Parks and Recreation: The Botanical Gardens and The Burnham Children's Playground

We've all heard of the saying "The best things in life are free", and to a certain extent, it is. For this edition of The Mediocre Wanderer, I'm featuring two places In Baguio where you could bring your whole family, give your kids a wide open space to run, have a picnic, take pretty pictures, or to simply be one with nature.

First up is The Children's Park found in Burnham Park.

It seems to me that this park has been around for forever, as far as my lifespan is concerned. Since I was 3, I could remember either one or both of my parents, bringing me here once a week, right after Sunday service.

This place, situated right beside the bicycle area, had swing sets, slides of varying heights, monkey bars and gliders, not to mention these life sized elephant statues that dad used to perch me on top of.

For a long while, this part of the park went into a slow decline, until thankfully, the City government stepped in and rehabilitated it.

Aside from the standard playground implements, there are a lot tree shaded areas on a  wide expanse of grass. As it is enclosed by a pretty sturdy perimeter fence, having a picnic while the kids run themselves tired is quite plausible. It's also quite clean.

There's actually a person stationed at this area of the park who ensures the proper maintenance of the place. Of course, the rest of Burnham park is free and still quite enjoyable to walk through.

Another park that has found a resurgence of sorts, is The Baguio Botanical Gardens.

Back in the 80s, this was known as The Imelda Park, named after our ex first lady, Mrs. Imelda Marcos. I wasn't born then, but old maps of Baguio have hinted that this was once a zoo (think 70s). According to Baguio old timers, the animals did not fare well with the cool climes of the city, and died off one by one.

Now, The Baguio Botanical Gardens is a place to commune with nature, check out local art from the Baguio Arts Guild Gallery and see the various areas that were created to match the various sister cities of Baguio.

One area also houses tourist shops and snackage. There are, on occasions, horses for rent within the park.

As most of the terrain was left unchanged, stairs or driving through a dirt road are your options in entering the grassy surface of this park. It is not stroller and wheelchair friendly. It is however, perfect for picnics.

kids have to be looked after in this place, given the terrain

Tall pine trees surround the area, and I swear, the air in this place comes off clean and crisp, and the temperature, slightly cooler than the city proper.

Prior to bringing MAX over to go on horse rides, The last time I was here was when I was around 4 years old. It was during the Holy Week and I remember someone thrusting a mic towards me with a camera pointed in my direction and my mom beside the cameraman. I had to say the words "Hi my name is Maila. Good morning Manila" (for a PTV 4 AM program) with Baby O'Brian. It took 19+ takes and it was my first tv appearance :p

Of course, while all these areas are free of charge, a visitor must always make sure to do right by it. Leave it the way it was. Don't leave anything behind, especially your trash. Don't pick flowers and take the local flora as your own, everyone deserves the chance to see them. And lastly, don't vandalize. Multi colored shades of spray paint is not a product of mother nature, it has no business coloring the area.

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!

CHAYA : Baguio's Favorite Japanese Restaurant

I’ve been trying to address all my blog post backlogs when I realized that I had this particular establishment on my “blog to write” list for almost a year. Having seen that, I am here now to rectify that error.

Nestled beyond open gates in Baguio's Legarda Road is a cozy looking stone and wood structure that houses, some say, the best Japanese restaurant in town. The place is known as Chaya.

second son and first born loving the food

Run by Koreans, it serves contemporary Japanese cuisine that everyone who's been there, seems to be raving about.

I remember my late brother complaining that most of his Manila friends who have been to Baguio have been to Chaya, while he, a Baguio native, has not.

what to eat...?

In the handful of times we've been there, the food anticipation (or just plain hunger) as often made me forget to take photos of the place. Add to the fact that it's almost always full when we get there, that taking photos with strangers in them may not be a popular move on my part.

What I have though with me is the knowledge that whatever we ordered on any of those given times was delicious. I went to Chaya not as a blogger, but as a humble diner (my explanation for the lack of pictures).

Phil trying to get MAX to eat our spinach in vinaigrette appetizer

Budget-friendly, this place is not. Allow yourself to fork out 400 php on average for a meal for one. Service is a bit slow, and that includes ordering and bill out. Expect the extra wait as food is made fresh.

Here's a look at what we got:

complimentary appetizers of spinach in vinaigrette with sesame seeds and raw fish with spring onions and nori

for starters:

Yakitori Momo - 5 sticks of Japanese style chicken BBQ (250 pesos)

It's never a Japanese meal without some Sashimi:

Sashimi Variety - contents vary depending on availabilty (580 pesos)

The main event consisted of :

 

Chahan/Japanese Fried Rice (260 pesos per plate) - we got 2 for our group of 5

Ebi Fry (350 pesos)

 Complimentary dessert of green tea ice cream with sweet azuki beans were served after the dishes were taken out.

Oh and by the way, you may want to call ahead especially during dinner time and make reservations just in case. 

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!

Won't Cha OCHA?! : A Restaurant Review

wonderful picture windows light up the place
and give you a glimpse of the hustle and bustle of
Session Road

Walking down Baguio City's main thoroughfare, Session road, is a quaint Asian diner that deserves a second look. An establishment or two from Porta Vaga (the shopping center of the famous Baguio Cathedral), you cannot miss this new found fave.

Ocha, a name that evokes images of tea ceremonies, subtle food presentations and wonderful flavors, it's the next best thing as far as restaurants go.

The Food:

Good sized portions, delicate flavors, fresh sea food and veggies not to mention decent food presentation...it's simply enough reason to keep you coming back for more!

