Baguio Photo & Travel Diary

Baguio, My Winter Vacation!

Happy Friday! Today I’m bringing you a travel post and one of my last vacations of 2017! I went to Baguio which I have said quite a few times now but this time I’m sharing a few pictures I took as well as telling you what happened day by day like a mini diary of what happened. This is going to be quite long and similar to my Palawan travel and photo diary I posted here so get ready. On December 3-7, myself and my family went to Baguio. Here is all the family members that went with me. You remember my aunt Emma and cousin Jaypee from my Palawan travels they went with me again and have been my travel buddies all year. I took my cousin Jon and his family which were his wife, Jill, their daughter Jelly who you may know who does my pictures and videos and her two younger brothers, Johnfer and Jhonnel. Last was my other cousin from a different aunt Che Ann and her boyfriend Stefan so there was quite a lot of us who went. It was a lot but it made it more fun. My cousin and her boyfriend took a first class bus straight to Baguio and met us there. As for my cousin’s wife and Jelly they took a bus as well. We all met up in Baguio to start our vacation.

So here is a long and picture heavy blog post of what I did, what I saw and everything I did in Baguio!

Before the trip

We started the trip at 3am on Sunday. Before that though, my cousin and I went out to buy some last minute things like food and a few extra things at the mall. So it meant I got back a little late and only started packing at around 10PM which only gave me a few hours to pack and that is the most last minute packing I have ever done. With other trips I gave myself some time but with this I was frazzled. I had a list and knew what I was going to pack and had it all ready for me but it was very close. I was doing Vlogmas so I wanted to vlog and pack that is why I was also putting it off so I can do it on camera. I did one of those cutesy ways in packing for the video which took longer. It was worth it though and it came out great. After that was done I could get to real packing and my niece and Jelly was helping me. Jelly was helpful and rolled up my clothes with me while my 7 year old niece was playing with said clothes instead so again it took longer. I had a lot of new clothes I had bought for the trip and some other clothes so I went through my new purchases, my cabinet and all my storage containers filled with my clothes. I made lists of the ones I was taking and the outfits to put together so I was following that. In the end my room was a disaster with clothes, shoes, bags and everything else thrown around. I narrowed everything down and made decision on what to take and filled my two suitcases with everything. I get so worried I might forget something or leave something I need behind and get so anxious that I triple check all the time. I didn’t forget anything which was nice and I could enjoy the trip. I think I got finished packing around midnight and I said we were leaving at 3 so instead of going to bed and sleeping for a few hours I know I would be in the worst mood and not want to get up so I pushed through and just edited a vlog and the thumbnail to Vlogmas, packed my gadget bag with chargers and all the tech stuff and got myself a snack and before I knew it it was 3am and we started packing the car up to head out. I managed to fit everything I decided to bring in the car including my 2 suitcases, ring light, my laptop bag filled with all the chargers and gadgets. I tried not to take too much but I packed what I thought was needed.

I didn’t do a what is in my suitcase for this trip like I did with my Palawan trip here and my staycation in Tagaytay here as I felt like it was just a repeat again and you have seen my packing technique a few times already. This time there were just a lot more sweaters and bulky clothes and I managed to pack them in my packing cubes efficiently and got them all in without stuffing it. It pretty much looked the same and looked really organized. I should have gotten a picture but it did look the same but a bit bulkier than the other times I packed. I am getting so good at packing for trips now though.

Day 1

Once we were on the road after 3am we dropped off my cousin’s at the bus terminal to see them off. They were taking the bus and would meet with us in Baguio. I thought I would sleep for some of the trip but I didn’t. It was nice watching the sunrise and just driving the open road. I heard it was quite a road trip and it sure was. We were in the car for some time but I had all my cousin’s to entertain me and some music on my Spotify playlist and since my car has Bluetooth I could control the music through the trip. I’ve been down that way before to Pampanga a lot so I knew the direction we were going. When we got closer to climbing up to Baguio that is when the views started to be amazing. We trekked up and it was quite a climb on a windy road. It was cliff and mountains as well and a few natural waterfalls which were so cool. I didn’t get car sick which was great not like the time in Palawan and I thought it would be like that but thankfully it wasn’t and I could enjoy the views.

