The Baguio City of my childhood
Every trip to Baguio brings nostalgia. The touches of modernity are felt but the City of Pines remains an old soul’s welcome respite.
Childhood memories are like a bouquet of flowers; they are fragrant and keep our adult life perfumed with joy and laughter. Happy childhood memories allow us to meander in our childlike discovery and rediscovery of the world and its treasures. They keep us grounded and real as we allow oursleves to nurture the inner child in us.
As a child, summer meant a visit to Baguio City with my family. We would leave Makati early in the morning and by the time the sun rose in the sky, we would be zooming by the arid landscapes of the rice fields and towns along McArthur Highway. Soon enough the car would start climbing the Kennon Road zig zag and as soon as we drove past the Lion’s Head, we knew our destination was near. Most of the time we would stay at our grandfather’s homey little summer cottage on Gibraltar, which was made more interesting with colorful blooms that were endemic to the Cordilleras. There were also times when we stayed at the Baguio Country Club and as soon as we exited the car, we would zoom to the bakeshop to get our raisin bread fix.
We’d roll the windows down and catch the scent of pine trees. Session Road, before it became clogged, was the place to go for Chinese food and Burnham Park was a must for boating on a lake surrounded by willow trees and for riding bikes. We competed for the best-looking ponies at Wright Park and the better riders among us would escape the kiddie corral and take the horses clip-clopping along the roads until we reached the open fields.
This was the Baguio of my childhood. These days, although the Session Road is still there, the venerable Chinese restaurants, such as the Star Café, are gone. The hillsides are now full of tin houses instead of pine trees, and the roads are choked with diesel fumes from all the vehicles.
Thank God there remains an oasis in the middle of all of the urbanization. Camp John Hay is now Club John Hay. It remains a forest of pine trees and well laid-out foot paths and home to three hotels, two of which are the Manor and the Forest Lodge. Both properties are managed by the dynamic Ramon Cabrera.
For this year’s Penagbenga flower festival, we stayed at the Forest Lodge. Right next door to the Manor, it sits on a hilltop surrounded by greenery. My stay at the Forest Lodge brought back the Baguio City of my childhood.
I smiled at the large plate of hand-picked strawberries and a selection of pastries that were waiting for us in our spacious room. The two double beds in our room reminded me of the Baguio of my childhood when I would have great bonding moments with my sisters in the City of Pines. Early on, our parents taught us that the family is the most precious jewel we can find every single day.
Beyond the two double beds, our Forest Lodge room had a veranda that allowed us to savor even more the pine trees. The familiar scent from my childhood rose up from all the pine needles covering the ground below us. How wonderful to be sitting outside in the nippy air as the sun set and set the trees aglow!
Forest Lodge’s accommodations and its food outlets are more modestly priced. Its deli, the Patisserie, is well stocked with artisanal breads, cakes and homemade jams and jellies.
The Twist, which is the hotel café, bears the imprimatur of chef Billy King and serves light and healthy à la carte options.
At the expansive Lobby Lounge later that evening, we basked in the camaraderie of industry friends from the tourism sector. We enjoyed a selection of both hot and cold hors d’oeuvres and wines as a prelude to one of my favorite Philippine festivals — the Panagbenga.
What started as a modest flower festival in 1996 is now a major production and attraction that draws over two million tourists every February. The city, literally, is in bloom. There are activities and programs planned throughout the month and all these culminate in the last weekend when there are two parades. The first parade happens on a Saturday and it showcases finalists of the street-dancing competition. Schools from all over the country practice for months and travel from as far as Bukidnon and Cebu to take part for one glorious morning.
The best of the best from the Saturday festivities get to join the Sunday parade along with the flower floats. The contest for the best floats is divided into two categories: the big and the small floats.
Local artisans are put to the test, using not only flowers, but also agricultural products to transform floats of different themes. People start reserving the choice spots along the parade route as early as 5 a.m. According to Baguio City Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan, 80 to 90 percent of the weekend visitors are from out of town.
Every year, the spectacle starts promptly at 8 a.m. and depending on where you are, it ends about two hours after the PMA Squad carrying flags passes you by.
Former Tourism Under secretary Edu Jarque had an observation that this year’s parade was so well timed that people could watch the Panagbenga in the morning and have the whole afternoon free to enjoy Baguio’s other attractions. And enjoy these other attractions we did!
The Baguio City market remains a must-go place not only for its fresh vegetables and strawberries but also for handicrafts, woven cloths, woodcarvings and silver jewelry. Good buys at the meat section are the garlicky Baguio longganisa, especially from the Tuvera meat stand. There are also stores that sell freshly ground coffee in the market.
Right across from Forest Lodge and the Manor is the former Mile Hi Club, which is now crowded with shops selling over-runs from famous brands such as Nike and Adidas, a grocery selling imported goods , souvenir shops and other food establishments.
Still another tried-and-true stopover is the Good Shepherd convent for its ube jams, jellies and cookies and peanut and cashew brittle.
Other Baguio attractions that are a must to visit are the BenCab Museum on Asin road and the Balatoc Mines Tour. Stop for a look along Asin Road as there are a lot of woodwork stores whose products sell for a fraction of the cost in Manila. The Bencab museum is a treasure trove of the beautiful and thought-provoking artworks of National Artist Ben Cabrera. His numerous renditions of Sabel, BenCab’s muse, are at once mind-blowing and mind-boggling. The café at the Bencab museum served terrific pastas and salad. I also had a cup of strawberry taho — a unique and very “Baguio take” on a Philippine snack. When both your mind and stomach are satiated by the museum and its café, it’s time to reflect some more on the manicured promenade area of the BenCab museum.
On our last day before we headed back to Manila, we heard Mass at the rose-colored Baguio City Cathedral that’s nestled on a hill. Many Baguio visitors make a pilgrimage to the cathedral; many of my friends even have a devotion to this church whose patron saint is the Our Lady of the Atonement. There’s so much history that mantles the cathedral as this place of worship witnessed World War II for it withstood the Japanese carpet bombing in 1945, saving the lives of many Filipinos. Baguio City, especially when temperature sizzles in the concrete jungle of Manila, remains to an inviting alternative to cool off and unwind. Every trip to Baguio brings nostalgia. The touches of modernity are felt but the City of Pines remains an old soul’s welcome respite. And like a beautiful childhood memory, Baguio City will always remain embedded in my wanderlust.
***