Baked Scallops
I've had em before, you might have done so before too..
however, I would like to point out that OCHA maintains
their inventory well. These shellfish were quite fresh!

Thai Fried Rice (serves 4)
except for the absence of Chinese broccoli, this was
at par with what we bought in the streets of Bangkok

Coffee Pork
braised pork ribs in a lightly seasoned coffee sauce
SOooo gooood :)

We ordered some Vietnamese Spring Rolls for home (light, refreshing and overall great), but opted not to order dessert (too full). 

the decor

The Menu:

Reasonably priced, interesting and full of great selections, there's always a little something for everyone.

page 1

page 1 - con't

page 1 - con't, continued :)

main course page 2

page 2 con't

page 3

page 3 con't

page 4

  

page 5

The Ambiance and The Service:

The restaurant seats about 30 or thereabouts. The decor is Asian, leaning more towards Thai. Good use of windows keep the place bright with natural light. The atmosphere is casual and laid back so you could come as you are. 

fast turnover of patrons (great food calls are better than that
of sirens)

Service is fast with a capital F! Servers are polite, efficient, knowledgeable and are solicitous.

big picture windows let you see out beyond the
cobblestone sidewalks of Session Road

The Lowdown:

We absolutely looooved this place! In an overall rating of 5, I'd give it a 6! Worth a visit, whether you're alone or with family or friends. See you at Ocha!

Papa and MAX give it their stamp of approval too!

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!

The Accidental Tourist 2 (The Baguio Country Club) Edition

Since my last post,  we have packed our bags and moved on to The Baguio Country Club for a complimentary  overnight stay. We're still pretending to be tourists and still have the things we packed since we stayed at the townhouse . We've thought of going back home to pick up more clothes but decided that if we were going to act as tourists, we would have to do what the tourists would normally do (keeping it real, is all).

the infernal rain as seen at the Veranda of bcc

Let me tell you a little about the Baguio Country Club. This 100 year old establishment is one of the preferred hotel destinations in the city. Not only are the rooms fully equipped with all the luxuries we expect from a Triple A class resort (the highest that we have as far as rating hotels in the Philippines would go), they also have great food from their 7 dining establishments, to make even a short visit, worthwhile. 

MAX in his fave storm evac center ;)

The Baguio Country Club also has facilities to make your vacation activity filled as well. From an 18 hole golf course, a tennis court and swimming pools, a fully equipped gym, bowling lanes, to name a few, the hotel has also been the preferred venue for weddings and other events. (FYI, Baguio City's also known for being a wedding destination)

the golf course...saw one dedicated golfer playing all alone (cept for his caddy) under the pouring rain

Now that that's out of the way, let's go back to our little vacation. 

We've always been into the whole travel lite concept simply because you don't want to throw your back by carrying too much stuff, plus it's just too much to watch your kids and YOUR bags right? Down to zilch as far as a change of clothes would go, we did what holiday-goers would do and just Shopped! 

Baguio City has two malls, department stores, surplus shops and a whole lot of second hand shops that sell clothes and accessories in a variety of styles and prices. We opted to head on out to the nearest one from the hotel, and that was the overruns shop at Camp John Hay. 

Got MAX a pack of Osh Kosh briefs (135 php for 3), a Gap sweater (he dirtied up his Calvin Klein sleepwear), an Old Navy sweater (so he won't have to wear the same sweatshirt he wore upon check in), a pair of Levi's jeans(1396 php)  for me along with a DKNY blouse, a GAP long sleeved shirt for Kix, and a Greg Norman dri fit shirt for Phil. Except for the 2 items with prices indicated, everything was around 200 php. The whole shop was on sale, from anywhere between 30 - 50% off on export overruns of known brands (the Philippines is also the home to an inexpensive, and a very hardworking workforce, thus allowing the country to have a lot of export processing zones that house factories that manufacture for these brands).

stuff from Export Overruns

I did bring enough toiletries, but just in case I didn't, the city proper's just 10 minutes away. Medicine, diapers and whatever supplies you may need are readily available in town.

patiently waiting for the food @ Par 7

Food was of course, not a problem here as you could find a wide variety of dishes and cuisines here at the BCC. What we didn't get to do was enjoy the great outdoors as it was (and still is) raining. This is the reason why I've got a lot of time on my hands to write this blog :-P.

Tonkatsu @ Hamada (BCC's resto)

Aside from the food and shopping, Baguio's got some must see places to go to. Nearby is the Mansion House, the residence of the Philippine President when he's in town. There's also Wright Park, where you could rent a horse and ride around the park for 30 minutes to an hour. Then we've got Mines View. A view deck on top of a mountain that gives you a spectacular view. One may also check out Tam-Awan Village. Tam-Awan Village is an artists colony set amid a charming collection of Ifugao and Kalinga huts. Spearheaded by National Artist BenCab, one may also view and buy works of art by local artists. 

These are some of the many places one can visit in Baguio. I shall save that for another blog :)

the Verandah

While writing this blog, the sun has risen and in a few, we shall be heading down to the Verandah for breakfast.

If there was anything we learned from being "tourists" for 2 days, it would be that you must not be a stranger in your own town. 

Plan a day trip to a tourist spot or destination in your town (or one nearby). You'll be surprised at how revisiting these places could give you a fresh outlook on things. You don't have to spend a fortune or go to far flung exotic destinations to have an incredible journey. Everything you need may just be a few steps outside your door.

hooked up with the the rest of the fam and went mechanical bull riding at SM Baguio (as part of the role  playing. no local would get caught riding that thang lol)

From TMW, may your wanderings be better than ours. 

the boys with their bacon cheeseburger and fries