baguio escapade

i just came from a weekend trip in baguio.

as every instance for the last few years have been, we went to the summer capital to celebrate jo's birthday (happy birthday, tsong!). i almost did not make it since i left makati late. good thing that my friends patiently waited for me and so off we went from alabang.

we arrived at 5 am, shivering due to the cold baguio temperature. i thought baguio would just be a tad cooler than manila. how wrong i was! i had to content myself with the lone thin jacket i brought with me. we waited for a bit for our other friends to arrive and went to a nearby house to stay. the plan was to sleep for a while and start off early to go around baguio. we were more tired than we thought and our day started at 11 am. and so the first agenda for the day was lunch. we went to camp john hay to eat a hearty meal --- mine was vigan longganisa. yum! we then proceeded to the mansion, mines view park, the lourdes grotto and the botanical gardens. after that, jo and jack dropped us off at the market to buy pasalubong. over an hour later, i had two big bags with me filled with delicacies, baguio vegetables and strawberries! we then parted ways as some of us went to sm baguio to buy our gift for the birthday girl while the rest went home. it was really a day of shopping for us. :)

that night, we went to jo's house for her birthday celebration. there were a lot of guests and the house was filled with well-wishers. beer flowed freely as did the laughter. a few hours after, jack and his friend ronald performed some songs --- jack on percussions (not sure what the box he was using is called) while ronald sang and played the guitar. as soon as they started playing 70's dance music, our group started dancing and singing with them. this had to be cut short, however, since they had to go to the coffee shop to perform (they're playing there every saturday). jo suggested that we go there to watch them and so we all piled to the van and off we went like music fans. :) with coffee in hand, we watched them play another set of songs. i have to say, they are really good! :) i wouldn't be surprised if we get to see them performing for a bigger crowd soon.

sunday came too fast and we had to leave for manila. after hearing mass, we proceeded to the bus station and bade baguio goodbye.

it may be some time before we go back to baguio as jo is set to go to japan for an assignment. bon voyage, tsong... and happy birthday, jocilyn! :)