Cold Baguio in January

We went up north just this weekend to experience the very cold Baguio City. Daytime temperature in Baguio this January ranges from 18°-20°C, but drops to as low as 8°-10°C at night. 

Planning the Trip

Planning a trip to Baguio starts from deciding what to do when you're there and finding an inexpensive, but nice place to stay.

I've found several blogs on the different must-try food and food shops around the city, so we decided that we'll visit the city this time to try the "eats in Baguio".

Next on our list is finding the place to stay. My goal is to find an inexpensive place to stay near the commercial area, so we could save up on transportation. I looked up google maps, listed some nearby hotels based on the map and looked them up for reviews via tripadvisor.com.  

One review caught my attention. Its actually a negative review of the hotel which is very near the place we stayed. According to the review, the hotel does not have good supply of water and the guest had a hard time sleeping because of the noise from the passing-by vehicles. They transferred to the small inn beside that hotel and that is how I knew about the small inn's name. Its along North Drive, near DILG and just right across the NBI office. The name of the place is Reyalta Inn. 

We arrived in Baguio at around 8:30 AM. The map says that Dagupan Bus Terminal is very near the inn where we reserved a room so we walked up to Session Road corner North Drive. We walked further after the DILG office and there it is.

Here's a copy of their tariff:

We took the twin bedroom with window. The cost of the room includes breakfast for 2. 

Look, our room has its own fireplace! :-) 

Brunch at 50's Diner

After we checked in, we went to 50's Diner to have our brunch. When in Baguio, we always make it a point to have our breakfast there. By the way, 50's Diner is just walking distance from the inn.  We were there just before 10 am so we were able to order some breakfast meals. Of course, our meal won't be complete without the pancake tower. We also had freshly brewed coffee which is usually served with fresh milk.

We were not able to finish up the pancake tower (like we always do), so we asked the serving lady to pack the remaining half for take out.

We went back to the inn to rest for a while and head out later to go to the market to buy passion fruit and ube jam.

We bought several pieces of passion fruit as our baon while roaming around Burnham park.

We rented a boat at the lagoon and spend the afternoon there while eating our passion fruit baon. We went back to the inn at around 3pm after dropped by at Ibay's along Session Road to buy earrings.

Cream Puffs at Silvannas 

We also dropped by a small shop along Session Road named "Silvanna's" where we bought 2 pcs of cream puffs for 15/pc. It was too late when we remembered that we had to take a photo of the cream puffs before we each took bites, haha! They're creamier than the ones we have tried from Sancho's in Maginhawa, QC, and definitely, cheaper!

Dinner at Oh My Gulay

We went out in the evening to have our dinner at the most blogged about resto in Session Road-- Oh My Gulay.

The restaurant is a bit expensive for someone like us who wanted delicious food that is worth the cost. I like the salad though, but the pasta is bland, and there is nothing special about it.  We prefer the pasta we ordered at the Cafe Isabel in BenCab Museum. 

The restaurant features unique art pieces. You may visit Oh My Gulay located at the penthouse of the La Azotea building along Session Road.

We we're not satisfied with our meal from the OMG so we decided to look for a Diner somewhere near the  Baguio General Hospital called Bambenny. We took a Camp Sioco bound jeep and told the driver to drop us off at the Baguio General Hospital. From there, we walked around looking for the diner but unfortunately, we got lost. We walked and walked along Kisad road until we were back in Burnham.

We decided to find a "lugawan" and we looked around Session Road but we couldnt find any. On our way back to the inn,  we were able to pass by a small alley behind SM Baguio. We went there and we discovered that it is the Dagupan Bus Terminal. There was a small shop there selling goto and mami where we had our satisfying lugaw and chicken mami for the night.

Lunch at O' Mai Khan

After we did our last minute pasalubong shopping, we headed to O'Mai Khan to try their Mongolian BBQ buffet.

Mongolian BBQ buffet is available only between 11AM to 2PM and 6PM to 9PM at 220 per head. They also serve rice alongside your mongolian bowl.  We also ordered fresh strawberry-banana shake and mango jucie on the side

TIPS!

1. Buy Passion fruit from "Mountain Grown Natural Foods" shop at the Porta Vaga Mall
   
   I love passion fruit! Its one of my favorite fruit since I was a kid. The first time I bought very expensive passion fruit was during one of my trips to Sagada. I bought it from one of the stop overs. I was able to buy a bunch for only 10 pesos (last 2010). The last time I was here last 2013, I can hardly find any passion fruit from the supermarket. Now, every time I visit Baguio, I always make it a point to buy passion fruit.
   
   I was happy to see a few vendors selling passion fruit at the market, but its disappointing to know that they are selling it at 8-10 Pesos per piece. I've found one vendor selling small ones that are almost over riped at 5 pesos so I bought 15 pieces as our baon while we roam around Burnham park. I promised myself to buy some more for me to take home the next day.
   
   Before we went to the supermarket the following day to buy passion fruit for me to take home, we dropped by the Cathedral but we actually didn't join the mass since its in Ilocano. We dropped by the "Mountain Grown Natural Foods" shop at the Porta Vaga Mall (left side of the Cathedral). We found there inexpensive farm fresh goods. And yes, they are selling good quality (big ones) passion fruit for 40/pack. One pack contains 8-10pcs  of the fruit so its basically cheaper than the ones sold in the supermarket. I also bought some fresh veggies for my sister and a bottle of yogurt.
2. If you prefer to buy Good Shepherd's Ube Jam from the Supermarket, but it on a Saturday (for those who visit Baguio on weekends) instead of buying it on the day that you will be leaving Baguio, which I assume, is a Sunday.
   
   When we went around the supermarket on the day that we arrived in Baguio (Saturday), the lowest price of Good Shepherd's small bottle of Ube Jam costs 155. However, when we went back the following day, the small bottle now costs 200! According to the vendor, it is because of the "law of supply and demand", which, according to her, is that because there are a lot of supplies so the price had increased. Isn't that wrong?
3. Rent a boat at the Lagoon for 150 with unlimited time. 
   
   Most of the boat rental around the lagoon costs 150 for 30 minutes but you can haggle to rent the boat for 150 with unlimited time especially during off peak months.

Update:

I was able to visit Baguio City 4 times since this January of this year. Check out my other Baguio trips here..