The landmark that is very famous and says you are almost in Baguio is the Lions Head. When you take the road we took you see it on the way up. My cousin and aunt who was last there in the early 90s and it didn’t look like that. It is now painted like a lion and the colors are. We got our picture taken as a group and then I got one myself. They were selling a strawberry dessert which they are famous for and a few stalls for the tourists. After our pictures and our restroom break we made it up the mountain again and we were in Baguio.

I rented an Airbnb for a 5 days and our first stop once we in Baguio was to find it. We kind of got lost and ended up doing a bit of touring around unintentionally. There was a confusion finding it but when we did we called and said it was going to be ready at 1PM. We arrived in Baguio at 9AM so we had quite a while to wait. In the meantime we tried not to get lost in Baguio and decided to find the bus terminal to pick up my cousin, we looked for a place to eat but the parking was so bad and since it was December it was a bit traffic. We decided to stop at SM Baguio and have lunch there and about an hour later my cousin finally arrived and met us at the mall. It was a long trip about 2 hours longer than us in a car as they made a lot of stops but it was comfy according to them but just long. We all gathered at the mall because we were waiting for the call to go to the Airbnb. The mall is so cool and literally is as it is open and has no aircon as it is cold without it. I find it amazing because I’m used to malls having air condition and this one does not need it.

Then it was time to head to our Airbnb and it was glorious because I was running low on energy. I hadn’t had any sleep and was up for almost 24 hours at that point. I don’t do that too often but I was so excited to sleep. The place I rented was amazing and all of us ran up to pick our rooms. Jelly and I shared one and got to be on our own. The others got their to pick their own room. It was an amazing place and once we got settled in and I did a house tour and all that I got 5 hours of glorious sleep. That nap was so needed especially after a long travel day. My cousin woke us up for dinner which he cooked and we just spent the rest of the evening in the massive living room watching movies on the big TV. Such a relaxing end to the first day of Baguio.

Day 2

Day 2 or technically our first full day in Baguio. I spent the morning editing the vlog during breakfast and waiting for everyone to get ready. It’s a good thing the place we rented had 3 bathrooms so we didn’t have to fight too much. Once I was ready I got to shoot a quick outfit outside our Airbnb while we wait for our Grab taxi (like Uber) even though we had a car we couldn’t drive it on a Monday or else we would get a ticket. It’s a long story but we had to commute for once. It was a fail though and our taxi didn’t make it so we took a jeepney instead and we got our picture taken to start the first activity of trip.

We went to the Lourdes Grotto. There is this church on top of the hill and you climb the steps to get there. It is 500 steps and it is very steep. It is quite something and they say it is a sacrifice once you get there. I’m not the fittest person in the world and I have an injured hip but that didn’t stop me. I wanted to do it and half of me was saying I should do it for the vlog and half of me wanted to do it for myself. I thought it would be fun and I was actually excited to do it. We started off slow and I celebrated every time I reached a new plateau. If you watch the vlog you can see the whole thing. I was a bit out of breath doing it. I tried to make it more fun by shooting different stuff for the vlog and taking pictures on the way up. I made it an excuse because I was having a difficult time but I wanted to reach the top. It just shows me that I should make more of an effort and start working out a bit. We got so many pictures climbing up and vlog footage which was great because I wanted to document I could do it. So half way there it started raining and since Jelly and I were left behind because we were taking pictures we had to take shelter and hide under a tree which didn’t help much but thankfully it stopped and we could finish the rest of the steps and get to the top. I filmed the last bit and I made it up and I had to shout to the mountain tops that I did it. It felt amazing and such an adrenaline rush. We took a few more pictures and lighted a candle at the church at the top.

