, click HERE

Update!!! - The third part of this feature can be viewed HERE and HERE. Unfortunately, I had to split it up in two parts, but it is still a good read nonetheless.


Join me after the jump for Day 2 of our trip to Baguio City.



Baguio City Vacation: Day 2

Our second day in Baguio started out with breakfast in our room at Ina Mansion. We prefer to eat heavy to start the day since we plan to burn this whole day out by sticking to our itinerary (as per little sister’s preference). 

The first one on our list for that day is a visit to Mines View Park, one of the most popular and visited parks in the City. From the famous observation deck on this park, you can see a panoramic view of Benguet's Gold and Copper mines and the mountains surrounding the place. It is considered as one spectacular sight to behold and should not be missed when visiting Baguio City.

As I have said in the first part of this feature, to get to most of the places that Baguio has to offer, the most practical way is by riding a cab. While at the cab ride up to Mines View Park, we just happen to pass by some other places on our itinerary and had a preview of what is up for our whole day today.

ProTip: If one part of your itinerary in Baguio City is going to Mines View Park, it is best that it should be the first one you visit since it is the farthest and highest place among the batch of places to visit in that vicinity. You start at Mines View Park and work your way down as you visit the other places along the way back to the City proper. It is just a suggestion though, but that worked well for us.

When we arrived at the park, the place is teeming with a lot of people (because it is a Saturday, I guess). The first stop we had on the park was having a picture taken with the popular Saint Bernard or in this case since there are two of them at that time, Saint Bernards.

Boy, those Saint Bernards are really big. I have seen how big is one when I watched Beethoven back when I was a kid, but I have never seen a real one. Of course, to have pictures taken with these gentle giants of dogs, there is a fee and since there are two of them, the rate is four shots for Php 100. I paid up and then passed my DSLR to the one tasked to take the shot. Four poses and four shots after, it was done. The dog poses are good and our smile was perfect in the pictures, but all of that was ruined by the very experienced "Photographer" clicking the autofocus toggle (an almost impossible mistake to make) of the lens to manual mode...as a result? Blurred shots and waste of a hundred bucks.

I do not know if it was done on purpose, but I really should have just handed him a point and shoot or a mobile phone instead. Sheesh! Minus points for that buddy! The pictures are so blurred, I cannot even post them here.  Our case may be an isolated one, but let this be a fair warning to all.

Believe me, this shot has better quality than the one we had paid for

As we walk around the park, we are greeted by natives offering these "Native Costumes" that you can rent to wear while you are at the park. The going rate? Php 20 for unlimited use. Now, that is one hell of quality/price combo there and a good reason to try, so we went ahead and had our matching costumes fitted for us. They have a lot of variety, so they have virtually anything for all shapes and sizes.

Of course, anyone will agree, this kind of costume looks better when worn by kids.

Now, ain't that Kawaii?

After about an hour or more of sightseeing and taking pictures in the observation deck. We decided to move on to the next place that we will visit.  Just a walking distance away from Mines View Park is the Good Shepherd Convent along Gibraltar Road. The main objective of our visit here is the small store that is popularly known for the different products made by the Good Shepherd nuns like fruit preserves, strawberry, and ube jams, peanut and cashew brittle, and coco jam; you know, those products that you take back home. These products are readily available at stalls in Baguio Public Market and other outlets within the city, but in my opinion, it is a better experience to buy it at the convent itself.

After we bought some products,we then proceed to our next destination, Wright Park.

Looks are okay, but the Smell?...Sheesh!

Wright Park is another scenic park in Baguio City. Here you can rent out ponies/horses to ride on the vicinity of the park. We really wanted to stay in the place where the ponies are, but opted not to because of the "Bog of Eternal Stench-like" smell emanating from the dung of the horses so we proceeded up to the other popular spot in Wright park, the "Pool of Pines."

Just adjacent to the Pool of Pines is our next destination...

The Pool of Pines is a small shallow elongated rectangular body of water in the front of Wright Park. There was a certain feeling of calmness when you are there, I don't know, maybe the harmony of nature or something. It was the perfect place for us to take a breather. From where I am standing when I took the picture above, you can see the next place we are going to visit...The Mansion.

The Mansion is just adjacent to Wright Park and this structure here serves as the official residence of the President of the Philippines whenever he/she is in Baguio City. They say that you never visit Baguio City without having at least a photograph in this popular tourist attraction so as expected, quite a crowd can be here especially on weekends. You are actually free to roam around the allowed zones in the vicinity, but remember that this is a place guarded by the Marines and any trespassing done is punishable by law. It is the "house" of the President, mind you. Now, If I am President of the Philippines, I guess I will be spending a lot of my time here than in Malacanang Palace. I mean, with the weather in Baguio City, why not?

Next stop on our itinerary is (since my mom loves nature, this stop is for her) the Baguio Botanical Garden. This garden is said to capture the ethnic spirit and cultural legacy of the Igorots. For one, I can say the place is tranquil and quiet and a nice place to sit down and relax. As we walk along the garden, we saw some stalls that serves finger food and since Koboy naman kami, we did not pass the opportunity up to eat some Street Food by the way of Squid Balls, Barbecued Hotdogs, and the exotic Isaw.

(Warning: The following images of Street Foods are considered #BawalSaSosyalAtPasosyal)

Reminds me of "Zenki's Binhi ni Bajula"

The Cats who trooped to Share a Meal with us, LoL!

The "Isaw" was a blockbuster hit

One thing of note here is that on the left side of the Garden are structures that represent cultures from our neighboring countries like China, Korea, and Japan to name a few and is worth a visit and some snaps too.

 

There are tunnels behind this structure that you can access, but I opted not to try it due to me being a bit Claustrophobic

They say that time fly so fast when you are enjoying and that proved to be true because when we checked what time it is, it is already past 5 pm and when you are in Baguio City, it seems that five o'clock in the afternoon feels like almost 7 pm as it really gets dark early there. We have agreed that it is time to call it a day, but not until we have an early dinner in our last stop - A popular restaurant in Baguio - Glenn 50s Diner.

For the uninitiated, Glenn 50s Diner is a very popular "Retro-themed" restaurant in the City of Pines, and when I say retro, I really mean RETRO, as the restaurant presents itself as a 50s era American Diner. Everything from the exterior to the interior looks like something from the 1955 era diner from the movie Back to the Future (if you got the reference, then for sure we are of the same age, Kudos to you! LoL!). 

Glenn 50s Diner reminds me of  1955 era Lou's Cafe from Back to the Future

On the other hand, even if it looks and feels like an American diner, their menu offers a lot of homegrown choices hand in hand with American-influenced viands and the prices are so affordable. Our experience there was really something that instead of putting it all here, I will be doing a post/review solely for Glenn 50s Diner after this feature. Make sure you watch out for that.

All in all, our visit to Glenn 50s Diner was a great capper to our second day at Baguio City. What a way to end a very good day with some good food, right?

Satisfied Customers - Nice work Flo...I mean Glenn 50s Diner

After that hearty meal at the 50s Diner, we then hailed cabs and headed back to Ina Mansion and decided to call it a day. We really have to get enough rest since for the next day, we will be heading a little bit farther away from the city itself.

This concludes our second day in Baguio City. Make sure to check back for Day Three of our stay in the City of Pines.

Again, you can read about our first day HERE.

Update!!! - The third part of this feature can be viewed HERE and HERE. Unfortunately, I had to split it up in two parts, but it is still a good read nonetheless. Enjoy reading Day 3-A and 3-B, peeps!

Until next time,


Ciao!