Baguio city that is. There’s a lot to like about Baguio, especially if you enjoy mountain vistas. It’s a green city with lots of forests, parks, and flowers. It’s the only place in the Philippines I’ve been where they emphasize protecting the environment. Still too much litter, but much cleaner than my home town. The poverty is not so much in your face here either. I’m thinking they move the squatters, shanties, and shacks outside the city limits. The infrastructure is also much better with generally wider streets and wonder of wonders, sidewalks! It’s a cool town too. Never seen so many sweaters and long-sleeved shirts since I made the move from Korea. I also saw quite a few locals out jogging which is pretty much unheard of in my area. Baguio is also a tourist destination and the summer home of the Filipino government. So it has quite a bit to offer in the way of accommodations, restaurants, and the like. All in all, a pretty fine city.
Would I ever want to live in Baguio? No, not really. I enjoy my annual visits, but honestly, that’s enough. It’s just too isolated for my tastes, and that trip up and down the mountain on a dicey two-lane road is potentially a killer. No real airport there either. I’m spoiled I guess by small-town life. I can walk from end to end of Barretto in about twenty minutes. And in that space, I can find numerous restaurants, beach resorts, and of course, bars. Baguio has all that (except beaches of course) but it is spread out over a wide area. Even as a walkaholic I’d need to cab almost everywhere I wanted to go. Just not the lifestyle I’m looking for these days.
I’ve got some pictures:
So, one of the other Hashers from Subic posted his photos from the trail I chickened bailed out on. Damn, it looked like a great hike. But I was afraid the bridge crossing I was warned about would be like this one:
Here’s the bridge from Saturday’s Hash:
Well, I fucked up. Shouldn’t have wussed out on the trail. Lesson learned I guess.
Anyway, I have another Hash today. And Günter is the Hare. What could go wrong? Stay tuned.
I hope those strawberries were as tasty as they looked. Korean strawberries aren’t that impressive. I gussy them up by removing the stems, slicing the fruit into thin slices, then heating the slices in a pan with a ton of white sugar and a good glug of white wine to make a sauce that can be drizzled onto vanilla ice cream.
Yeah, too bad about the bridge, but live and learn. I’m sure you’ll be back this way again.
As for the lack of Koreans… could it be that this is the wrong time of year to expect them? I mean, it’s cold in Korea right now, so it wouldn’t be surprising for Koreans to want to skip down to SE Asia for some warm weather, but in the end, who can fathom the Korean mind? Or maybe the coronavirus is keeping Koreans away…
Who wouldn’t have mixed feelings about that “club sandwich”? (Why are they called “club” sandwiches?). 1. It’s a bit early in the day to be tucking away 1,000 calories (love the fries). 2. That would sure go down a treat with a beer. How did you resist?
Kevin, Yes, the strawberries were great. Finished them last night. I don’t recall ever buying Korean strawberries, I’d get American imports from the commissary (now that’s something I miss!).
I recall reading somewhere that Koreans are the largest expat community in the Philippines. They literally own much of Angeles City these days. The old Navy base has a good-sized contingent as well. Lots of Korean restaurants, churches, and other Hanguel signage. I’m guessing I was in Baguio’s Korea town, maybe us Hashers kept the K-folk undercover!
Dan, Glad you asked–Club stands for “chicken and lettuce under bacon”. You can look it up, I just did!
The breakfast menu was pretty much limited to Filipino delicacies which aren’t my thing (I don’t do rice). And a club often has the same ingredients as a traditional breakfast, just arranged differently. Yeah, it was a lot of calories but I only managed to eat 3/4 of the sandwich and just a few fries. And it turned out to be my only real meal of the day. It was 0800 so it wasn’t hard to take a pass on the beer. Coffee washed it down just fine!