The Country Club

December 16, 2018; One of the best place to stay when in Baguio is the Baguio Country Club or simply known as BCC.  BCC is one of the most prestigious exclusive membership clubs in the Philippines.  With a century of existence, the Country Club has housed many of the most prestigious names in the Philippine society.

This trip was an early Christmas present for the whole family when we received free invites with unlimited access to everything the Country Club has to offer.  Special thanks to our Ninong and Ninang for this Christmas gift.    For the accommodations, we stayed in one of the cottages across the BCC hotel.  The cottage is a full service house with everything you needed, room service and a usable fire place.

The kids had the chance to watch pro golfers teed for hole #1,  learn how to bowl, and took a dip at the heated pool in the cool afternoon breeze.  Other amenities such as table tennis, play station and an indoor and outdoor playground for small kids are also available all for free.

At the cottage, our home for two nights and 3 days, the boys insisted on sleeping at the double deck beds originally intended for the kuya drivers and ates.  While Ate wanted the whole room for herself.

Our family really enjoyed this very relaxing stay at BCC.  We were truly blessed and grateful for this wonderful opportunity.

City of Pines

December 16, 2018; It has been awhile since we last visited Baguio.  Traffic was reportedly bad in Marcos high way due to the closure of Kennon Road to all types of vehicles.  Luckily, a newly opened bypass road from La Union to Asin in Baguio was already passable to light vehicles.  Only the brave and adventurous dared to take this path.  True enough, it was a good decision for us.

Before reaching the city proper, we dropped by at the Shrine of the Brown Madonna. The shrine is located inside a small cave along Km 7 of Asin road.  This shrine was inaugurated in the 4th of October 1986, during the month of the Holy Rosary and at the time we Filipinos would want to have national peace and solidarity.  The place was named Brown Madonna to symbolize the Filipino's brown race.  The sculpture of the Virgin Mary was 7 feet tall to remind the devotees that there are seven days of prayer in a week. A very solemn place to say our pray of thanks for all the blessings we had in 2018.

A visit to the Butterfly Sanctuary in Camp John Hay was a first for the boys.  This was the first time time they had actually touched a living butterfly.  Nowadays, butterflies are no longer a common sight in our communities mainly due to the lost of their habitats.  The caretaker had a brief lecture on how to help conserve the habitats of the butterflies and how they help our ecosystem.

We took a short cut in trekking the Forest Bathing Trail and found ourselves at the entrance of the Tree Top Adventure which was close for the day.

A small replica of the Statue of Liberty is found in the CJH that servers as a reminder of the American influence to us Filipinos and that the same influence is here to stay as part of our daily lives.

A visit to the City of Pines would not be complete without a boat ride and bicycle ride at the Burnham Park.  The park is a historical park located at downtown Baguio and was design by a Famous American architect.  It is located in the center of the city and everything was built around the park from the city market, Baguio Cathedral, and even the Session road leads to this park.

We also visited one of the country's most beautiful church structures, the Baguio Cathedral.  The cathedral sits atop Mount Mary Hill with a majestic view of Session Road and city's landscape.  It is one of the few churches in the country with twin spires.

It was truly another trip to remember.

DIY: Tokyo Adventure

October 31, 2018;  To celebrate Ate's 18th birthday, she opted to travel to Japan instead of the usual debut party.  Despite of having 2nd thoughts with Cebu Pacific Air due to numerous horror stories, we took the gamble of flying with this airline mainly because it fits our choice of travel time.  We were very surprised and very very happy with their service and will surely fly with them again in our future trips.

Upon arrival in Narita Terminal 2, we took the local train, Keisei Skyline, going to our mansion instead of the usual N'EX.  This bought me time to familiarize myself again with how the train system works.  Good thing weather was cool that the kids didn't mind the 30 minute walk from Kinshicho station to our mansion.  We later found out that there was a bus stop just a few steps away from our mansion.

