I never really appreciated long weekends that much until I need it to have a vacation. I would say I am in my longest streak of not filing a VL and SL and so far I am doing okay. I mean, it's a struggle but with my situation right now, I really don't have a choice. So when holy week approached, I feel like I'm a student in a sembreak because, for the longest time since the Christmas holidays, I can get a decent vacation from work.

I grabbed this chance to have a quick escape to Baguio with my mom and my sister. We left Manila at Thursday midnight then our plan is to go back Saturday so we will not get stuck in traffic.

If you're reading my blog, you would know how I've always loved Baguio because of its cool weather and just recently, because of its food scene. During this visit, we didn't go to the usual Baguio tourist places. Instead, we just enjoyed the cool breeze that we cannot have here in Manila during the summer season, eat our hearts out, bargain hunting in Baguio's night market, and just basically enjoy and unwind through food and good ambiance.

 I've booked our Airbnb accommodation a little bit early because based on experience, I know how accommodation can get fully booked on peak seasons especially during holy week wherein people from Manila go to other places to have some time off as well.

The accommodation is situated in a good location just near Baguio cathedral. I think the only downside in the location is how steep the streets are. My mother had a hard time walking uphill. But this is Baguio and we don't have a choice.

Our departure time in Victory Liner Cubao was supposed to be 3AM but it got delayed and we departed at around 3:30am. I even saw one of my college friends in the terminal too. LOL. We arrived just past 12 and we are soooo hungry. On normal days, we are supposed to arrive before 10am but I guess this is just one of the effects of holy week. The traffic is just so bad especially in La Union where I assume most people would go.

So before checking in, we decided to eat lunch first. My mother suggested "Good Taste". I haven't heard about this restaurant before even with going to Baguio almost every year, this is the first I have visited this restaurant. I mean I am always on the lookout for a good restaurant in Baguio and this never came up in the search result.

And in fairness, when we arrived in the restaurant, there are A LOT of people lining up just to eat inside. I thought we still need to wait which I am most certain we cannot do because of how hungry we already are. Thankfully, since we are just 3 people, the staff directed us to go inside already. The people with the long line outside seems to be in a group tour that's why there are a bunch of people lining up.

Look at the serving!!! 

Guys, walang wala dito Chowking halo-halo

Their menu is very comprehensive. I think almost all the Filipino favorites are included in the menu. This could be due to hunger, I don't know, but we ordered way too much our stomach can handle. The staff getting our order seems to be surprised and wants to trim down the food we are ordering because it turns out, the serving size is very generous! I cannot stress this enough but it is so budget friendly but with generous serving too! 

And to top it all off? The food is actually delicious! How are they able to do that? If it's here in Manila, I'm sure the prices wouldn't be the same. Their spicy buttered chicken is soooo yummy. Their 80 peso halo-halo is one of the best! The serving plus the taste!

So right after lunch, we went to check-in in our Airbnb for this trip. And that's it for that day. Really. LOL. We are just so tired we didn't go out and instead just chill and watched a movie inside the condo.

The next day... We visited The Lourdes Grotto as requested by my mother. After all, it's still holy week. We decided to eat breakfast at Chocolate de Batirol. And guess what? They are closed for renovation. LOL. They are only open for takeout. We are so disappointed but what can we do? Instead of chocolate de Batirol, we ate breakfast at Starbucks. We are already inside Camp John Hay's vicinity so we just decided to eat there instead.

We went inside The Manor and relaxed for a bit while also indulging again with halo-halo and suman. Some window shopping before we went to The Good Shepherd and Baguio public market to buy some goods.

I am not sure if it's just me but Baguio's public market seems to sell vegetables priced higher than usual. And the vegetable vendors seem to be limited to 3 to 5 stalls only. Gone are the days where there are vegetable vendors almost everywhere you can haggle to your heart's desire. Now, there are just very few. Same with strawberry vendors, I could count with just my one hand. What I observe is that stalls that sell pasalubong grew in numbers. Maybe visitors opt to buy goods in jars instead of strawberries and veggies?

Later that day, we ate dinner at Don Henrico's in session road. Don Henrico's in Baguio is like a Baguio favorite. We have it here in Manila but when we're in Baguio, we always eat there. Hehe.

We also tried our luck in finding good stuff in the night market. There are actually a lot of good jackets. It's just that there are a lot of people it's quite irritating already. Feels like we are in Divisoria. Skin to skin with people we don't know who. In the end, I've managed to buy 1 jacket and I feel like I could still find more if it's just not crowded.

The next day, our last day, my sister and I went for a quick gym sesh. One of the times I appreciate Anytime Fitness lol. Had lunch at Café by the Ruins, which by the way was not how we expected. I've eaten here before but this time, I can say it's already overrated. None of the dishes we ordered is something we enjoyed. We are quite disappointed because we always see this in every blog about Baguio and yet it's not something we will come back to again in the future.

Right after lunch, we went back again to the public market to look for sweaters. I have this one sweater I got in Baguio when I was still a kid and up to now, I am still using it because the material is durable plus it's fashionable. We got it in the public market so we decided to look for good sweaters. And I am not sure if we look hard enough but we couldn't find a good sweater shop. Are we looking in the wrong the places?

Also, one of the things I buy whenever in Baguio is coffee beans. I always buy at this certain store in the public market and bring home Barako beans to my father. The difference this time is I am also buying for myself. My addiction to coffee just leveled up this year when I worked on morning shift.

This trip was short but sweet. I've also noticed that there aren't many tourists this time compared to last year. Or maybe we just didn't go to the tourist spots? I'm expecting flocks of people but even though taxi drivers say there are a lot of people, it's nothing compared to the previous years we went to Baguio. I think maybe because other tourist spots are booming nowadays like La Union. I can only imagine how many people are there during the holy week.

So that's it. I am not sure when will be the next time I'll visit Baguio but maybe not this year or next year? I just realized that aside from chilling, there's nothing much else to see if you frequent Baguio like I do. I just like the weather and the food. Also, the familiar feeling when I am there. There are just too many good memories.