local travel – JZANVybz

Yay! My beautiful hometown. When will I see you again?

The summer Capital of the Philippines, also known as the “City of Pines”. It is the summer capital because of its cooler weather comparing to other regions of the Philippines.

Baguio became part of UNESCO’s Creative City in October 31, 2017.The first city in the Philippines to join in the list.

Baguio is the TripAdvisor Travelers Choice Destination Awards (Asia Category) in 2011 The city is included being among the top 25 destinations in Asia.

Burnham Park, Mines View Park, Teachers Camp, The Mansion and Baguio Cathedral are among the top tourist sites in Baguio.

Photo by Gina May. August 2020, New normal.

Baguio Cathedral, January 2020 pic with my family.

Baguio City is highly urbanized city located in Benguet.

The city is in the mountainous area of Northern Luzon, Philippines. The area is located approximately 4,810 feet (1,470 meters) above sea level, cited as 1,540 meters (5,050feet) in the Luzon tropical pine forests ecoregion, which also makes it conducive for the growth of mossy plants, orchids and pine trees.Wikipedia.

It was established as a hill station by the United Sates in 1900 at the site of an Ibaloi village known as Kafagway. It was the United States only hill station in Asia.

The city is a major center of business, commerce, and education in northern Luzon, as well as the location of the Cordillera Administrative Region.

Due to its cool climate and history, Tourism is one of Baguio’s main industries. It is one of the country’s top tourist destinations.

The people from the lowlands prefer to have their vacations or holidays in Baguio City to experience cold temperatures they rarely have in their home provinces. Most people spend Holy week, breaks and holidays with their families and relatives.

One of Baguio’s highlight is the Panagbenga Festival (means The Flowers in Bloom) which is celebrated every month of February. During this festival people from other regions visit Baguio and flocks in the city, it doubles the number of people during those months.

Note: Due to Covid19 virus the Panagbenga festival 2020 has been suspended because of the strict protocols of safety measures in the city. Baguio is one of the model city in fighting this covid19 virus. According to the news, Baguio is eyeing to open for tourist this coming September 2020.For more information http://www.gobaguio.com/

You have Victory Bus Liner located in Pasay in EDSA/712 EDSA brgy 143 Zone 15, Pasay CityNumbers( 02) 833 5019/02 553 8815. Cubao terminal in Quezon City,Caloocan Monumento and Sampaloc. The buses run 24-hour service.For more details https://www.victoryliner.com/

Travelling from Manila to Baguio usually takes 6 hours but we have new express lanes route. TPLEX.Buses and private cars can already take 3 hours to see the Treasures of Baguio City. Victory Liner usually takes the DAU exit located at NLEX or Concepcion exit located at SCTEX.Usually makes one stop at Sison Pangasinan. Their executive buses don’t have stop over because they have their restrooms inside and offer some goodies.

The Tarlac Pangasinan La Union Expressway is now open. Travel time from Manila to Baguio is now reduced from 6 hours to only 3 hours. Photo by DOTr.

Another is Genesis Bus found in Cubao EDSA cor. New York Street and in Avenida in Doroteo Jose cor. Oroquieta St. They also have the JOYBUS buses.For more details https://www.phbus.com/genesis-bus/

Usually the bus ticket cost depends on bus company but most likely 450 pesos per person.

From Manila to Baguio usually takes 6-7 hours before but now we a new route via TPLEX usually takes 3-4 hours depends on the driver haha.

Since Baguio City is located in Benguet I would like also to include La Trinidad Benguet where you can experience strawberry picking.

La Trinidad strawberry farm is located in town of Betag La Trinidad Benguet Philippines, owned and maintained by the Benguet State University (BSU). Strawberries are an important part of La Trinidad’s economy with the strawberry Festival held in the town every March.

P. S. Due to CoVid19 Baguio City, Benguet still not yet allowed for tourist.Baguio is eyeing to open for tourist this coming September 2020.For more information http://www.gobaguio.com/ https://www.baguiocityguide.com/ https://www.latrinidad.gov.ph/programsandservices/tourism/

Have you experience to have a trip without any plans at all? You just decided to pack bags and go?

Unplanned plans will be one of the best memorable journeys. It is more challenging, it cures boredom, it could turn stress into happiness, expect the unexpected, you learn how to explore and discover new things/places and you can be more creative in different ways to survive on the road. Best memories happen when it’s unplanned.

You will be on the place you’ve never been before and you will experience things you never do in your entire life…. you will be lost but it will give you the feeling of satisfaction.

Philippines is known of its beautiful tourist attractions and one of the best to go to unwind is the beach. Visiting the beach is part of summer vacations for many people.

The vast ocean has its own beauty that we can never resist.The beach is one of the chance to be away from stress and to avoid unforeseen circumstances.