Since it was halloween, we started our tour by attending the biggest halloween street party in the world.  The venue of this cosplay-theme halloween party is at Shibuya's famous scramble crossing. Thousands of cosplayers attended this party that even the local police considers this party as not safe and is a high security risk.  According to locals, Halloween in Japan started in the 1970s when a bookstore in the nearby pop-culture hub of Harajuku began selling halloween paraphernalia and started organizing halloween costume parties.

For Day 2, Asakusa was our first stop.  Asakusa is famous for the Senso-ji, a Buddhist temple built in the 7th century.  On the way to the temple is a shopping street known as Nakamise which offers a variety of traditional local snacks and souvenirs. A traditional human powered ride known as Jinrikisha can help tourists discover hidden treasures is available for a fee.

Next stop was the Meiji shrine.  This shrine was dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken.  One would be surprised that there is a lush forest in the middle of the busy city.  The shrine offers a spacious grounds with walking paths that are great for a relaxing stroll with the family.

To end the day, we visited the famous electric town of Japan, Akihabara.  This place is a haven for people who loves anything electronics.  From computers, cameras, game consoles and other electronic inventions one could ever imagine.  Toys for the young and the young at heart is all over the place.

On day 3, we explored Odaiba, an artificial island in Tokyo bay.  Originally built as small islets to protect Tokyo from possible attacks from the sea during the Edo period (1603-1868).  Today, the island was converted into a futuristic district with hotels, shopping malls and tourist spots.  To name a few, a replica of the Statue of Liberty was built in commemoration of the "French year in Japan".

Odaiba also became the national headquarters of Fuji Television, one of Japan's nationwide TV stations.

In 2012, a life-size Gundam statue was built in-front of the Gundam Base Tokyo, a shop dedicated to plastic models.

To end the day, we took a boat bus back to the main island of Tokyo.

Day 4 brought us back to one of Japans old districts, Kamakura.  Kamakura is a 45 minute train ride from Tokyo.  Kamakura is a coastal town in Kanagawa prefecture.  The home of the Kamakura Daibutsu, the second tallest bronze Buddha in Japan.  The Buddha was originally inside a large temple hall but after a tsunami in 15th century only the Buddha was left standing.

On our last day, we took a leisurely walk around the Kinshicho station before finally going back to the airport.  At the background is the Tokyo Skytree, one of the tallest structures in the world.

Five days is not enough to get to know this beautiful country.  We will surely be back.

Subic Bay Road Trip

May 27, 2018; It's the annual summer outing in my wife's company and for this year it was in one of the beaches just outside the Subic Bay port.  On our way home, we dropped by SMBA as side trip for the short vacation.  First stop was the Spanish Gate. Built in 1885, this is the time when Subic bay was declared as naval port by the Spaniards.  This was the main entrance of the naval port and was used as a jail during the American occupation.

Just a block away is the Hell Ship memorial.  This memorial was erected to commemorate the inhumane sufferings of the prisoners of war when they were transported via these hell ships to do forced labor.  Thousands of POWs did not survive the journey and those who survived did not make it after the war due to the slave labor.

A few steps away is the Inang Laya Monument where "The hands that freed the nation", the 12 senators in 1991 who bravely ended almost 4 centuries of foreign military presence in our beloved nation by voting "NO" to the extension of the US military treaty.

Another monument which honors the men and women volunteers was erected and called the Children of the Sun Returning.

Before heading home we dropped by San Roque chapel and prayed for guidance for a safe drive home.

It was another historic tour for the kids.

Perfect Cone (Mt. Mayon)

April 2, 2018; We did not stop until we saw her full beauty.  Mt. Mayon or Mayon Volacano, known as the world's only volcano with a perfect cone.  One will see the same view of this volcano in almost all sides and angle of any picture you took of her.  She even showed us her red lips the night before we saw her in full.  An active volcano that sits along the Pacific ring of fire, she is on alert level 3 when we visited her.

On our way home, we dropped by St. Raphael the Archangel Parish in Legaspi City, Nuestra Senora de la Porteria Parish in Daraga and St. James the Apostle Parish in Capalonga.

It was indeed a stress reliever trip and a mini pilgrimage for the family.