Lakwatserong Tsinelas: BENGUET

AZALEA HOTELS AND RESIDENCES BAGUIO CITY

In yet another random circumstance, a road trip commenced to the City of Pines one weekend. There was a heavy downpour enroute and even as we reached Baguio City.

It was one memorable weekend though at Baguio City’s first and only 4-star serviced apartment hotel. A narrow uphill street leading to a hidden haven. And at the end of the road, there stood the Azalea Hotels and Residences Baguio. Our home for another weekend.

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Refreshing scents of pines makes one to be rejuvenated by nature.

Isn’t it everyone’s dream to wake up one morning with the sliding door to the balcony half-opened as the drop of the curtains sway with the gentle breeze of the wind amidst a landscape of towering and scenic pine trees and mountains?

I did so. It was an imagination so I thought that came into reality as we stayed for three days at one of the luxurious hotels of Camp John Hay, Baguio City – the Le Monet Hotel.

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There’s a traditional way of preparing chicken for a meal that’s certainly not for the animal activists to witness. From the mountains of the Cordillera region of the Philippines, a dish named Pinikpikan is served.

In a homey coffee shop named Café Yagam, a plate of pinikpikan was the main dish for our dinner. That was the first instance I tasted the said dish. But there’s more to a pinikpikan that the shop has to offer.

Maintaining the ambiance of a family home, Café Yagam’s interiors can easily caught the attention of vintage collectors and travelers. An array of antiquated pieces of ornaments, luggage, travel and architecture books serves as an accent to the fireplace that sits in the middle.

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I find haunted houses charming. There must be something wrong with me I suppose. Baguio City for me has been pictured as a gallery of haunted houses. The thrill of knowing the stories that abounds each house, the eerie vibe and slight dilapidation whilst making its exterior composure firm and nostalgic is what interests me a lot of abandoned old houses and hotels.

A mystery yet to be unveiled, we were lead to the famed Diplomat Hotel of the Dominican Hill, Baguio City at dusk.

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“Coffee or hot chocolate?” The usual question I am asked when the morning mists hover and the need to awaken my senses comes in.

I’m not used to drinking coffee, thus, a hot chocolate made of cacao chocolate tablets (tablea) has been a familiar comforting drinks for me. I basically grew up with cacao trees at our backyard back in our hometown, thus, producing tablea was exploited as an opportunity for business by my family.

In this Neo-cordilleran rainforest garden named Choco-late de Batirol, I found myself sipping on a demitasse of hot chocolate blanketed by a chilly atmosphere with random conversations shared with good friends.

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Records dating back 18 January 1961 as revealed by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) reported that Baguio City's coldest temperature ever recorded was at 6.3 degrees. More than fifty years after, on the 19th of January of the year 2014, Baguio City's temperature dropped to 8.1 degrees Celsius, nearly breaking the records set.

On that not so ordinary winter weekend, our restless feet were taken aback upon disembarking from the bus, as the night chills and gustiness of the wind began to be felt and numbness of my face and exposed body parts surfaced.

This is just an overnight stay. Twenty four hours to be exact. And what to do here? No itineraries of course, just the company of good travel buddies Melo and Gay and as they say follow your heart (though your heart is aching).

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Let me take you down

Cause I'm going to Strawberry fields

Nothing is real

And nothing to get hung about

Strawberry fields forever

- The Beatles

When Gay of Pinay Travel Junkie asked what I would like to visit in Baguio, eagerly I replied the Strawberry fields of La Trinidad, Benguet. And on this freezing weather, I express a million thanks to her and Melo for granting my whimsical desire to visit the fields even though they have visited the place before.

En route to the Strawberry Fields of La Trinidad, Benguet, which is thirty minutes from the City of Baguio, I hear the Beatles continuously whispering into my ears to the tune of Strawberry Fields. As to whether I was satisified or not upon arrival at the destination is another matter.

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There are stories behind the mists and mysteries that hovers on the City of Pines. Baguio City is not only a place for food lovers, honeymooners, and curious travelers but for thrill seekers and ghost hunters as well. And when it comes to ghost stories, validated or not, the Laperal White House along the Leonard Wood Road near the Teacher's Village has its share in the world of paranormal and clairvoyance.

When the temperature abruptly dropped and caused each visitor of the city's bones to shiver and for crops to froze, I, along with Gay of Pinay Travel Junkie and Melo of OutofTown Blog were given the opportunity to visit the "curiosity-magnet" house of Laperal. Haunted as its aura reflects, yet now a home to a unique and intricate bamboo crafts and artworks.

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