As I traversed North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) on this rainy evening night and browsed through some pictures from dearly new found friends, my mind wanders through memoirs of a day in Baguio. Our quick but fun-filled escapade in The Summer Capital of the Philippines is a four (4) hour drive away from Manila. The city itself has that exquisite charm inclusive of its weather makes Baguio a frequent destination for families, groups and wanderers.
Started travelling early up North giddy not only on city’s attractions but particular on our food and dining must-try list! That sun-shiny morning smile along Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) fired up to plan for our stops once we reached Baguio.
Several news declared how traffic had gone haywire going up so we asked for Waze’s assistance. Directions led us to an alternative way, Marcos Highway. Road is wider but steeper than the typical route (Kennon Road), reason why you’ll be racing with monster trucks.
We parked at the city’s eastern part strategically near Ketchup Food Community (KFC) as we arrived. Atop the reasons is LUNCH (food crazy!)!
Wright Park is one of the public green recreational areas, which, summarizes Baguio in one stop. Its wide land hectare has an activity place for cutesy ponies and/ or horseback riding. Natives dressed in regalia and artsy local handicrafts can be seen as you roam around. Photo opp prices vary ranging from Php20 and Up per shot depending on which area or view you stopped by. We felt thirsty seeing that staircase which will lead us to the plaza fronting The Mansion. Instead of quenching our water-needy tummies, we ended up sipping a 10-peso Strawberry Taho from Manong;). Our feet led us to the top breathing heavily but were immediately pacified with a welcoming breath of fresh air and radiance of tall pine trees. 
Ended our conversation-filled stroll along the plaza for some pictures, capturing The Mansion as our backdrop.
Lunchtime! KFC is a five-restaurant chain (Canto, Rumah Sate, Happy Tummy, Rancho Norte and Green Pepper Gourmet) all situated in one compound with each serving distinguished dishes. Resto-chain opens at high noon but we’ve been surprised by people all piled up as early as brunch. Their single destination (which is ours too!) is Canto, home of the well-known LOMO RIBS! One of the few good things about this resto-chain is one could order a meal from its neighbor-restos so we headed to Green Pepper Gourmet (GPG) instead. Luckily, we still found a good seat for a gourmet treat for less. Our table was filled with GPG’s best sellers; GP House Special (@Php165, spaghetti in marinara sauce of Vigan longganisa and tuyo flakes), Chunky Chicken soup (@Php165, its name justifies itself served with crostini slices) and refreshingly yummy calamansi puree! We’ve tried to order Lomo Ribs from Canto but they were reserving the special dish for those who patiently lined up (too bad, patience meter’s out). So the story of that Chicken Satay we got from Rumah Sate.
With fully satisfied tummies and recharged energies, we headed to Good Shepherd for some PA-SA-LU-BONG finds and treated ourselves with not-your-ordinary-coffee locally made in Benguet (Coffee Luwak!). We were set for some nature appreciation viewing and strawberry hunt after a chockfull of Good Shepherd goodies. 
Mines View Park has been recognized for its majestic greenery backdrop for spectators’ postcard perfect shot. Sadly but true, I felt somehow alarmed and displeased witnessing a different view vs a decade’s old visit to Baguio. And so, I shifted to good-vibe-lift-triggers, yes, FOOD! We feasted on a biggie sweet corn in a cob instead.
In a few minutes, we were in Strawberry Farm! Our strawberry-hunt-turned-pasalubong-finds since strawberry fields are its peak on February (we were there on May). 
Rain suddenly poured in full swing when we reached Burnham Park it was high time for our usual spontaneous hotel hunt and ended up at Microtel by Wyndham. We freshened up and power-napped for few hours on a cozy clean bed before hitting dinner table. We’ll go 50’s! I’ve been hearing a lot of stories about 50’s Diner from my colleagues and FFK so I was more than excited to eat sumptuously and dance with the 50’s aura.
I was thrown right how my granny described American diners with servers on roller-skates while waiting for our turn. True that, meals were served in large amount for less, we barely managed to finish a single plate. We still wandered around the city hoping to catch some Baguio Night Market feels. Since we’re not really shopaholics, we went back to the hotel and let the night pass to Doze-Off-Landia.
Our typical day-before-going-home morning was spent for Pasalubong and catch up photo opp along Camp John Hay and Session Road. Capped off our 24-hour wander in Baguio with a hot choco beverage and a native dessert from Chocolate de Batirol, a hidden garden in Camp John Hay.
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Seng Between Love and Life 