Short but sweet Baguio stopover

Straight from Thunderbird Resort in Poro Point, we ascended to Baguio. It took us 1 ½ hours of travel. We were greeted by a foggy weather and drizzle as we made our way to the country’s summer capital.

We are not Baguio first timers so we skipped the more touristy activities in the city. We just wanted to spend a few hours in Baguio and catch up with what’s new in the city.

Our itinerary was: eat + ukay and pasalubong shopping + chill. That’s the most relaxed itinerary ever.

We arrived past 2pm in Baguio. I noticed that the streets in Baguio seem smaller now or there was too many people walking? We had to walk sideways sometimes to make sure that we don’t bump people walking towards our direction. I must say Baguio is crowded these days. It was just 2pm and it wasn’t the rush hour yet and people are all out on the streets.

  

We had our late lunch at Jack’s Restaurant in Session Road. As recommended by JB, we tried Jack’s Rice. It consisted of a quarter roast chicken, chop suey, egg, and a piece of lechon, fried rice. It was a big serving for Php75. Definitelty not bad!!

After our lunch, we went to JB’s house to drop off our things and went back to the city for pasalubong shopping.

I just bought the usuals like peanut brittle, choco flakes, lengua de gato, choco mallows. Although my mom would appreciate bringing a ‘walis tambo’ from Baguio, I hesitated. Hehe I’m just too shy to carry that back home and we’re taking the bus.

Ru, who frequents Baguio, went back to his suki shop where he bought a cardigan. It was really nicely knitted at Php300.

After that, we went to a building of ukay shops. And guess what? I wasn’t able to buy anything. I love thrift shopping. When I’m in the mood to shop but just don’t have the moolah, I go to my favorite ukay shops. It gives me less guilt feeling rather than by swiping my credit card. So, you see it was really surprise I didn’t buy anything even just a 30 pesos top. Haha I may been overwhelmed with all the ukay stuff but honestly most of the stores do not sell cheaper clothes. I can surely buy them in Manila in much cheaper prices. Maybe that ukay complex was priced for tourists since it was in the city center and near other tourist spots.

After my failed ukay experience, we went to SM Baguio just to check the mall. It was dinner time by them and we thought it'd be a shame if we have dinner at SM Baguio. After all, this city has a lot to offer in terms of dining experience.  We debated where to have our dinner. Few suggestions: Forrest House – pricey, Café by the Ruin- not so much reaction from the six of us, and PNKY Café –which is the closest from where we were.

And so it was PNKY Café. We took a cab from SM and paid Php110 for the fare.

PNKY Café is a travel coffee shop with a travel theme and artsy-fartsy restaurant/coffee shop ambiance. It serves gourment coffee and home-made dishes. Acually PNKY is a bed and breakfast which offers homey accommodations as well as well as home-cooked food.

Fortunately, we were the only dining customers that night and we liked how much we felt so at home.

Every nook is gorgeous.

PNKY Cafe's menu is very quirky and unique. The food are named after famous landmarks, cities, and countries. 

We ordered the following. 

Chicken Spinach Riviera

This entree is made of chicken strips, spinach, mushrooms and tofu in white sauce and served with vegetables and rice

Beef a la Seine

This sliced beef dish sautéed with mushrooms, red bell pepper and strawberry is served with vegetable and rice. We highly- recommend this. I liked the way the beef was cooked with mushrooms. It had the right beefy flavor and mushroom taste. For me, this is the best food in our dining experience at PNKY Cafe. 

Le Louvre

This entree is basically cooked with highland spinach, mushrooms, and tofu topped over with rice and drizzled with sunflower seeds. This was my food and I can say that the vegetables are very fresh. I'm not really into vegetables or salads but Le Louvre awed me by the freshness and crispness of the vegetables. 

And for our refreshments, I had their Lemon Slush while my friends had the Strawberry Slush. I love the very refreshing taste of the Lemon Slush which doesn’t dissolve after a while. I tried Erick’s Strawberry Slush and no doubt it was good as well. 

We stayed in the café until late evening and then decided it’s time to go back to JB’s house and pack up and go home to Manila. Maybe next time, we could probably have at least a night stay in Baguio to fully enjoy our time. Time flies fast when you're having fun!


Ru and Yana decided to stay for a few more hours and would catch the bus back home early next morning. Erick and I went ahead since we have to be in the office in the morning.

It was a short but sweet stay in Baguio and definitely worth our time :D