Baguio Again : Quick Vacation

It's been about 4-5 years since I've been to Baguio and I've missed the cool weather. So last November on my birthday month, I decided to have a quick visit to that (literal) cool city in the North. With me was my not-so-little sis, Katheryn and friend, Ana.

We went via bus using Victory Liner. Opted to get the deluxe which was a non-stop bus from Manila to Baguio. Ticket cost was P750 one way. You can read about my experience here.

Aside from having less seats, the bus has a toilet on board 

May libre pang snacks!

We left from their Pasay terminal at 1:15am and arrived around 5:30am in Baguio. It was really quick because we went through NLEX-SCTEX then TPLEX until Urdaneta, Pangasinan to Marcos Highway. After arriving at the terminal, we took a taxi to the hotel.

Le Monet is located inside the Camp John Hay compound. It's a cheaper alternative than The Manor but you still get the same vibe. Plenty of trees around, walking distance to The Manor and just a quick 5-10 min taxi ride away from the city center but still far enough that you really feel you're in the province. You can read my review of the hotel here.

Every room has a balcony, no air-con but has ceiling fan

We booked directly at their website and availed of their Mastercard promo for P5350/night for 2 (sneaked in sis) including buffet breakfast. In Agoda they have a cheaper rate but personally I'm a bit hesitant using that site. Anyway, personal preference.

Wahoo! First Day of Vacation 

Since we arrive so early for check-in, we just dropped off our bags with the reception and headed off to Baguio Cathedral to say a little prayer. 

Then to Session road for breakfast. My friend, Jason, said that Vizco's had the best strawberry shortcake. Since I really really (really!) wanted one, we waited for the restaurant to open at 7am. Read what we ordered here.

Stalking the restaurant at 6:45am

success!

Then off to Mines View Park. Since it was a Thursday and very early, not many people were around which was perfect.

First order of business - eating strawberry taho
Good

This reminds me of that Strawberry sundae that McDo used to make. The one with the big chunks of strawberry? Ka-miss. Anyway, the taho we bought had some strawberry syrup but alas, no strawberry bits :(

relax mode on

going down 

Big St Bernard dog. Would you believe she is only 6 mos old? 

different herbs 

sis enjoying the breeze

I believe the Mines View Park now is better. They put on ramps and walkways which makes it safer to go to the viewing site. The stores, unlike before where you had to fight your way through, is now on the side and better organized.

Since Good Sheppard is just down the road, we went and bought our pasalubong.

image from www.cityofpines.com

image from www.goodsheperdsisters.org.ph

Personally, my favorite is the Hermits; cookies with nuts and fruits. Seriously delicious and addictive.

After putting our heavy pasalubong (14 containers of Snowballs, Hermits, Ube Jam and whatnot) to our hotel we  went to have lunch at the original Don Henrico's restaurant at Session Road. Tbh, the food wasn't that great anymore.

Cesar salad - the vegetables was fresh but the dressing
was too salty and thick

spicy pasta was a bit bland but there were plenty of shrimps

all-time-favorite of my sis - buffalo chicken - so she was in heaven

After lunch we decided to head back to the hotel, check in and relax. Unfortunately, cable was out the whole day until the next day. Le Monet is lucky that I was hell bent on having a stress-free weekend or I would have gone beast mode on them - no joke.

For dinner, we went to Cafe by the Ruins Dua. This was the one at upper Session Road which has more space than their original restaurant in front of the City Hall. Read about our experience with the place here.

view from the top

One of the best shrimp dish I've tasted.

Back to our hotel we decided to take advantage of the cool breeze by the balcony and had some bonding/drinking time.

little chilly

drink courtesy of my friend, G

Mojos, nuts, Tequila, sushi (another sis fave) 

Yes! Second Day

We had our buffet breakfast at the hotel. After which we decided to walk around Camp John Hay. Love the pine trees all around and the Manor and the Mile-Hi center was just up the road. The air was chilly and so perfect.

Less than a kilometer away from the hotel is a small garden restaurant Choco-Late de Batirol. Since we were still so full on breakfast, we just hanged around and had some hot choco and snacks. Full review here.

quaint

along the road inside Camp John Hay near  gate 2 

hot choco for a chilly day

Since sis has never visited The Manor, we decided to drop by and visit the gardens.

If I'm not mistaken access to the garden may be limited to the guests and those dining in. Or maybe not. But just to make sure, we had some desserts at their lobby area.

