Baguio - the city of Pines has been dubbed as the Summer Capital of the Philippines.
Dubbed as the summer capital of the Philippines due to the fact that it is situated at 1,540 meters above sea level and has the coolest temperature in the country.
A military camp was made by the American forces when the Philippine–American War ensued. This explains why there are a lot of camps in the city itself. It was then that the city was declared as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines" on July 1, 1903 by the Americans.
BURNHAM PARK
February 24 - this date marks my husband and I's first wedding anniversary and we had opted Baguio as the place for celebrating our anniversary together.
On the first day of our anniversary special, we went straight to the city's most famous park, Burnham Park.
Things to do in Burnham Park
Burnham Park is considered as the heart of the city. It is where most of the locals stay for a picnic or a morning exercise. In fact, when we arrived there early morning, we saw groups of people working out and dancing as their morning exercise. It was there were we have conclude that the people here are morning people.
1. Take Photos of the Park's Flowers
It is a fact that the city is blessed with flowers and all other kinds of plants because of its nice weather. Most of the time, the temperature is cold and that is also the reason why the houses and buildings here don't use air conditioning, even the malls.
It was also a coincidence that on that week, the city was celebrating its Panagbenga Flower Festival and although we were advised about it already, both of us were not sure what to expect specially that it was our first time to be visiting Baguio.
But nonetheless, it was the perfect time to visit baguio as the flowers were in full bloom on these months.
Surprising, when we reached the Burnham Park's lake, we found lots of flowers along its side. My husband and I are both lovers of flowers and we had spent more than two hours just taking photos of the flowers.
It was quite of an amazing fact that the locals and the visitors had been very disciplined enough not to pick the flowers. They seem to be planted in a farm judging by the quality of its flowers. They bloomed just beautifully.
2. Try Their Strawberry Taho
Another stuff to look out for when in Baguio, specifically in Burnham Park is their special strawberry taho.
Taho is a Philippine snack food made of fresh soft/silken tofu, arnibal, and sago pearl. This staple comfort food is a signature sweet and taho peddlers can be found all over the country.
Taho is a famous type of street food in the entire country. We have taho vendors in Cebu which passes by the streets shouting and calling for the buyers. Everyone in the area would be informed that the vendors are already in there due to his distinct voice and how he shouts out.
However, Baguio is known for its special strawberry taho which is an option given by the taho vendors. They normally sells the common taho but then purchasing the strawberry flavor would still be an option and they offers it too to the customers.
While we were taking photos of the flowers in Burnham Park, our stomachs asked for something since we had not eaten anything since last night. We immediate looked for a remedy and what we can only find is the taho vendor.
He offered the strawberry taho and of course we have to try it because there is no strawberry taho in cebu.
And if you will ask me how it just tastes? Well, I should say that it tastes like strawberry of course!
3. Go Boating
The main attraction which anyone who visits the Burnham park would be the boats in the lake located at the center of the park. It is a huge lake which is actually a man-made lake situated at the center where tourists can enjoy boating with rented boats..
Hundreds of boats are waiting for passengers at the docking area. Each side of the lake has boats and one can choose from the variety of boat designs as well. It would only cost a hundred pesos to go boating around the lake.
My husband and I didn't actually bother taking a ride which we both had regretted but we already had a great time watching the passengers giggle and laugh around while boating plus we were both busy taking photos of the flowers.
4. Enjoy Biking
Another in demand thing to do in Burnham Park is to go biking. Upon riching there, hubby and I already noticed the hundreds of bikes parked at the side of the streets surrounding the park.
There were different kinds of bikes along the road, there were single ones for the adults, some have training wheels for the children and there were also kinds where in two persons can fit in and there were also ones which looked like Cebu's "sikad" where in three or more can take a ride on it.
On our first day, while roaming around the mini market which were set up for the Panagbenga Flower Festival, we noticed that the bikers were already gaining in numbers. There were lots of kids and adults too who were renting those bikes.
We both believed that it was fun biking around the area and we also took some time to take photographs of these kids who were happily pedaling their bicycles.
5. Shop at the Mini market
Hubby and I were both lucky that we were on Baguio during their own city's Panagbenga Flower Festival. Because of the upcoming annual event, the city had set up a mini market along the side of Burnham park, along Harrison road.
In this area, there were lots of vendors selling any type of stuffs. There were food like steamed corn, siopao, siomai, different types of street foods, kwek kwek, isaw, fishballs and a lot more.
There were drinks too which range from the soft drinks to the juices and iced teas to the special gulaman, halo halo, fresh fruit shakes and a lot more.
All kinds of souvenir items can also be spotted in the area like the straw berry goods, biscuits locally produced in Baguio, there were also strawberry. Also key chains and sculptured items are displayed there.
Aside from all that, jackets and t-shirts and dresses were there too. Kitchen and household items as well.
Oh! There's a competition as well going on during that time where in many private and public establishments had joined showcasing their cultured flowers and the landscape designs. I had also taken photos of their beautiful flowers and landscape designs.
There were hundreds if not thousand of people around. We went there both on the first and last day of our stay in Baguio and the people are just increasing!
Not to mention that just a few walk away from here, the famous Ukay-ukay is also available during the evening time. And yes we did also check it and bought some stuffs! It was fun!
6. Exercise
It was a surprise for both my husband and I reaching at the Burnham Park at around quarter to six and music was loud and mixed! We were both wondering if there was a show or something but to our surprise, we found groups of people exercising!
I enjoyed watching the groups danced to the tune of the music prepared by the leader at front.
Most of them are ladies who perhaps would like to trim down some baby fats out. However, I have also seen some men joining the fun!
I bet they had paid some amount for the talent fee of the leader who was talking in front of everyone while doing their cardio. This reminded me of college days where my close college mate and I would go everyday to Cebu's Abellana High School campus where there's an oval for us to join the daily afternoon cardio session as well. Oh well, I have not visited that anymore at this day but I am glad this give me some motivation too to somehow exercise.
I believe that the ppeople in Baguio have been encouraged to join their morning routines for the betterment of everyone in this city. I am proud of them as most of these people I guess have jobs and had spent time to exercise!
Kudos to their local government to initializing this specific activity. Aside from that, there were also certain individuals who are jogging around the lake.
In case you want to have a glimpse of the action happening that morning, hit that play button for the video up here.
7. Have a Picnic
Since there are areas covered with green bermuda grasses, it is also perfect for an afternoon picnic!
On our last day in Baguio, hubby and I enjoyed an afternoon chill at the park while waiting for our trip back to Manila.
At the park, we enjoyed our sweet turon which has Ube, Banana and cheese on it. It was our first time to really enjoy that delicacy since it was also the first time that we had tried a turon with ube and cheese on it.
Comfort rooms and powder rooms were not an issue as there are available ones in every corner of the park. I am proud to say that their comfort rooms are very clean and well maintained. A specific amount is needed to use the service by the way.
Copyright Jean Beltran-Figues. All rights reserved.
