It was a long term goal that the group must have an out of town trip. It was our luxurious dream way back in college, at times when all we had was just a single penny for a student meal. Finally, when we all got our job, we started spending time to different places in the country, booking a trip, boarding a plane bound to various provinces, riding a bus for a long road trip, yes, we did a lot of travel after then, but not altogether. We were with our newfound friends and officemates. Each one schedule was always the reason for not conquering the island side by side.Saturday night, we were all gathered at Jen’s house at crame, transforming her house into a noise polluted room. We set off at 12AM to Victory liner Bus terminal only to find out that the next trip to Baguio was almost 4 hours away and we couldn’t wait such long. We wanted to reach our destination as earlier as possible so with our quick decision-making skill, we rode the Bus to Urdaneta in 4 hours and found there a Van heading up to Baguio. At 7AM we were there already breathing the air of the Philippines' Summer Capital!
STRAWBERRY FIELD
With our jackets put on, and bags on shoulders, we trailed the path to where we rode a jeep to La Trinidad, Benguet’s Strawberry farm (with Beatles’ song “Strawberry fields forever” on air). We had long heard that you could experience yourself picking up strawberries directly from the field, but you would have to pay P250. Having not wanted to spend much at the start of journey (we had a really limited budget, half of us then had just resigned from work), we just strolled down there and took unlimited pictures of the greenery (lettuces were all around), strawberry-ness and muddiness of the place. A stall was set up on the side selling strawberries for P150 and above, we bought some and set off to our next stop.
WRIGHT PARK
Have you seen a giant bee riding on a fair sized horse? We did, we saw a large wooden signage of Jollibee riding in a horse promoting the Wright Park! Not only Jollibee could ride a horse, we showed off by riding also this good-looking white horse for a picture taking. I knew he really loved us ‘coz he became an instant celebrity. All of us wanted to have a photo with him and that was for only P10! (We forgot to have his name…).
We walked our way toward a small hut there with display of Igorot’s clothes in every corner. The English-speaking senior lady encouraged us to take pictures with those weaved clothes on for only P10! Completed with head dresses, we took unlimited pictures of ourselves in Igorot’s clothing, posing and projecting ourselves in the camera. It was a great feeling to try those kind of clothing wear by our fellowmen Igorot.
THE WHITE MANSION
We started our walk again, hearing on every side a man shouting in deep, beautifully modulated voice “Strawberry flavored tahooOOoo! We enjoyed imitating the way they said it, it was really inviting to buy and taste the taho that they were selling.
We made our way then to the White Mansion or The Mansion where the president is staying whenever he visits Baguio. By then, the clouds started to darken and rain was pouring on us so before we all get soaked, we hastened the picture taking and rode the jeep to Mine’s View Park.
MINE’S VIEW
At first, we tried to walk our way to Mine’s View from the White Mansion. Haven't got a single idea how far it was, we attempted it with our umbrellas overhead and finally when we saw the jeepney passing us we hurriedly finished the agony of walkathon. The rain was getting harsher but when we reached the destination, the sky gratefully gave way to our barkada trip, and there were the gracious clear clouds again. We headed to the area where we could have a view of the high and greenish brown mountainous landscape. The place was located in such a height that you could look down to the scaring depth of the cliff. Again we abused the unlimited opportunities to take pictures here and there, not wanting to forget in the future that we have ever set our foot in a known place like that one.
On our way out the Mine’s view park, we noticed a hut store with indigenous music sounding at the foyer area. It drew my attention, the music itself was like a magnet that was pulling me inside the store (I’m a huge fan of ethnic music). Thanks to Marvin, who voiced the suggestion to get in there and we went upstairs and we were greeted by the friendly personnel. Everyone’s allowed to take pictures, you’ll just generously drop a donation of any amount to the donation basin near the entrance. Of course, we were more welcome to buy stuff and other collections; I painfully regretted having not bought any single Music CD there. I would not be able to find that music at any downloading site in the net, there might be few but it would be very hard to find. I enjoyed strolling around the store, overwhelmed by rich culture of Cordillera, from music to traditions to lifestyle, everything was worth preserving. Inside the store, there was a small café that served food and beverages to the store goers. Benj and I were allured by the brewing smell so while our other friends were busy with the picture taking, we sat down and had a cup of coffee.50’S DINER
It was past 12NN already and our stomachs were grumbling in great protest. In fast pace, we rode our way to the restaurant decided by Jen for our lunch- 50’s Diner. We were so hungry and it was feeling like we could eat a huge basin of food! The place really felt homey and cozy, we were instantly relaxed by the time we got inside. With a budget of P100 and up, you could already enjoy various foods with American-inspired taste and presentation. Hung on the wall were framed posters of classic movies with Manily Monroe and the rest of actors in 50’s era. 
We had this funny, unforgettable experience with our friend, Benj. He decided not to take rice so he only ordered Clubhouse sandwich, but by the time his order came, we all dropped our jaw in surprise because there came a giant Clubhouse which took Benj three days to eat completely (no joke, he still had left over clubhouse sandwich in bag when we traveled back to Manila).BOTANICAL GARDEN
Our stomach full and overwhelmingly satisfied, we went our way to the Botanical garden…and took pictures. We haven't stayed there long since the night was already approaching. We haven’t gotten the chances to stroll around so we just visited the stores there that sell clothing, scarves, bonnets, souvenirs and other stuff. We bought cardigan and scarf, Wendy also spent money on chopping board, which she wanted to give to her mom. After that, we headed our way out and found ourselves a taxi to bring us to our next and final destination for the day.
CAMP JOHN HAY
We asked the taxi driver how much the fare going to Camp John Hay, he told us to give him whatever amount we have decided. We reached Camp John Hay in no time; each of the 6 of us gave P20, Kuyang Driver was surprised about how big the amount we gave him for such a fast and short ride.
We went to the entrance and paid P50 for unlimited time to stroll around Camp John Hay inclusive of course of the unlimited picture taking. It was great fun to visit this former rest and recreation facility of the U.S Armed Forces back in 1903. With its pine-tree lined roads, awesome landscaping, picturesque cottages and wide open spaces, you would really feel the nostalgia of the place, as Camp John Hay once made Baguio the “Little America of the Philippines”. 
We were fast paced on our stroll since it was getting dark already, so once we had taken enough photos on one area we would head up way to the next. We were happy still that we were able to experience some of the “must visit” parts of Camp John Hay.
GOOD TASTE CAFÉ AND RESTAURANT
When we got the bill, we were awed in great surprise that after filling our stomachs with rice, chicken, mixed veggies and drinks, and after burping ourselves in satisfied fullness, we only had to pay a bill of not even more than 1 thousand pesos! How we wished that we also had Good taste in Manila (with same set of prices of course), Benj even let out a promise that he would treat us to dinner on his next birthday, here in Good Taste…hehe…sagot niya ang kain, kami bahala sa pamasahe. Why not? Going back to Baguio will always be a wonderful thing to look forward!