Strawberry and ube ice cream with Strawberry cheesecake

Pretty design but the cheesecake was just okay

Desserts at the lobby is actually affordable given the place; ice cream was about P120 while the cheesecake was about P160.

From the Manor, we took a taxi to the Central Market in Baguio for what else? More pasalubong shopping :)

image from www.tripadvisor.com

Would you believe that some items (like shawls, jackets, etc) in the market is more expensive than the ones in Mines View Park? Tourist trap alert! Haggle lang ang katapat. Going back to the hotel from the Market was a bit difficult though since the taxis going by were usually occupied. Plus there were a lot of people also trying to get taxis. Used a Grab to get one and even then we had to wait for about 10 minutes.

We were supposed to go to the Technohub just near our hotel but it was raining and we didn't want to be hassled. So just settled for the Japanese buffet dinner at Le Monet. Read about our experience here.

Another favorite of sis - teka, sino ba ang may birthday?! 

Final Day - Separation Anxiety

My crazy friend Ana was up at 6am arranging her bag and pasalubongs. Call it being manang or the way we are oriented in our line of work (always on time and be prepared) but I couldn't resist and started packing my bags as well. Had our breakfast. Lolled around afterwards on our made up bed before leaving for the terminal.

It was raining when we left Baguio. Seems apt - #emotepamore. Lol.

One of the best quick vacation I had. We had no specific itinerary, did not go to many places but we were able to relax, had good food and really enjoyed each others' company. Baguio, I.will.be.back.

team Baguio FTW!

Tips:

1. Always buy your return ticket beforehand or buy it as soon as you arrive to be assured of a seat on your return trip.
2. Check out prices for souvenirs or goods in different places. The market does not always have the best bargain.
3. Read up on places to visit or food to eat at a particular place. You would have a more memorable experience, trust me.

Choco-Late De Batirol : A Nice Place to Hang Around in Baguio

It's not the first time I've been to Choco-Late de Batirol. I've already visited this place with my friend Tina around 5 years ago. Back then it used to be this little place in the woods with 3 or 4 tables.  The waitress would actually prepare the concoction at your table using the old fashioned batirol.

A batirol is a small pot used for cooking chocolate drink, shaped like an urn, with a stirring rod that can be rotated using your palms. 

exhibit A (image from google) 

Anyway, I went back again last November and some things have changed but they're still this little hole in the wall .. (well, garden) ... inside Camp John Hay.

you've arrived!

The place is located inside CJH near gate 2. It's a a little bit of walk (about 5-10 minutes) from the Manor but we didn't mind since we were enjoying the cool breeze. Also, there were some signs to guide you. 

entrance

you can dine outside at the garden...

or inside but still enjoy the breeze

Aside from hot chocolates, the place offers Filipino food and snacks. Since we just had this heavy buffet breakfast at Le Monet, we opted to limit ourselves to some hot drinks and snacks.

menu

Ana ordered Champorado Con Tuyo. The tuyo was thankfully not too salty. The champorado was thick, chocolatey, a bit bitter and good for 1-2. Ana really liked it but tbh, was never really fond of the whole tuyo-champorado combination.  Good though. 

Champorado Con Tuyo - P110

Hailing from Paranaque, we have really good suman but I'm always curious about suman in other places.  So I ordered Suman sa Lihia. It came with 2 pieces of suman topped with grated coconut and moscavado sugar. The suman itself tasted a little "watery" and not as firm (siksik) as I would have liked. Not sure if it is because of the rice they used or how it was prepared. The sugar and coconut on top was good but plain sugar would have worked as well. 

Suman Sa Lihia - P95

The Turon De Langka was good; soft bananas, crunchy wrapper with enough sugar to get a good caramelization. Langka was bit on the skimpy side.

Turon de Langka - P90

Of course you don't go to a chocolate drink shop without trying one. So I ordered their best seller the Traditional Blend. They serve the hot chocolate at our table already prepared unlike before when they do the final mixing of the batirol at the table. Too bad :( 

Okay, I was a bit disappointed. I know that by mixing it traditionally you shouldn't expect it to be as smooth as the ones you buy at the grocery but it still felt too grainy and the taste too watery. I had to add sugar which with the right chocolate drink, you wouldn't have to do. 

Traditional Blend - P90

www.chocolatedebatirol.com

Final Verdict

Its a nice place to hang because it's really lovely to just sit down amidst the pine trees and relax. The food and drink, though, was not that good and a bit expensive. Come for the ambiance. 

