last day rush!

it was another spontaneous thing we thought of during our short Baguio vacay. not wanting to leave just yet, (and because we woke up late again) we decided to extend our stay. after having the breakfast at the hotel (complimentary but filling), we asked for an additional day for our room. sadly, the staff could not accommodate us because all rooms were already booked. so part of our trip became a hunt for a hotel that could house us until 12 midnight!

it was a little easier to find a hotel this time because most people are leaving. also, in our part of the city, hotels were right next to each other so prices were competitive. we finally decided on staying in Holiday Park Hotel, (our first choice had it not been fully booked when we first arrived). besides, it had a partnership with BPI that got us a 10% discount!

after a quick run to Mines View Park and the Good Shepherd Convent for pasalubong, we checked out of Hotel Cosmopolitan and into Holiday Park Hotel. We just left our bags first, didn’t even check the room yet, and continued exploring everything nearby this time, Session Road in particular.

after a couple of minutes of walking, we wanted to have lunch. we ended up dining in a typical eatery-looking place but since the prices seemed reasonable, and i was having a hankering for papaitan, we went in. Point & Grill is a little dimly lit and i never liked blue shades on lights. it makes everything look weird. because of the huge number of food choices, it was a bit difficult to pick one. i only wanted papaitan but they still made me choose between goat and cow! how cruel! 😛 A wanted to sample the grilled stuff and had chicken BBQ and we shared some porkchops.

A had the better part of this meal. though the chicken looked like charcoal, the meat was cooked through but wasn’t dry. i attributed this to high-temp cooking, charring every bit of the outer part of the chicken. still, it was really tasty. my papaitan was not what i expected. the taste was muddy, hardly any heat or punch in the soup. so my tip for this place: eat grilled. after all, they named their restaurant after their forte. 😀

next stop was the Cathedral. it was a Sunday, of course, and we had to thank Him for our blessings, and ask for a safe journey back to manila that evening. the steep slope, the numerous steps and our lack of exercise challenged our determination to reach the Our Lady of the Atonement Cathedral but we finally reached it. masses are celebrated hourly and are always full! what made me even happier was seeing the Extraordinary Form was being celebrated in the chapel at the back regularly!

just as we were about to attend the 3PM mass, we turned back and had to attend to an urgent call… (of nature. ;)) we went back to hotel #2 and finally saw our room and had our afternoon nap. well, A did while i watched TV. that evening, we attended the Ordinary Form of the Mass in the Cathedral. after another stroll in Session Road and Burnham Park, we decided to head back to the hotel again and just relax until our midnight bus. after all, vacations are meant for relaxing, not tiring yourself until your feet are sore from walking around tourist spots.

hailing the cab to the bus terminal was a breeze. we drove past people setting up tents which was, apparently, the night market. we didn’t know about it so that’s something we missed. and we actually missed a lot of things. we never picked strawberries or even got to buy any! but i’m not the least bit sad about it. it can only mean one thing: there is more to experience in Baguio when we come back. 🙂