Slow days in Baguio area family affair
We packed our bags a few hours after Christmas and headed to the bus station. Our destination? A city colder than Manila in December: Baguio City.
For a couple of years now, it has been our family’s year-end tradition to celebrate the limbo days between Christmas and New Year high up in the mountains of Benguet. Residing in Luzon, my wife, my kid, and I are lucky to have visited plenty of times and seen most of what Baguio City has to offer. Still, the city and its laid-back vibe beckon.
We’d usually get the cheapest room near the city’s main artery, Session Road. As we don’t take taxis and usually just walk, we find this base convenient for our daily excursions.
Our first day is usually spent at Burnham Park—watching swan boats glide across the willow-fringed man-made lake. Savoring the cool weather, we relive past Baguio trips, bemoaning the vendors selling cheap instant coffee at the park.
If it was a Saturday, we’d head toward the nearby Children’s Park. We’d spread a blanket below the pine trees and have our longsilog—the longganisa bought from Baguio’s Public Market (Alabanza, our fave brand) and cooked at our lodging prior. We’d wait for the weekly kids’ storytelling session hosted by the Baguio Public Library. Afterwards, our kid joins the swarm of children playing along the city’s expansive playground, before enjoying a round of biking.
Sundays are special. We’d get up early in the morning for Session Road to have a hearty breakfast at one of the city’s OG restaurants, Jack’s. We’d have Jack’s Rice—a delicious symphony of egg- topped rice, roasted chicken, pork liempo, lumpiang shanghai, and the freshest highland veggies.
Then, it’s a whole-day affair at Session Road, as the road closes its byways to cars to give way to pedestrians. Locals and visitors flock to the road, browsing through pop-up stores, snacking on street food, watching local bands play, cheering on street dancers b-boying and strutting their stuff, and admiring artists coloring the pavement with chalk.
The last one is our Kid A’s favorite. We’d buy him his own set of colored chalks and watch him get lost in his street doodles. Another favorite is when a band asks the crowd to join them in the traditional Bendian dance as they play mountain songs. I’d join too if I wasn’t too shy!
A visit to the hiking trails along Camp John Hay is a permanent part of our tradition. We’d start at the Apache Trail from Scout Barrio’s overgrown baseball grounds, then get literally lost among Baguio’s pine forests. Kid A would hug us, telling us how much he loves hiking— the pines towering above, the pine needles underfoot, and the silent sound of the forest.
We’d emerge at the John Hay Filling Station and continue on to the sloping pine hill picnic grounds, where we’d finally have our breakfast—another round of Baguio longsilog, of course. We’d spend a couple of hours doing nothing, listening to ‘80s New Wave music from our portable speaker while Kid A runs around the trees, collecting acorns, and befriending random kids.
Before returning to the city center, we’d have our first and last expensive coffee for the year at a popular coffee shop in John Hay—more for the memories of yesteryears and the feel of having coffee under pine trees than anything else. If you want something less commercial, there’s Choco-laté de Batirol.
On a particular day, my wife would leave early on her own for an annual visit to M N M L S T, her favorite tattoo studio in the city. She’d have her old tattoos touched up and sneak in a new one or two.
On such days, it’s just me and Kid A. We’d take out a Jollibee breakfast and head over to the Melvin Jones Grandstand— watching kids play football across the field as we devour our Chickenjoy and burger steak. Eventually, we’d find ourselves on the field, too, tossing frisbees to each other.
We’d then head over to the underground part of the Maharlika Livelihood Center to look for this particular trip’s keychain— the kid’s favorite memento.