After that I changed outfits for an outfit shoot. I stood behind a bunch of trees while my aunt and cousin covered me as I changed. What I do for outfits, right? I planned this outfit beforehand and I already found it cute but the weather made it more perfect. Since it started raining before and it started to drop in temperature that brought the fog and it was so thick it covered everywhere. I’ve seen fog before but not like that however my family has never seen it like that so all of us were doing our own thing getting all the pictures and videos to have that. I was shooting my outfit diary and the fog made the video effect even cooler. We have so many pictures and in the end I wanted a group picture so I set up the camera on a rock on a cliff and took the picture of us.

We took a jeepney back home and it was quite a struggle to commute and it was quite funny and a hassle as a lot of us were use to taking the car everywhere especially me. It was fun and when we finally got back we cooked dinner and had another relaxing night in and I did some blog work.  

Day 3

As for day 3 our second full day was the most eventful out of the whole trip! It was one of my fave days if I had to pick from the whole trip. The morning started the same with me sitting down a the counter having breakfast while editing my vlog before I got dressed and ready for the day. I had this routine of being on my laptop getting stuff done before the day and it was so nice and started the day off right. That day we had a lot planned as we needed to see a lot more things. The day before we only went to 1 place while this day we knew we wanted to cross off the places we had planned on seeing. After I got my outfit together we were off.

First was going to Mines View Park. My cousin who went there in the early 90’s and wanted to recreate his picture from back then so he did that and we explored to. We ate some boiled sweet corn, took some pictures and enjoyed the view. I tried to take my outfit pictures there but there were so many people and I couldn’t get the perfect shot so we decided to just stop for now as it was too early. After we were done with the park right outside we went and got some souvenirs for our families back home. I got my parent’s t-shirts and key chains. I got me a key chain and a magnet for myself because I’ve been doing that with places I go. We then grabbed lunch beside the souvenir stalls but I don’t eat meat so I had to grab a snack at 7/11 and I got a veggie wrap. It was still nice eating with them at the place. When lunch was done we bought brooms because my aunt said it was good there and there was a funny sign so they got our business. 

The next place on our list was The Mansion. I saw it when I was researching places to go online and it came up and lucky for us it was close to Mines View Park. As we pulled up though we got dropped off in front of this place and as soon as I saw it I knew it was perfect location to shoot outfit pictures. It matched my outfit so perfectly. The problem was getting the perfect shot without all the people walking behind me but we did and I shot my outfit diary. It took quite some time but in the end I got it done and we could move on. We then crossed the street to head to The Mansion and it is so pretty. The gates were inspired by the Buckingham Palace so we had to get a picture. When we went inside we couldn’t do anything but take a picture in front of it and with the Christmas decorations. There is nothing much to do but taking pictures.

Our last destination of the day was to the Botanical Garden and we got our picture in front of the sign and then the native ladies from Baguio came over to take a picture with us. It was fun and they take payment of 20 pesos each. It’s a little token amount for them. When we went inside we got to see inside and see the flowers. We didn’t go deep inside as I was tired and so was everyone else but we got to take a few pictures. If we weren’t that tired we would have explored it fully. After walking around all day in my outfit I was starting to feel less comfortable so it was time to head back home.

Several hours later at home we had dinner and I worked on my laptop. We had one more thing on the list for that day and we saved it for last as it was the best at night. Since it was December they just put up the Christmas tree and we wanted to see it. So I changed to a more comfortable outfit and one of my faves from the trip. It was so warm and it was the coldest I have ever felt in a while. We went there and saw bike rental stands so we did and I biked with my cousins and we raced around the park. Now that was a workout itself biking up the hills and around. I got in some good exercise during the trip I guess. I was pretty tired but still managed to take my outfit pictures and I was hesitant at first as I was worried they wouldn’t turn out but I love the effect and it was better than I expected. Then we took our last group picture of the day. It was so fun and I enjoyed this day and the night too.

This day was filled with group pictures if you couldn’t tell. Do you know how many times we
ran back and forth to set up the self timer and pose for the picture?
Too many that I don’t remember but it was sure a workout but not as bad
as the steps in yesterday and the bike ride.

