We love Baguio and we love Baguio Country Club.
My husband has been going to BCC since he was a wee lil one. His parents even spent a portion of their honeymoon in Baguio. So, when we go up to Baguio with his mom and dad, I can only imagine how gratifying it must feel for them to bring their family up to the place where they honeymooned. Now, they get to bring their grandchildren.
This December holiday we have been lucky enough to be all together as a family. Nino’s youngest brother lives in NY with his wife and children and it’s not very often that we are able to see them. It’s bittersweet, actually. The baby only got used to me in the last days-so I didn’t pick her up until it was almost time for her to leave. She had no idea who we were and why we were trying to love on her and fuss over her. I can’t blame her actually-she doesn’t know us from Jack…but what she didn’t even realize is that she had a whole family over here in Manila loving on her when she was just a peanut in her mommy’s belly.
It’s so nice that we get to see them…it would be nicer if we all lived in one place all year round…wouldn’t it? But then again-we had our time with them in NY (and my family too) and now we have our time with Nino’s parents…here in Manila.
Anyway-we had a great time in The Summer Capital of the Philippines. Here is a photo stream of some of our time together.
We have this tradition every time we take a road trip. Miggy leads the prayer before we leave our street. He always surprises me with how thoughtful he is…and how he remembers to count our blessings while we are together.
Lolo definitely has a good time when the grandkids are all together. We don’t have to be doing much. We could even just be sitting around in the cool weather with Lolo and my boys exchanging jokes. What’s even funnier is when the boys are telling the jokes later to other people…somehow the punch lines don’t always sound the same
We can’t go to Baguio without having some strawberries! December and January is the season to get our strawberry fix! Here the strawberries are nestled in the trademark La Trinidad Zesto boxes!
Oh gosh, how I love this little girl…
A trip to Baguio is NOT complete unless you have at least 3 cups of your native hot chocolate. (not all at once though.)
This is the prelude to the cousin picture capturing…TAKE NOTE: No one is looking at the same camera! ha ha ha ha.
But thanks to my love, MY Ate-we were able to get all the girls at least for a group picture…
The traffic in Baguio was pretty bad. I won’t lie. And everywhere we went were terrible lines…even at The Bencab Museum and Cafe Sabel. We waited for a very long time…very long time 🙁
The lines were so long that Cafe Sabel even told my friend Patty that they weren’t taking any orders for a late lunch until one hour later so they could catch up with the lunch rush that they already had! (This was well after 2pm.)
I think Nino told me that so many thousands of people went up North…It really must have been true because we ran into some good friends of ours at almost every stop. (I know this picture is blurry-but I just love that everyone is happy in it…)
It was a weekend of non stop eating…seriously. Because there was so much traffic in between destinations, it seemed as if we were going from place to place and then sitting down to eat! This table was perfect for the “adult” family dinner on Saturday night after anticipated mass. We were all treated to a hearty dinner of prime rib! Thanks Mom and Dad!
The original Aventajado Momma with her girls….those that married her sons, and all her granddaughters.
The kids always look forward to biking in Burnham Park. I love this pic of Gia and her Ninang because there are surprise photo bombers who are also members of my family!
It was a bit hard to move around because there were so many of us visitors this trip…but still, even if there was a bit of traffic and some long lines, the cool weather and time well spent with family was definitely worth it.
We are already planning our next trip!
We heart Baguio.
Happy new year, Mish! That photo of you and Nino kissing Gelli is priceless!!! 😀
The boys and I love Baguio, and we loooove picking and eating strawberries there! 🙂 We went last year for my birthday, which was the same weekend as the Panagbenga parade, and there were so many people too. We’re hoping to make a trip up north again this year. Fingers crossed for that! 🙂
Aw 🙂 Thanks Pat! I super love that photo too. I think it will go into a frame.
I hope you get to go again-will you be going during your birthday this year too? We’ve never visited during the festival-maybe that should be put into the calendar for this year for our family as well 🙂
Looking forward to seeing you soon!! One of my resolutions for this year to get a little more crafty. You with me?
Nice article Ate Michelle! You captured everything on that trip!
Thanks Gin!
It really was so much fun with all the cousins together, no?
I love love love your blog, Michelle! <3 I love that it's family centered and that your children are the focus. You're such a great mom & a loving wife. I've been looking for a long long loooong time for a personal blog like yours & I'm so happy that I now have mommanmanila to add to my favorite reads! 🙂 And I'm so in love with your owls! Can mine be pigs & frogs haha.
Oh, our must-have in baguio is the strawberry taho & the inihaw na pusit in Mines View Park, but I guess that's too street-foody for you guys! 😛 We were also supposed to go up this december but my brother beat me to the house. Looks like you guys had a lot of fun!
And as usual, I'm going on & on. I'm forgetting that this is YOUR blog haha. Anyway, I hope to bump into you. I showed my hubby your fam picture & he says you guys look familiar. Do you play volleyball by any chance?
Ok, I'm extending again. Bye for now. Will comment again on your next post so I don't appear too staker-ish! Mwah! :-*
Love, Jane
Hey Jane!
Thanks for stopping by! I always get so excited when I get to make new friends in cyberspace:-) especially when we are actually living very close by one another 😉
Thanks also for the kind words:-) I’m still trying to find the direction I want to take my writing here on the blog. As you can see, I share a lot of what I do as a mom and homemaker. Hopefully, you will see the growth in my wiring and posts each time you come back!
We like to go to Minesview also, however, the traffic was so bad during that time that we decided to just bowl with the kids instead. It was a wise choice as we were able to just relax a bit instead of sitting in the car:-( I LOVE the grilled corn in Minesview!
(I’ve never been big on pusit.)
Yes, we are volleyball parents, although, my daughter isn’t as active on the team this year.
Looking forward to running into you in the neighborhood!
we’ve been going to baguio for years but we’ve never really explored the city. we always just stay at BCC (lazy tourists). i have balikbayan relatives coming and i think its time that we see more of baguio!
i’ll ask tips from you ha.
miss you!
Hey Nevs!
Sometimes, it’s nice to be lazy tourists, no? There is so much to do BCC (they even have their own strawberry fields now) that you don’t really need to leave if you have little ones. I find it’s easier to move around and do what we want to do because the kids are older and help with Gelli and the slew of things we need to carry around for her.
Plus-if you’re in command and figuring out the schedule for everyone…You can make your list really long of sites to visit but then just cut out what doesn’t work for you a long the way.
Just let me know when you are planning your activities. I really researched a lot when Nino and I spent some time in Baguio with just the 3 kids. We did a ton of stuff and not so expensive either.
Hope to see you soon 🙂 Kisses for David and Noah!
Whaaat? BCC has their own strawberry fields? Ok we need to go up soon. It’s also an excuse to bundle up Noah too heehee.
YESSSS!
They have their own little strawberry patch;-)
That’s where we went picking!