Because we wanted to make the most of our trip to Baguio, I have carefully planned about our 4-day itinerary. I have booked in advance via Iwantseats,com for our Joy Bus Deluxe Bus (non-stop trip from Manila to Baguio) which makes the trip 4 to 5 hours only.
We chose to leave at 3:30 am so we can get to Baguio at around 8:30 to 9 am, but since there was no traffic, we reached Baguio City at 7:30 am. We headed to Microtel Baguio but unfortunately there was no available room at that time yet so we had to leave our luggages and go to other places. I settled the payment first for 4d/3n stay and after getting my receipt and luggage claim stub, we left to enjoy our first day in the city of Pines.
We went to Burnham Park and as expected, we were awestruck by the beauty of nature.
The famous Strawberry Taho
We were surprised to find out that plain taho costs P35 and plain taho is P25. Honestly, there was nothing special with the taste and I find it overpriced.
We decided to proceed to Botanical Garden since there was a sudden change with my schedule. We were having a hard time finding a cab, but after few minutes we were able to find one. We had lunch first at The Garden Diner since it was already past 11am when we got there and we were planning to explore the area before we go back to the hotel to check in at 2pm.
The Garden Diner @ Botanical Garden
That was catually my third time in the Diner and for the previous visits, we had iced delights but this time, we got to taste their food.
We were satisfied with the food and because we were already fueled up for the afternoon, we explored Botanical Garden. It’s a must-visit place especially if you would just like to admire the beauty of nature. Looking at the colorful flowers will make you feel relaxed and forget that you were exhausted.
Credits to my husband (Emmanuel G. Dedomo) for this video.
It was already past 1pm when we got back to Microtel Inn. I apologize because I do not have photos of the Queen beds room because we were dead-tired during that time and all we wanted to do is to lay down and rest for a while. After an hour that seemed like eternity, I cancelled a visit to a cafe because we had difficulty in finding a ride. It was almost 5pm when we finally got a ride to Camp John Hay. We headed to the Filling Station and we were really starving but the place was jampacked with people. We waited for the pizza for almost 40 minutes. The next time you visit CJH I suggest you just bring your own food and eat at the picnic area instead.
It was past 6pm when I have reached Belfrei Spa in Ayala Technohub. I was supposed to have their Belfrei Pamper Package, but since I was in a hurry, I settled for the Indulge Package instead (facial, foot spa and massage). I totally forgot how exhausted I was because I felt relaxed that I fell asleep while we were having the combination of Swedish and Thai massage. I’ve been to spas in different places but Belfrei Spa massage can be in the first spot (together with Tirta Spa Boracay). You will find out more about this in my separate post about Belfrei Spa.
Belfrei Spa can be found at the 2nd floor of Ayala technohub (atop Pizza Volante).
After the relaxing Indulge Package that I had from Belfrei Spa, we went to Red Rustikz for dinner.
Red Rustikz at Upper Gen. Luna Road
My review of Red Rustikz will be in a separate post. After dinner, we headed back to Microtel and had a good night sleep.
Note: Honestly, we didn’t enjoy much of our first day because it was stressful on our part to find cabs. Bring your car if you have so it won’t be much of a hassle or arrange for somebody to tour you around Baguio. I enjoyed Burnham Park, Botanical Garden, The Graden Diner and especially Belfrei Spa. It’s only the transportation that made our Day 1 stressful.
