A Peak Up North

Last week, we went for a 2-day visit to Baguio. Sounds bitin right? But it had been a very nice quick get-away vacation for me. If you could consider that as a vacation. Haha. LOL! Anyway, the trip going there was really brain shaking. (Literally! The bus jerked a lot! >.<) We sat inside the bus for more that 6 hours and all we did was eat, sleep, sit, go to the bathroom and eat, sleep, sit and go to the bathroom some more. Haha. The travel was tiring but it was worth it. We departed at around 6am and arrived there at approximately half past 2. By the time we get there, we were exhausted, dizzy from the zigzagging road trip and unbelievably famished. We ate a quick lunch and headed straight to our hotel. (This would be my second time to actually check in a hotel. Yeay! :3 ) The place was nice, classy looking and everything that you can expect from a 4 star hotel. I always like to venture out and look at everything whenever I'm in a new place. The first thing I checked out is our room. The floors are all wonderfully covered with carpets! So delightfully soft and so very ticklish. Haha. The bathroom is nice and the bathtub is nicer! Plans were already forming... must try that tub! ^_^ I still wanted to explore the whole place, but slumber kept calling me. I was thinking maybe I can steal a little nap but then there were things to be done. Anyway, the next morning, I woke up extra early and turned on the heater to the tub! Oh sweet sweet Glee! I've always wondered how it would feel like. It turned out to be great and better that I have imagined and those in the movies combined. It was like floating in a pool but with a great deal of lather and bubbles all around. I spent 30 minutes or so in there feeling weightless. An absolute, terrific, must-try experience!
Breakfast came around 7 and after eating, we headed straight to the market. The rain didn't stop us and by the time we got there, there were already a lot of people rushing along with their own businesses. This was the first time that I hiked, climbed and shopped at the same time! For the market was built on the steep side of a cemented mountain. Fruits, vegetables, handicrafts and local food stuffs like strawberry and ube jams filled the whole place. People here, people there, shopping, shouting, buying and negotiating. It almost seemed like a typical market if you didn't consider the getting-steeper road, weird fruits hanging by bunch that I later knew was called a Ratan, and the cool very cool climate that I swear we could breathe cold smoke out when the temperature dropped even further. After an hour or so of walking and buying, it was time to go home. We loaded the bus and chose the best possible seats. The trip home was a little nicer and friendlier expect for the person sitting right in front of me who kept leaning the seat way back and stopping the chair within inches...scratch that...I deeply believe, centimeters away from me. It was annoying but I know starting a fight would be futile. So I just sat back and try to sleep while driving my invisible knives into the back of his head. Haha. But aside from that, the whole journey was just great! ^_^

 Shot outside the window of our hotel room. It was pretty amazing. Hundreds and thousands of houses all built on the side of mountains. They looked like little toy houses stuck on walls. Cool Architectures!

 A sample of the weird fruit called Ratan. As big as a thumb, as round as a ball, as scaly looking as a snake's skin and as sour as the most sour vinegar in the whole wide world! Credit goes to the nice lady selling these peculiar hanging down from vines in bunches fruits! Sweet Sourness!

Glimpsing what's up north!

Stranger Passing-By

SP-B/08/12/12