Summer Capital Foodtrip

Blue, green and red… these are the colours you’ll see mostly in this post. I’m talking about bright skies, vast fields, Chinese New Year’s lanterns and strawberries. Yes!!!  We had a truly “strawberry-fied” weekend because we ate a lot of strawberries from strawberry sinigang, strawberry ice cream, strawberry taho and one kilo of freshly harvested strawberry fruits. Can you imagine the effect of those when you combine everything in your tummy?! Haha. It was such an amazing experience travelling again with my husband, riding a bus all the way to Baguio and leaving our urban life behind. Six hours of travel time is nothing when you have great company, good food, lovely weather and loads of unforgettable experiences.

Spent our first day strawberry picking at Strawberry Fields Farm at La Trinidad, Benguet. It was 17 degrees Celsius that morning and the weather was sunny and perfect.

The best time to go here is morning because of the less crowd.

My husband and I really enjoyed picking fresh strawberries & tasting them right then and there.

1 kilo of these strawberries costs 300 php. It's a little bit expensive because of the experience itself, but the best part of it is you'll be able to choose only the large ones. 

They're also selling strawberry ice cream everywhere. 

Veggies are way cheaper here compared to Manila. Perfect for salads, pinakbets and smoothies! 

Lunchtime arrived so we decided to visit Mines View Park because of their famous Strawberry Sinigang and Bibing-crepe at Zenz Restaurant, Mines View Hotel

Hello there, Year of the Horse! :)

You'll see a lot of furry dogs everywhere because of the cool weather. This Syberian Husky reminds my husband of his dog, Maxwell. 

Few snaps in front of the Wright Park and The Mansion. :)

And now, it's time for siesta! Spent the rest of our afternoon at Camp John Hay. 

At Manor Hotel, Camp John Hay, you could try "kite-flying" and painting activity with your kids. It's a kid friendly hotel and we're planning to visit it once again when we already have kids. 

Here's my husband trying to show-off his "kite-flying" skills. :)

My cute husband and the cute Chinese New Year's lanterns. 

They said, red is the lucky color in town.

Walking down the City of Pines. 

The souvenir shop was also red!!!

Ended our "red" day with a "log-cabin feel" dinner by the fireplace! I really enjoyed this experience! :)

Day 2: Rise & Shine! Yummy strawberry Taho to start our day. :)

Attended mass at the Pink Sisters Convent and Chapel for the first time. Both of us are devotees at Pink Sisters, New Manila. 

Here's the Sunday headlines in their local newspaper.

After attending mass at the Pink Sisters Convent, we decided to try this famous artsy restaurant, Cafe by the Ruins.

This restaurant is a little bit artsy and woody. 

We tried one of their delicious specialties: Baguio Bagnet. We decided to eat only one course at a time since we're planning to do restaurant hopping for the entire day. 

Burnham Park is just walk-in distance from the Cafe by the Ruins. Here you could either rent a boat or watch people passing by....

...Or if Douglas happens to be in the area, you could also spend time with him too.

Foodtrip madness will never be complete without having a "merienda" time, so we decided to visit a famous place for all vegetarians, the "Oh My Gulay" restaurant.

This place is located in a penthouse of an old building. Finding it was a little bit challenging but once you arrived in the place, you'll be amazed of what you'll discover upstairs.

Aside from the healthy vegetarian eating experience, the captivating view from the top would really make you say "OH MY GULAY".

Going up the stairs would really make you order one refreshing Dayap Iced Tea. We also ordered mushroom pasta, bread and their signature OMG salad.

I highly recommend this beautiful restaurant to all my vegetarian friends. It's really a must-try. :)

Our next stop is the famous Mt.Cloud Bookshop situated in one of the old establishments in Baguio, Casa Vallejo.

The books they have here are quite unique because most of them are written by Filipino authors.  Outside, they also have a mini movie theater where Filipino Indie Films are shown. So proud that we have artsy places like these showcasing Filipino products & talents. 

And look what I've found! "Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis de Bernieres. This book means a lot to me because this is where I got my favourite quote ("Love is a temporary madness...."), the one I wrote together with our wedding vows. 

Most of the books they sell are for kids. I really like buying one of those in the near future. :)

After our bookstore stop, we decided to "eat again" by trying some yummy desserts they have in Hillstation, a restaurant  located beside Mt. Cloud Bookshop. We tried their Batirol & Chocolate Mousse. 

The restaurant have rooms upstairs for Casa Vallejo's in-house guests. I don't mind staying here the next time we visit Baguio for they have a beautiful restaurant, a mini bookstore and a mini theater all-in-one. 

And that's how our Baguio Foodtrip experience ended! Here are the details of all the restaurants and places we visited:

Strawberry Farm

La Trinidad Bontoc Road

Benguet State University, 

La Trinidad, Luzon

Zenz Bar and Restaurant at Mines View Park Hotel

1 Apostol St. corner Outlook Drive, Mines View Park, Baguio City

Phone/Mobile: +63 (74) 424-1088; +63-922-888-6392; +63-917-593-1316

Website: www.minesviewparkhotel.com

Facebook: MinesViewParkHotel

Le Chef at The Manor

Camp John Hay, Loakan Road, Baguio City 

Telephone: +63 (74) 424-0907 

Facebook: Le Chef at the Manor

Website: www.CampJohnHay.ph

Cafe By The Ruins

25 Shuntug St, Rizal Park, Baguio City

Telephone: +63 (74) 442-4010

Oh My Gulay

La Azotea Building, 108 Session Road, Baguio City

(Green Building in the middle of session road opposite Don Henrico)

Telephone: +63 (74) 446-0108

Mt. Cloud Bookshop

Casa Vallejo, Upper Session Road, Baguio City

Telephone: +63 (74) 424 4473

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mtcloud

HillStation

Casa Vallejo, Upper Session Road, Baguio City

Tel. No. +63 (74) 424-2734, +63 (74) 423-9100

Website: hillstationbaguio.com