Day 4

This was our last full day in Baguio and we were going to make the most out of it. Again, I started my day at my laptop to edit and upload the vlog. My cousin was the cook for the trip and pretty much every meal was vegetables and it was so good. It is so cheap up there that we could buy so many and it wouldn’t cost a lot but where we live it costs so much. So we took advantage and ate so many yummy veggies and for a vegetarian it was the dream. I have so many pictures of the food but didn’t want to include them all so I thought the final lunch we had I could. And then of course our final group lunch meal picture and we had a lot.

When lunch was over we headed out for our final outing and since Baguio is known for strawberries we had to go to Strawberry Farm. I originally wanted to go where they shot a famous show here but they said it was too far away so we went to this one instead which was a bit far but not too far. It was such a cool drive there. As soon as we got there we got a sample of strawberry ice cream and then bought a few cones. It was the best strawberry ice cream and their tag line was that it is Instagram famous which is the coolest. I should have got a picture but it was melting too fast and I did get a video of me eating it.  

I grew up in a town in the US that is famous for strawberries so this was nothing new for me to see. They even had a strawberry festival which I was lucky enough to dance at with my dance studio. We went to the fields and we went not only strawberry picking but we got some lettuce and other vegetables too. I didn’t explore too much but my cousin went to the end and it was just more strawberries. Another thing that happened was Jelly accidentally fell in a ditch walking into the field and scratched her leg but she is fine. We took care of her and got the wound cleaned up and then we shot the pictures for my outfit and outfit diary lookbook.

So while she was shooting these pictures she was limping but we did get the shot in the end. I was actually filming and vlogging while she was behind me and luckily as I turned the camera off is when she fell in the ditch so lucky it wasn’t caught on camera. So she got that as a souvenir.

Speaking of souvenirs I bought some strawberry jam and souvenirs at the market as well. There were so many strawberry themed items that I got another key chain and magnet with a strawberry on it. We also ended up buying a game like a local native style game and all of us cousins could play with it. We also bought some vegetables there to take home with us. Then we went back home for our final night at our Airbnb.

It was a nice last night. I took my final pictures for my blog. We had vegetables for dinner and then we spent the rest of the night playing that local game and I spent the night learning it. We were having so much fun and on the vlog I couldn’t explain it as we were laughing so much and having a good time. It was the best way to end our Baguio trip.

Day 5

Our final day in Baguio was spent getting ready and packing to leave. I started off with my routine of editing and uploading and lastly packing my suitcase. We dropped my cousin’s off at the bus terminal and they headed out before us but we would beat them to our house. Before that we got our last group picture at the Airbnb all together. It was nice and was a fun trip. We packed the car and I said goodbye to the place we stayed and everything around us. Then we headed off down the mountain again. I ended up sleeping almost the whole trip unlike heading to Baguio. I woke up and we stopped for some food. Then we hit Manila traffic. All of us did including the bus and it was raining so not fun at all. I felt more tired coming home then I did going. We all made it home safe including my cousins on the bus. They met up at our house and then they went to their house all together.

Overall it was such a fun trip and so nice taking family with me and having more of us on the trip. I didn’t do too many blog post about my stay this time around as I was more focused on the outfit section and bonding with my family but I do have a few up. What is nice is I have vlogs of it and videos from the trip and they came out right away unlike Palawan when I waited 5 months before I uploaded them. So I listed all the outfits, blog posts and videos of my trip below including a little video that I shot that was really fun and artsy to summarize the whole trip.

Outfits I Wore in Baguio

Foggy in the Winter

Ruffle Sweater Dress

Sleigh the Winter Weather

Strawberry Farm

Travel Outfit & Planning Winter Vacation

Baguio Travel Vlogs

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Baguio Outfit Diary

Come to Baguio With Me

That was my Baguio travel and photo diary! I know it was super long but again I love them that way and it is a little memory I can keep with me.I hope you liked this journal entry of some sorts and liked looking at the pictures and videos I listed above. I enjoyed traveling so much in 2017 and love that I documented it all here and my channel. Here is to more of that and see where else I go this year. Let me know if you ever went to Baguio or if you are planning on going. It is an amazing place and I highly recommended it as a cooler place if you want to get away from the heat. That is it for this travel diary and until next one I guess!

What has been the best winter vacation you’ve been on?