This is the chance to spend more time with friends, relatives, family and even neighbors that you hate the most who have the guts to join the trip (peace) haha!

A chance to enjoy the sand, water and sun rising and setting off the horizon. The beach has its own natural beauty, calming and peaceful effect on your mind. It also improves person’s mood, relieve stress and anxiety.

Before the CoVID-19 strikes we had an unforgettable memories and moments with friends. We never expect that this beach hopping (CORDING CORDING according to a friend going to the beach without paying entrance fees haha!) will be the last thing to do before the lock down due to CoVid pandemic.

We are still lucky to enjoy the summer of 2020, we had a good time in different beach nearby provinces of Cebu Philippines. Cebu was being known for its beautiful beaches but we just spent time nearby just to glimpse the local beautiful scenery of the province.

Travelling with friends is always a good idea to have fun, make memories together, more secure with numbers, more planning tips/ ideas to develop and contribute while on the road.

Every friends we have has individual differences. Some are funny, makes funny moments even the topic is serious and interrupts the conversation in a funny way. Serious one – well I think that’s me, but sometimes funny in corny way haha! Quiet person – a good listener, observant and just keep on smiling to give reactions on what you say. Talkative–a friend who talks too much without thinking of what is coming out on his/her mouth.(sometimes I’m irritated to this kind of people, peace) and others are just going with the flow.

Different behaviors and characters of every person when travelling will make the journey more memorable and memories unforgettable.

In a group of friends (we call it barkada) we always do sharing in expenses so we can buy foods, rent videoke box(we love singing even not in tune – sintonado in tagalog), gasoline bills – we usually use private car and other expenses.

COMPOSTELA BEACH

Our first destination. Feel and chill at compostela. According to the geography, Compostela is bordered on the north by the city of Danao, to the west by Cebu City. Estimated time is 1 hour from Cebu to compostela by private car (depends on traffic).

There’s a lot of private beach resorts in this area where you can break away get away from the city of Cebu. This place is one of the most visited beach becuase it is just an hour away from the busy and hectic life in the city. This is perfect for family bondings/outings, romantic get aways, or just a break/holiday.I will not recommend any beach resorts in this place because we just spent an hour and we didn’t have the chance to enter in this resorts (we don’t want to pay entrance fees haha) but there’s a lot of beautiful resorts around the corner.

First thing we did when we reach compostela Beach, we eat our food packs “baon”. Had one hour swimming, run around the ground, take photos and videos, feel the beautiful and peaceful scenery of the place. Due to unlimited time we need to pack up so we can move and see other part of Cebu province.

DANAO

Second destination, Danao, a third class in the province of Cebu. There’s a lot of things to do in this place just like climbing peaks, hiking mountains and others but we didn’t have a chance to do those adventures because this is not part of our trip. I hope someday we will have a chance and more time to do trekking for more experiences and fun.We have an unplanned plan so during the trip we are always in a hurry to see the different beaches on the province. I can say that this is the craziest things we did this 2020.We don’t even know how to spend and budget our time wisely.

CARMEN

Carmen is Home to famous Cebuanos during the Spanish period but I will not talk about history here haha. This popular place has its natural water resources including falls, streams and rivers. You can try to visit the place so you can enjoy its nature and attractions. We enjoyed the natural views of the sea and rest under the coconut tress. We had fun playing basketball under the shades of the coconut trees. This is one of the most unforgettable beach hopping because all of us had our own space.Spent time in our own. Do whatever we want to do in a limited hours.

Some are playing basketball, reading books, others listening music while talking to their friends/family on social media…… and don’t forget about me – enjoying the view of the beautiful sea, feeling the sweet natural sounds around me,watching the waves of the ocean and playing stones/pebbles on the seashore.

This is what I call life-away from the noisy and busy city.

What a day trip.It is a time well spent. Before going back to the busy city of Cebu, we had a stopover at one of the selfie Corner on the top of the hills. We never expect that it’s too far from the route that we supposed to follow. One of our friend (driver) had a wrong turn so we just decided to proceed and see what’s on that place. It’s almost 2 hours on the wrong way and don’t know where to go. It’s good some locals helped us to reached that unknown destination. At last we’re here, yehey….. Selfie! Selfie! Selfie!

Collect beautiful memories everyday because we don’t know how much time we have left. It can be good or bad. Unpleasant or embarrassing ones, still a moments to remember and a moments to share. These memories makes us stronger, wiser and it inspired us to grow better and makes us more positive as we move forward in life.

Unplanned plans will always be the best way to make friendship grow, trust each other more and that friends will become a family. We may encounter ups and down but if you find true friends that will stick around, then you are the luckiest one.

All the memories we had with true friends will be cherished as we go along our separate ways.