Short Detours

For a change, I wanted to shoot a different angle of the fireworks in Baguio diverting from the usual wide landscape shoot. I wanted to focus on this single so-called Christmas tree.  The idea was, there's the light of this tree and the passing cars for the foreground and the fireworks as background.  Unfortunately, the lights were turned off just as the fireworks starts. I took several shots of the fireworks posted below. I did not bother to clean the electric wires and the final shots looked like a BDO commercial but without the tree lights, I'll just leave it as it is.    Panagbenga will be my next fireworks shoot. See you all next Panagbenga for our next fireworks display shoot. There usually are five fireworks during the closing of Panagbenga. For your next visit to watch Baguio's fireworks, contact this writer for the excellent vantage point.

I took a short cut from the City Hall to Centermall and passed by these beautifully arranged colorful curtains. And they are not ordinary curtains, they are edible. Had a discussion with King (Frank Cimatu) regarding the English term for this edible curtains. Frank said it should be chorizo but according to wikipedia, the term chorizo is Spanish, not English. I also found out that the term longaniza is Spanish, not Filipino. I am now wondering how many of our food names are borrowed from the Spanish language and if we have our own terms for these. Anyway, there are different preparations for longaniza and the Vigan longanisa is more famous. But comparing these delicacies, Baguio longanisa don't shrink much when cooked unlike the Vigan version I bought. The Vigan longanisa too is more spicy than the Baguio version I tried. Even with this "foreign" named local products, there are many versions to try. Drop by the Baguio public market and find the best that ...

Eight degrees may not be the coldest temperature in Baguio (it was 6.1 recorded in 1961), but it is a place to visit when it comes to pastries and coffee in the City of Pines. A great cafe at the Azalea Residences that uses the local produce like strawberries and carrots for pastry ingredients. In here (like any other cafes) you will encounter strange words like fritzer and trifle.    What in the name of %$#@ is a trifle? As far as I know, the dictionary's description is some sort of a thing of little value or importance. Never thought it has a taste. Well, yes it does and there are even different tastes depending on the ingredients. For the ignorants like me who have no idea what a trifle is, here's wikipedia's description: Trifle is a dessert dish made from thick custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice or jelly, and whipped cream. These ingredients are usually arranged in layers. Now that we're clear on that, where is that trifle that we...

Here’s another catch at the Azalea Residences in Baguio worthy to take a short detour. You can enjoy your favorite street foods in a safe environment with a price that is the same as the prices in the streets, less the pollution of passing cars and the City noise. And of course, the foods and sauce are expertly prepared by chefs who made sure that you won’t have to worry about food contamination. Scheduled from 3pm - 6pm daily since December 14 until December 30, except Dec 24 & 25. Meat BBQ at P15/stick. The rest is P10 each. According to management, the idea is to bring what people enjoy closer to them, in their second home when visiting Baguio.  I am not a food critic but I like street foods and comparing the sauce of barbecues in the Harrison night market, with the knowledge that the foods at the Azalea were prepared by chefs,  I feel safer here. You wouldn't see someone eating a barbecue and dip the stick again and again in the sauce jar. A...

When I entered, I was wondering why the Restaurant was called Tradisyon. I believe some of the reasons were the traditional foods they served as the slogan says, Pinoy comfort food. The ambiance, although smaller in dimension, is not in a way inferior to the high class hotels or clubs in Baguio but with a price that’s more affordable.  The buffet brunch is worth the price for only 350.00, cheaper for a few hundreds than the one I tried before in another club restaurant. But with great chefs like Chris who I chanced upon preparing the omelet, the foods are in no way inferior. In my own humble opinion, enjoying a great food need not be so expensive. Here are some on the buffet menu:   The Baguio longanisa - The Vigan longanisa was perhaps one of the most talked about of this kind of food among my circle of friends. But in Azalea, they serve what the locality offers. I believe that is more traditional than serving something that is not from the plac...

Here's the schedule program for this year's Baguio Day celebration on September 1, 2013. For the pdf file, click here .

Sadanga was dubbed as the living museum of Mountain Province with its culture and practices still intact. They continue to practice the old agricultural calendar . But the culture is not the only thing to visit in Sadanga. They have several destinations unique to the place. This time, we visited Fowa-as, the tallest falls in the municipality. The municipality has several smaller ones. Going to the falls, you will be passing by magnificent rice terraces. During our travel which was June, most of the fields are green. During this side trip, you will frequently see my fellow travel photographer Raffel Hidalgo in my frames. It took us more than two hours passing by rice paddies and irrigation canals to get to the falls. For the locals, they can hike it for only an hour and a half or less from the Poblacion (town center). From Barangay Belwang, we followed the irrigation canals for about 30 minutes. The canals were concreted making it easy to follow the trail....

Dropping by the manor during a shoot, got a special treat of grilled Australian Striploin and a strawberry flambe for dessert from Le Chef. Le Chef at the Manor by Billy King is regarded as one of the best fine dining in Baguio. Nothing beats a sumptuous meal with a view of the refreshing Manor Garden with its lighted waterfalls and kissed by the cool breeze of Baguio.