What’s crazier than driving up and down Baguio City from Metro Manila for a day tour?  It’s doing it all over again!  We did it once, and last weekend was able to do it again.

Let’s just say I’m not 100% crazy with this idea, but since we have a foreigner guest we want to tour around we decided to bring him to the summer capital.  It’s quite tiring, but since I missed Baguio, I grabbed the opportunity to return to the city of pines and revisit the places I missed.

Lion’s Head

Coming up from Kennon Road, this landmark is quite hard to miss.  I didn’t take any pictures here, but I noticed that it had some minor makeover.  If you ask me it could still use some major makeover though, aside from the paint job.

O’ Mai Khan

When we arrived at the city’s center, an O’ Mai Khan greeted us—far off from the O’ Mai Khan I knew.  I thought they had expanded and it was their new branch, so I insisted on their original branch that I had font memories of.  To my horror, there was no O’ Mai Khan to be seen in its original spot near Rizal Park—they had moved!  From that spot it was quite difficult to drive back to the new branch and be able to arrive in time for lunch (until 2PM only) so it was plan B.

50’s Diner

When we arrived past 2PM at the Diner there was still a queue of customers waiting to be seated.  Fortunately we were not a big group so we didn’t wait that long, for the seat at least.  I noticed there were some new entries on their menu, and although the serving size remained huge and price quite cheap, the serving time was a bit long, and the food weren’t served hot.  I can’t say I went gaga for the food, but their drinks were quite awesome.  I had what they call “SHE,” which I recommend for meat lovers, and “Big 4” which is four seasons blended with coffee—highly recommended.

Mines View Park / Good Shepherd

After a huge meal, we went straight to Mines View to buy our favorite Good Shepherd products.  To those who haven’t been to Baguio City, Good Shepherd products made by the Mountain Maid Training Center are a must try because of their very high, premium quality, and it help supports the convent.  Among my favorites are their strawberry jam, ube jam, and “snowballs.”

Just a short walk away is the Mines View, which as the name suggests, overlooks some mine field.  I’m not sure if the mine still exists, but the view sure is nice.  It’s a great place to buy some souvenirs and eat some interesting street foods, including strawberry taho.

Wright Park / The Mansion House

Is there any place more touristy to visit in Baguio but the official summer residence of the President of the Philippines, the Mansion House?  But first we dropped by the adjacent Wright Park.

Baguio Botanical Garden

Finally before heading back to Manila we stopped by the Baguio Botanical Garden.  At first I thought it was just plants (it was my first time to visit the garden) but there were quite some interesting things to see inside, not to mention some stairs to climb.

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Side Trip: Gerona, Tarlac

Before finally concluding this trip, we made a last stop in Gerona, Tarlac for late night dinner.  It’s a unique and popular place that can be described with one word: “Tacsiapo!”  (Isdaan, The Halfway to the North Floating Restaurant)

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I wasn’t able to do much as far as running is concerned, but it was a great chance to revisit Baguio.  Now I realize how much I miss running in Baguio, and am looking forward to running back in its streets.