Chocolate de Batirol - Baguio Branch
Igorot Park
Camp John Hay
Baguio City 2600

0917-877-1427 or
0917-877-1428
or email us at: chocolatedebatirol@yahoo.com

Bawai's: Great Expectations

The thing with expectations is that if you set it too low, you tend to expect the worst. Set it too high and you might get disappointed. Well, definitely I had high expectations for Bawai's Vietnamese Kitchen touted as one of the best restaurants in Tagaytay.

Dining hall is located above their garage with large open windows to let the breeze in.
There's limited parking spaces in the garage so be prepared to park on the street.

Bawai's is only open during the weekend (Friday - Sunday) for lunch (11am- 2pm) and dinner (5pm - 9pm). I highly recommend making reservations beforehand. Once they confirm the reservation,  they will text you their menu and suggest you pre-order the food at least 6 hours before coming. The text will include the name of dishes, description and price.

We made our reservation the day before and luckily we were told that they can accommodate us for late lunch at 1:30 pm.

had to ring the bell a couple of times before being let in

The place is simple but very elegant. The servers wore a more casual version of the Ao Dai, the dining room was very clean with good quality tables and chairs, the thin, white, muslim cloth used as a window treatment added a romantic touch. The place is small and could probably only accommodate about 30 people.

Tamarind Juice P 95, Pandan Ice Tea P65

Once we were seated, the server confirmed our pre-order food dishes before taking our drink orders. My friend had their Tamarind Juice. We know there was real tamarind in it because there were a lot of cooked, sweet tamarind bits at the bottom. Oddly, they served this hot. Maybe if they serve it cold, the tamarind mixture won't mix properly? I chose Pandan Ice Tea. It was a bit bland even if I stirred in the sugar syrup.

Cha Gio - buttered chicken, pork, herb fried roll 5 pcs P180

Next the appetizers. The Cha Gio were nicely fried (not too oily), neatly rolled but were small - just a bit longer than the length of my thumb. Unfortunately, I could not taste the buttered chicken. Everything was mixed up so I don't really taste the difference. It was a nice lumpia (fried spring roll) but not that spectacular.

Goi Cuon - glazed pork and shrimp with veggies fresh roll 3 pcs P195

The Goi Cuon looked really really nice and perfectly wrapped. The big fat shrimp is positioned just so that you can see it through the thin rice paper. The taste was clean, veggie fresh and the shrimp was big. Each roll had some sliced pork but I didn't taste any glaze. They served this with a thick peanut sauce with real peanut bits. The sauce could have used a bit more flavor. Nevertheless, it complimented the Goi Cuon.

Bo Kho - 12 spice slow cooked beef stew w/ steamed noodle P325

We ordered 2 main dishes.  The first, Bo Kho, was served in this shallow bowl so it looked like the serving was not that much. However, when we put aside the vegetables, we were pleasantly surprised that the meat could easily be shared by 2-3 persons. The beef was very very tender and tasted good with the right amount of fat. Although the broth had good flavor, I don't taste much of the 12 spice.

Tom Rang Me - spicy tamarind prawns with chives and
steamed rice 300 grams  P395

Now the Tom Rang Me was different and a very pleasant surprise. Based on the description I was envisioning this as more of Sinigang with Shrimp dish. What we got instead is about 6 decent size prawns with an amazing spicy-salt-sour sauce combination. I thought: this is more like it! It was so good that even when there were no more prawns, I still use the sauce to finish of the rice. I would definitely go back to Bawai for this.

sarap!

View from the second floor

Location, Location, Location

Bawai is located on Lagusan Drive. They are fairly isolated and not easily accessible by public transportation. If you're coming from Tagaytay Rotonda, drive towards People's Park. Just before reaching the intersection for Sta Rosa Exit, you will see a big green sign indicating "to Manila" and "Dominican House of Prayer". Turn left then just go straight. Follow the signs for Chateau Hestia, another restaurant. Once you see the final sign for Chateau Hestia, stop. Bawai is just a lot or two before it.

The Verdict? 

The location is a problem because it's a little bit inaccessible. The setting was very nice and elegant perfect for a romantic lunch/dinner. The food was simple, tasted fresh and clean, well executed but aside from Tong Rang Me, lacked that final oomph. Definitely better than the food I have tasted in Vietnam but I feel they could have pushed the taste a bit further. Saying that, I am still intrigued and won't mind going back again to try their other dishes.

Bawai's Vietnamese Kitchen
Hernandez St.
Purok 5
Bucal, Silang
Cavite

Tel 0920 972 2924