he's 79!

Dad's birthday trip to the City of Pines, 23-25 January 2009

Wow that was a major blast the family had (sans eldest sis who, again, missed an important family event due to an assignment, this time overseas). The birthday boy was truly pleased, I thought he kindda felt how it was to be in Benjamin Button's shoes - Dad really seemed to have lost a couple of years in that 3-day stay in Baguio as he was raring to go and visit his favorite places all over the city, acting rather like a kid. It's been 20 years, he says, since he last saw Baguio.

His first wish was to have dinner at this old Chinese restaurant which he clearly remembers to have such an authentic taste of Kowloon & Shang Hai - the laidback RoseBowl Chinese Restaurant fronting Burnham Park. He's not mistaken, for we did get to savor that distinct Chinese taste & aroma in all the dishes we ordered. The waiters were snappy and were adept when it comes to their menu - they knew how to upsell and make you salivate with the way they described each item that we ended up ordering exactly what they suggested. They deserved the tips, surely.

On the way back to the hotel, Dad told us to check out the weekend schedule of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) thru the front office people - he really wanted to visit it to watch the Silent Drill, usually held on Saturdays as he remembered it. It was the Bell Captain, Mel, who went out of his way to call PMA himself and inquired which activities were in the offing. Well it turned out they switched the scheds on that particular weekend so it'll be the Pass-in-Review on Saturday, while the Silent Drill got moved to Sunday. PMA is a good entry in one's Baguio itinerary. Minus the scandals the Academy gets embroiled at every now & then, one still feels a certain kind of pride & patriotism as the cadets do their numbered drills, knowing these bunch will, sooner or later, be sent in wars (no matter how stupid some of these wars are) in order to uphold our democracy. (Side Note: I have, honestly, mixed emotions when it comes to the PMA, as back in college I was one of those attending rallies against a government who prioritizes the provision of a much higher budget to the military student than that of a civilian student - herein enters the 2 faces of Isko -Iskolar ng Bayan - the PMA'er and the State U Isko. Both are recipients of national budget allocations yet the so-called sibling rivalry never ends). Anyways, I was pondering on that notion while watching the cadets on parade, hoping that these men & women aren't going to waste taxpayers' money and that they'd really exemplify and act like true vanguards of our society. I wondered which side they intend to protect when they graduate - who among them becomes the next Ramos, Gringo, Red, Corpuz, Biazon, Lacson, Trillanes...oh well...

Next stop was Cafe By the Ruins, thus named because the restaurant owners retained the 'ruins' of what used to be the official residence of the 1st American Governor of Benguet, devastated during the war with the Japs. They built around the devastation. The overall effect was a hit - diners marveled at the decor with that rustic feel, topped with the numerous artwork created by artists of different styles & media, not excluding those of part-owner & national artist BenCab. Even the menu isn't a disappointment, as it shows a list of gourmet meals prepared out of organic ingredients, wild & fresh alike. Again, the waiters were very knowledgeable, especially the one who took care of our table (unfortunately I forgot his name, my bad!) - he was so good I got blunt with him, asking him how come he's not in one of the high-end hotels in Manila and I practically interviewed (grilled was a better word actually) him. (Side Note: I later realized the owners were just 2 tables away from us hehehe hopefully they didn't hear me trying to pirate their staff - well they should be proud right?)

We asked the driver to take us around the town's major thoroughfares, witnessing the changes Baguio had over the years. Traffic at Session Road was unbearable, despite the sidestreets being made one-way and rerouting implemented almost everywhere, it was like a small version of Makati but seemingly unsuccessful in its course. It was indeed an obstacle course, methinks. Double parking is everywhere, local police handing out tickets left & right, horns blaring from all over. The nightmare ceased when we got to the point nearing Camp John Hay. Whew - back to serenity and the Baguio we've always known.

The Manor. Now that was a revelation. A couple of days before we embarked on this trip, my sis and I scoured the net to look at various sites & forums about Baguio as we wanted to know which restaurants were still operating, what activities were good to try, etc. In almost all the forums we got into, the negative reviews on The Manor outnumbered the good that we both felt reluctant to actually stay there. It's easy to just go for it when it's just us, it's quite difficult when we have The Dad with us - he who knows his stuff & gets annoyed when the stuff don't get delivered - if you get my drift. To our surprise, the place and staff exceeded our expectations - all the way! - from Rooms, F&B, Housekeeping, Bell Service, and even down to Security. Contrary to what we've read on the forums, the glitches we've encountered were very minimal, they were in fact forgettable. The unexpected satisfaction we've all had is etched in our minds that we vowed to go back there this summer, hopefully with the entire clan.

As in standard practice, all hotels have Guest Comment Forms, tucked away in one of the pockets of the compendium. Sis & I agreed we'd both fill out forms separately and commend the Hotel with the positive things we've seen, then make suggestions to even make it better (well, if they'd care to listen, that is). Thing is, we've gone berserk with the bargains at the local shops & the market that we completely lost track of the time. Packing everything we bought & brought had to be done fast and so upon checking out, we barely had enough time to write down our comments in full.

Anyhow, I'd still mention one particular observation here, just in case anyone from The Manor stumbles upon this blog: it's regarding the Spa. For one, they offer a great service to the guests with those complimentary use of the gym, whirlpool & sauna, anytime while staying in the hotel. They also offer good rates to those other spa services that would make it very easy for guests to actually avail of them. The spa center therefore, is a really good revenue-generating area for the hotel. What I don't understand is why the hotel placed its spa to a location which doesn't highlight the natural ambience they are so lucky to have in their midst. The spa/gym is tucked away in the farthest corner of a wing, and it's so unfortunate that it's simply presented as a room without a view. Well I hope they'd relocate it somewhere more conducive and complementary to the services being offered. Perhaps convert an upper suite or 2. The Manor is so lucky to already have the landscape advantage of Camp John Hay, they could even sell the hotel as a Spa Resort. Just my 2 cents.

The one thing I regret was not being able to bring the fam to Forrest House which, at that time, was full-house so we opted for Mario's Steakhouse instead. Well that, plus a lot more said & done, I am still satisfied in the general sense. Baguio is still, and absolutely so, magical you'd learn to forgive & forget the flaws or glitches you'd encounter. Standing on the veranda from our suite, I truly felt all I needed was a bucketful of fairy dusts to sprinkle on the entire place and the cast of Shrek's Land of Far, Far Away will all appear right in front of me. No wonder Dad also felt so animated the whole time we were there :-)