I don't really like going outside. I prefer to stay inside of our house. But since I have been stressed and depressed for a very long time, I think I need to go out somewhere. Because traveling to a nice, beautiful, and relaxing place will help us to cure our mental health, aside from writing a journal.
Actually, this is my first time traveling alone. When I go out, they always want me to have a companion, especially since they always tell my older sister to accompany me wherever I go, and I didn't like that. That's also why I don't like going out, because I wouldn't enjoy traveling with her. It took me five days to finally tell my mother and grandparents that I was going to Baguio City. My heartbeat is so very fast because I was scared of my grandparents, especially since my grandma is still healing from her operation. My expectation was that they would nag at me when I told them my plan. I was surprised when my grandparents just simply said, "Okay." My mom is still not okay with it, but she can't do anything about it since she's not here.
Though they said, "Okay, traveling alone makes me scared, so I invited someone to be with me. Someone who can accompany me on trips and take me to places I've never been to before, and he was a high school friend. No malice! He has a girlfriend who is staying and working in Baguio too, and I am also into someone who I can't have. CHAROUGHT!
I woke up very early in the morning yesterday because we decided to see each other by 6 o'clock AM in Rosario, La Union, because that is where we could wait for the van, but when we arrived there, there was no van waiting for us, so we decided to ride the bus instead. They said that there is a new high way now and it makes it easier to arrive in Baguio City. That's why traveling to Baguio from my area is so easy and it's not as far away as before.
We traveled for 2 hours and you can now see a lot of houses, indicating that we are now in Baguio City and the cold weather welcomed us.
And guess what? This is one of the reasons why I would like to go to Baguio. To see the
University of Cordilleras when I was a kid, every time I saw this university when we were passing by here, I once said that I would like to study here when I grew up. But this never happened because the tuition fee is so...for rich people only. Lol
When we arrive at the place where we will go down, We decided where to go first and he told me that he had not eaten breakfast yet, so I told him that we should go to
SM City Baguio to eat first. Honestly, when we find something to buy, I don't know what to choose. I am not a fan of spicy foods or some Korean foods. So I just chose a simple dish that I used to eat.
We ordered our food, and we found some tables to sit
And here I am while waiting for the food that we ordered. I didn't notice that he was taking a stolen shot while I was staring at nothing. Lol
I forgot from which stall I ordered this food, but I just remember, "Inihaws" in the name. Since I am not that terribly hungry, the food is just enough for me. Though it's just a simple dish, I am amazed because their vegetable something on the side is delicious (I'm sorry I'm not good at describing food) and I think even the kids that don't like eating vegetables would love to eat it because the flavour has a balance of sweet and salty.
So, after finishing our meal, we decided to begin our journey! Last month, I published this blog: These are the three places in the Philippines that i would like to visit I mentioned that Baguio City is one of the places that I would like to visit. I mentioned a lot of places that I would like to visit when I visit Baguio, and one of them is the Botanical Garden,Mines View Park, Igorot Stone Kingdom, and so on. So we decided to go to the Botanical Garden first.
BOTANICAL GARDEN
One of the most famous tourist spots in Baguio City is the Botanical Garden, and this is also my first time going here.
The entrance fee before entering is PHP 10.00 for adults and PHP 5.00 for kids. The cashier thought or she was confused that I was paying for an adult but I looked like a kid. I don't know if I should laugh at that or feel annoyed, but anyway, when we entered inside, the first thing that I noticed was this one:
I was impressed by the statue and its design, which appears to be digging up the stone.
Now let's go to our next destination, the Botanical Garden.
- Chinese Garden
This part of the botanical is where there are some Chinese temples and flowers. One thing that I like here is the flowers. If what I saw in the images on Google of the Botanical Garden's view is what it looks like in pershonal,
And so, I can't help myself to take a picture with the flowers in the back (and if you don't like to see my ugly face, look at the beautiful flowers on my back)
Next destination is the
- Milflores Garden
The bridge is so cute! I thought it was big and I would be able to walk there, but nah, it's just a small bridge and you can't walk there. You can just see and take some pictures from afar.
- Thailand Elephants
I was curious about what's with this elephant here and I did some research and it was called Thai Elephants. They are the Thailand Elephant statues. The baby elephant is so cute here that I would like to touch it and take a picture with it, but I am too shy to take a picture in front of many people.
And the last statue that I noticed is this Igorot kid girl that is holding a teady bear toy.
I don't know what the meaning of this statue is, but I hope there's no sad story behind this.
