PH & Beyond - What's Up Baguio Sunday, March 13, 2016

I went to Baguio for a creative shoot with my dear friend, Katrina early this year. We've been planning this shoot since last year but was only able to pull it off mid of January this 2016. We stayed in her friend's company rest house and it's where we did the photo shoot.

It was a trip with her long time friends that she lets me tag along. And despite of me being the strange girl in the group, they treated me so nice as if we've known each other for so long.

A close up study of the unique natural texture of nature for some pattern inspiration.

The following day, we explored the improved Diplomat Hotel, had hot chocolate at Chocolate De Batirol located in Camp John Hay, explored Session Road and did a lot of taking pictures in between all our laughs.

I went to this place for a photo shoot then met a few great people that were once strangers. Who would have thought that I will come back to the metro with a growing collection of friends. For me that’s the beautiful thing about meeting and connecting with new people, the friendship that we built and the experience that we shared. Right now, I kind of see every stranger as door waiting to be opened or an an opportunity waiting to be grabbed.

Anyway, here's the full set of the shoot I did in Baguio.

http://chasingrv.tumblr.com/post/137983073007

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PH & Beyond: Atok, Benguet in Photos Wednesday, March 18, 2015

“Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb.”

I always love the mountains. My grandparent's house are behind mountain hills back home and where we used to live when we were little. I remember, my friends and I would climb the hardest trail and pretend we were mountain climbers back then, and every after, we would go swimming in the nearby creek pretending we were characters from the local TV afternoon carton, Heidi. Every morning, I would also visit its top  just to watch the horizon. My grandfather would take his cattle to the hillside every afternoon to feed them with grasses. This makes me miss living the provincial life. Behind its simplicity, I had the best anecdotes about my relationship with nature, with mountains in particular. All these memories were revived when we went to Atok, Benguet last year.

Atok is the highest municipality in the country and I bet the coldest. The highest point in the Philippine Highway System with 7,400 ft above sea level is also located there. I cried a lot out of happiness when we stopped by in one of the barangays in Atok just to see the magical beautiful mountains of Benguet. I found myself in a moment of solitude, forgot the entire world around me and realized how important the small moments in life are. Nature is gentle and I would say I became such an optimistic person because of it.

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Hill Station, Baguio City Sunday, February 23, 2014

If you desire to explore the world through food, Hill Station in Baguio has everything Asian, European and American dishes to offer with the quality of fine dining.

We dined in there on our last night in the city to kill time while waiting for our boarding time back to Manila.

What I personally like the most about the restaurant is its whole interior. Lovely photographs in frame are in every walls. The wooden structure of the place brings out the countryside vibe.

Their food taste real great according to my boyfriend without any exaggeration. I ordered Home Smoked Ham Sandwich and Moroccan Spiced Baby Back Ribs for Mel. It was totally worth it to celebrate the last day of our Baguio trip dining in there.

Hill Station has that shy appeal with a lot of humble things to share.

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PH & Beyond: Baguio City

It was already my second time in Baguio. The first was when I was 7 years old. My Tita accompanied me in one of her office field trips and visited some common tourist spots like Mines View Park, Burnham, Wright Park well technically all the parks in Baguio. I was contented back then. You know, Baguio is still Baguio. If you’re a kid and never been to any cold places, Baguio is a little slice of paradise. We stayed overnight in one of the rest houses in Teacher’s Camp which turned out to be one of the haunted places in the city.

We had enough of nature adventure in the Mountain Province and a horror thingy is exciting to end the Cordillera trip. With the availability of taxicab in the present time, it’s no longer hard to get around Baguio. On our first day, Mel and I agreed that this trip should highlight the most uncommon place to visit. We had enough of public parks and ordinary tourist destinations so instead of giving priority to them, we went to 3 different haunted places, Diplomat Hotel, Teacher’s Camp and 14 Laperal, the White House Mansion.

The city has that peaceful holiday feeling that day so in the afternoon we went walking around the city proper and public parks, dined in 2 of the most recommended food places in town, Pizza Volante and Hill Station, went to one interesting bookshop called Mt. Cloud Bookshop, visited different galleries and museums, Bencab Museum and Cordillera World and met circle of passionate artists in Tam-Awan Village.

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PH & Beyond: Mt. Cloud Bookshop, Baguio City Saturday, February 22, 2014

Aside from going to art museums, cozy cafes and tourist spots, part of my travel is looking for the nicest library or bookstore in town. That’s always in my unfashionable list of places to visit. There are just so many reasons why I love visiting one.

The whole atmosphere is just so cozy, quiet and comfortable. It has a small space, but it accommodates thousands of books that smell good. You can easily get lost and ignore everyone around you.The whole Mt Cloud Bookshop experience fulfilled all my Beauty and the Beast fantasies by going up to the library ladder. It’s one of the best feelings, I tell you.

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PH & Beyond: Ben Cab Museum, Baguio City Friday, February 21, 2014

Museums give me inspiration. I can make personal connections to each art display I stare when I’m walking around its corridors. It’s like you are walking inside the artist’s imagination and thoughts. There is so just much to see and learn in each art pieces.

BenCab is a four-level museum where they keep the work of art of our National Artist, Benedicto Cabrera. Aside from his own art collection, it also showcases exhibits of contemporary artists around the country and some rare artifact collections.





BenCab Museum is one of the most interesting museums Mel and I have been to. Yup, we like going on a museum date. We’re both art enthusiasts and it’s one of the things we agreed to do.

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Cup & Spaces: Cafe Sabel, Baguio City

What’s inside the lowest level of the Bencab Museum is a cozy café with such pretty view of the duck pond, forest and farm from its balcony. Every corner of the place is worth observing at. Can you imagine, you’re in a cafe full of artworks around and when you look outside you’ll see the appealing view of nature?

 

They not only serve fresh, flavorful and organic dishes, they serve food for the soul. Food that nourishes our body, food that refreshes our mind, something that warms our hearts. Everything about BenCab made me feel good inside.

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PH & Beyond: 14 Laperal, Baguio City

Along the Leonard Wood Road, lies a wooden white house that has survived hundreds of typhoons, earthquakes and even the World War II. This house is known as 14 Laperal. I have seen this house featured many times in TV documentaries and one time in a local movie. 

With our cute little tour guides who claimed one of them has a third eye, we toured around the house. From the ground floor where they house a Bamboo Art Exhibit to every room up on the second floor, to master bedroom and to the attic they have accompanied us trying to convince that they were seeing ghost following us.

I almost suspected that these cute little kids were ghosts trying to entrap us in one of the rooms. lol

In the master bedroom, according to our little tour guides is where paranormal can strongly feel.

The presence of art dominates more than paranormal presence. The ground floor has such beautiful and intricate displays of bamboo art made by the Ifugaos.

This house may hold dark stories in every corner, but the presence of art won’t scare yourself out, instead you would appreciate that the value of artistry and architecture stays and preserved in the City of Baguio. 

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