I was here during the weekend Aug 21-23 with my family. Ang masasabi ko lang, super lakas ng ulan at grabe yung fog but then we survived.
We took the Genesis Joy Bus from Pasay Terminal. Okay naman ang service and malinis, just don't sit at the end for you won't be able to recline the chair. 3am to 6am I was just asleep, the bus arrived in Baguio 9am and it's on time. The thing that my family didn't like is their creepy terminal.
Just imagine going there at 2am then the environment is so not cool. Naku if Victory Liner just had that online reservation/payment (they don't have it right now), we would've taken that bus line instead because of their comfortable terminal.
We were a group of 12 then we opted to book 3 Deluxe Rooms at Newtown Plaza Hotel. Please take note that the room is only allocated for 2 with breakfast, but is good for 4 in terms of space. You will just have to add 800 per night/pax with breakfast buffet already. It's a new hotel at CM Recto, I think they just opened last year but in terms of their service, parang soft-opening pa lang.
Ang gulo ng mga staff sa front desk especially tracking stuffs. Late check-in di naman puno yung hotel as per housekeeping, bayad na lahat ng additional pax per room siningil pa rin kame after checkout, they don't have menu for room service, guard not friendly, basta magulo!
Pero maganda yung hotel, may heated pool, masarap yung breakfast buffet and clean yung rooms.
August 21 - Friday
Grabe yung rain, super kapal ng fog feeling ko Silent Hill peg namen and it was so cold! Plans for that day didn't pursue. We had lunch at Canto sa Ketchup Community (yun lang open because of the blackout sa upper side), but then masarap yung ribs grabe.
Ayun returned back at the hotel then rested up until dinner. We braved the heavy rain and wind, went out to eat at 50's Diner na super nagustuhan ng father ko. It's not pricey tapos masarap pa.
August 22 - Saturday
Weather didn't improve but then we still rented a van at 12pm to roam around. Walang makakapigil samen!
Actually madami pa ring tourists nun na nakasabay namen, sayang naman kase. Yung ulan naman pabugso-bugso, ang kalaban lang talaga is yung malakas na hangin. So we went at BenCab Museum, then dinala kame sa Old Diplomat Hotel but then it was closed because of the weather. So we proceeded sa Good Shepherd (na walang ube jam sadly), bought pasalubong na para di hassle the next day. After that we went sa Mines View Park, ubos na strawberry taho isa lang daw nagbenta that day.
Pero masarap yung corn na binebenta dun then bought other pasalubong na affordable (lengua, peanut brittle and choco flakes). Inside the park, we bought bonnets which is 3 for 100 tapos had a picture taking with Doglas na malungkot mukhang napipilitan na lang poor him, tapos andun pa rin yung horse kahit may payong e nababasa. Ayun picture taking sa viewing deck, na wala namang view kundi fog haha! Went to Baguio Public Market, namili si mother ng fruits and veggies, si hubby and my brother went to this coffee shop then bumili ng iba't ibang flavors for brewing. After that we ate at Pizza Volante sa Session Road, cheap ang price pero masarap but I suggest ayusin sana nila yung building kase puro tulo na from the ceiling. We went back at the hotel 6:30 pm and just rested, drank at Chemistry Bar inside, played poker sa room kase di na makalabas.
August 23 - Sunday
Finally maganda na ang weather! I didn't mind naman kung di kame nakaikot ng sobra, all I ever wanted during the trip is makauwi ng safe.
10:30 am we went to Chocolate De Batirol, ang sarap ng traditional hot chocolate nila pati yung mga merienda. Nalito lang kame ng una kung yun ba talaga, kase from the outside it looks just like a small house pero pagpasok super homey yung ambiance.
We just went uphill after to have picture taking tapos got back at the hotel for checkout. We left our things there para makapunta sa Botanical Garden, pagpunta dun fallen trees ang view and as expected onti lang ang flowers so picture taking na lang sa mini Chinese temples and sa bridge hehe! At around 2:30 pm, nasa Genesis Bus Terminal na kame then 3pm umalis. Mabilis lang ang byahe pauwi, ETA is 9pm but we were there already 8:30 pm. Siguro kung wala lang traffic sa EDSA, 8pm andun na kame.
Masaya naman ang trip despite of the weather, babalik pa rin kame sa Baguio yung summer naman para mas enjoy.
Sorry napahaba yung kwento ko, lol!