Once you enter the Botanical Garden in Baguio City, you will expect that there are a lot of flowers inside. There are also some people who are offering igorot costumes for taking pictures everywhere. There's also a restaurant inside, but we didn't bother to grab a bite because our time is just limited because we have a lot more next destination places to visit.
More vintage selfies at Botanical Garden:
I experienced riding a Horse
Before we went up, we saw some horses. I remember when I was a kid, I was scared of riding a horse. Because what if they kick and run quickly? But of course, that is only a thought because the owner will guide the horse while you are sitting there. But this time,
The horse that I rode with is just standing under the tree and is just for taking pictures. I'm so very shy about taking a selfie with the horse because there are a lot of people, but my friend boosted my confidence and said, "Do it for your blog," so even though I am shy, I still grabbed the opportunity. Just a few seconds of taking pictures is enough because I am shy of people looking at me.
After that, we decided to go up, but when I saw the stairs, I think I lost my soul because just looking at the stairs to go up made my legs feel pain tomorrow, which is today, and I was right, because right now, my legs were so very hurt that I couldn't get up and walk.
Anyway, when we arrived upstairs, I looked at some souvenirs and bought this:
I bought this souvenir for PHP 100.00. I thought the seller's lettering was good, but I was disappointed because it was not. If only I knew that the lettering was like this, I would have been the one who would have done it. Huhu
BELL CHURCH
Our next destination is the Bell Church. I was very exhausted from walking already, but the energy of my companion was so full of energized. He doesn't want to waste more time because we still have some 2-3 destinations waiting for us, and one of them is the Bell Church. We rode a taxi again to go to La Trinidad, Benguet.
But it's not exactly to La Trinidad because the way going inside of the Bell Church is just on its side.
This is the first thing I noticed when we entered.
because I don't understand it and when we entered inside, there were a lot of people everywhere.
I don't know what the first thing that I will capture because I was so amazed by the view of the Temples at Bell Church that I forgot to take some pictures and just enjoy the beautiful view and touch some of the things that were there.
I don't know about Chinese culture, Taoism, etc. So I don't know if the first two pictures of the statue have hidden meaning. But the third statue was the founder of the Bell Church's statue.
IGOROT STONE KINGDOM
One of the tourist spots that I wanted to visit is the Igorot Stone Kingdom. Finally! I was so very happy when he said that he would take me to the Igorot Stone Kingdom because he remembered that I was saying, "sana all" on his My Day when I replied to his photos with his girlfriend that time. He has a good memory, and he remembered it!
Do you know what "Umali Kayo" means? It meant that you are welcome or please come in. I think this is the gate or main door of the kingdom and not the main gate of the entrance in front.
When we arrived at the Igorot Stone Kingdom, there were a lot of people! It is more than Botanical and Bell Church combined. Wow!
And here is the view when we are at the top.
One thing that made me feel amazed in this place was how this big stone kingdom was made. Because if you can see in the image above, you will think that this stone kingdom is just so small, but nah, it was so very big and I was terrified to go up more. He was inviting me to go on the other side, but I told him that I was scared. I'm afraid of heights!
The White Mansion
I've been here with my family a lot of times already, so it's not new to me, but we still visit here because we would like to see if there are some changes in this area, but it's still the same. However, the guard wouldn't allow some visitors inside, so we just stayed outside.
And here are some of my vintage selfies in front of the Mansion House:
And our final destination is Burnham Park, where we can rest our feet while waiting for his girlfriend; of course, the previous trip was disastrous for me because I was once again the third wheel, and when his girlfriend arrived, we were supposed to try the skating, but my legs were already hurting, so I just sat on the bench inside where the skaters were tying their skate shoes and waited for the love birds to finish their moments.Then, we rode bikes first before we decided to separate and go home.
Conclusion...
This blog was written yesterday (October 3) and our Baguio trip happened last October 2, but I didn't notice the time and I finished this blog just this time at 12 midnight, October 4.
My thoughts after the trip are that I am so very happy because I visited one of the places that I would like to visit! I didn't expect that my grandparents would allow me to travel alone, and this is my first time traveling to faraway places without my sister. I was with just a friend, and I felt like a bird out of a cage because, after a long time of not being outside, I felt free, and the places were so beautiful that they made my mind rest for the responsibilities.
I thank God for this opportunity to experience visiting Baguio again, and I enjoyed the places so much!
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading my travel blog in Baguio!
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Date: October 2-4, 2022