Baguio revisited day 1

Whenever I hear someone is going to Baguio or to any other place outside of Manila, I feel a tingling sensation on my spine. For me, that translates to a vacation. So when my brother and my parents told me that they were going to Baguio, I personally invited and volunteered myself to become their personal driver, come bodyguard, tour guide and porter.

Our "take off" schedule was 7 am sharp, and boy, did I think that everyone was excited, because at exactly 7 am, we were cruising the NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) on the way to Dau exit, going further to the connecting SCTEX (Subic, Clark, Tarlac Expressway).

Our first stop was at Idaan restaurant, located in Gerona Tarlac, which was always advertised as "halfway to the North". This is a themed restaurant (a la Disneyland) that floats in water with big statues of different varieties. There is also a bridge called "One Kilo Bridge"; if you can cross the bridge and avoid falling in the water, the establishment will give you a free kilo of fish, which you can cook the way you want it. Another attraction is the Tacsiyapo wall where you can throw just about anything to release your angst. After taking some pictures, we headed off to our target destination, Baguio.

Upon arriving in Baguio, the first thing I noticed (except for the very cool weather) was the way they handled their traffic problem. The last time I went there, the traffic was a big joke. But now, the flow is manageable, thanks to one-way streets and re-routing plans. Because we arrived in the city of pines at mid-afternoon, we decided to take our late lunch at Barrio Fiesta restaurant. The food was good, but the serving was bad. Likewise, the place was good, but the waiter was bad.

After our late lunch, we then proceeded to the Tower condominium, located at Gilbratar St., near Mines View Park and a convent. This is the place where we will be staying for the rest of our vacation. One of our companions, who knows someone who happens to know the owner of the place, was the one responsible for our minimal rent fee. After disembarking and having given our room assignment, it's time to doze off to recharge.

First on our itinerary is the famous Burnham Park and Session Road. They say that you've never been to Baguio if you didn't see these places of interest. Here, you can see lots of people from all walks of life, and most of all, there are a lot helluva vendors plying their trade. Well, that is common in tourist destinations like Baguio anyways.

Dinner time comes and we decided to eat at SM Baguio... what? Traveling for almost five hours just to eat at SM Baguio? I think I saw three to four SM's on our way up to Baguio. Anyway, that was the decision of the majority, and as the designated personal driver, come bodyguard, tour guide and porter, I have no choice but to follow. While we were eating out at SM Baguio, one of our companions noticed that there were tears in my eyes as I was eating my half done steak. I told him that it was a tear of Joy (pun intended). But really, those tears belonged to the steaks that I was eating, because, as I wanted to explain to him, in Manila, I ate steaks at all SM outlets three to four times a day.