This summer (the first full summer we've spent here in the Philippines) was BAD, with sweltering temperatures of 35 to almost 39 degrees Celsius and the humidity hovering between 45 to almost 70%! With such conditions, there was a predictable exodus from Manila. Those who could afford to went to Europe or the US, many more going to the many beautiful beaches everywhere in the Philippines, and those looking to escape to cooler climes, going to the Mountain Province.
Baguio, in the Mountain Province is the place most visited during the summer months. As young children, oh... so many years ago, we would spend at least a month of our school holidays in Baguio. My aunt, like some families, in the last decade, moved to Baguio to get away from the pollution, overcrowding and stress-filled life of Manila. They built a beautiful "house of glass" high up on the winding road of Ambuklao.
It is beautiful there, very quiet, far enough away from Baguio's city center and as such still surrounded by pine trees. I am an early riser and I was glad for that since dawn there was amazing! See for yourself:
It was nippy, a gentle breeze softly rustling the leaves and flowers and a decidedly piney scent in the air... pure heaven!
 |
| From the back yard at dawn |
We didn't do much on our visit, except for a full day trip to Sagada (which I will write about in a future blog) and driving around Camp John Hay and having lunch at Baguio Country Club. We didn't go to Session Road or the market, which was tradition for us when we visited Baguio all those summers ago, because my mom refused to go there, preferring to remember Session Road as it used to be with the elegant, historic Pines Hotel right at the top.
Today right on the same spot is the ubiquitous Shoemart mall, a clone of every other SM mall all over the Philippines. A concrete, unattractive building (okay with viewing terraces, from which one can see the crowded, concrete jungle Baguio is surely becoming), the construction of which entailed the sacrifice of hundreds of pine trees! To add insult to injury, my cousin tells me that SM is petitioning the city government to cut down more trees in order to build, wait for it...... a parking lot!!
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for progress but not at the expense of everything that is historic, civilizing and elevating! Development that is defined by careful planning and with the ultimate vision of retaining what is good and improving what is not, is germane to preserving the unique character of our towns and cities, Baguio included.
But I digress, something that happens more as I get older. Anyway, one place my mother agreed to visit was Eastern Weaving, a place where traditional weaving has been preserved. I wanted to buy place mats and a table runner so my husband and I went with her. When we got there, the weavers had all gone home but we did get permission to go to the weaving room to look at the traditional looms.
On Sunday, we were invited by my aunt to attend mass in the Santo Pio Parish in Ambuklao, it being the feast day of the parish. We arrived as the procession was approaching the church. People apparently walked, some for more than two hours to attend Sunday mass at this church. The service was lively with a youth choir in charge of the singing. Worship was active, a native igorot dance of worship was performed as mass began.
The instruments they used was a mix of the modern and traditional.
At the offertory, parishioners gave of the fruits of their labors, bananas, melons, flowers, and even a pot of local rice wine.
A lot of families here are families of OFWs, with a parent or parents, sibling, aunt, uncle, even grandparents, part of the Filipino diaspora all over the world.
We ventured out to the "bagsakan", a covered area where produce from all over Benguet was brought for sale to middle men and individuals like us. We needed to go through convoluted, tiny streets through the Trinidad Valley to get to this place. There is nothing to see as you make your way through these streets except cars, people and more cars. Here too the smell of pine has long been forgotten, gasoline and diesel fumes are what you smell today.
A place worth visiting is Ben Cab's museum. Because he has bought up the surrounding areas, he has been able to preserve them.
In this museum, I happened to see a painting of the Trinidad Valley with its houses all the way to the tops of the mountain. It looked really pretty in the painting, but reality....not so.
Ben Cab's does not only have paintings but sculpture, photographs and other works of art. He also has a "naughty" room featuring "erotica". I took a picture of one Ifugao bench:
The rest of the time, we spent at home. My mom, aunt and cousin playing mahjong, the rest of us either napping or reading, basically vegging out. Drinking in front of the fireplace and pitying people sweltering in the heat of Manila.
And what does dusk look like from my aunt's back yard?
 |
| from unholyhours.blogspot.com |
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for progress but not at the expense of everything that is historic, civilizing and elevating! Development that is defined by careful planning and with the ultimate vision of retaining what is good and improving what is not, is germane to preserving the unique character of our towns and cities, Baguio included.
But I digress, something that happens more as I get older. Anyway, one place my mother agreed to visit was Eastern Weaving, a place where traditional weaving has been preserved. I wanted to buy place mats and a table runner so my husband and I went with her. When we got there, the weavers had all gone home but we did get permission to go to the weaving room to look at the traditional looms.
 |
| Skeins of thread are gathered |
 |
| Woven into modern or indigenous patterns |
On Sunday, we were invited by my aunt to attend mass in the Santo Pio Parish in Ambuklao, it being the feast day of the parish. We arrived as the procession was approaching the church. People apparently walked, some for more than two hours to attend Sunday mass at this church. The service was lively with a youth choir in charge of the singing. Worship was active, a native igorot dance of worship was performed as mass began.
The instruments they used was a mix of the modern and traditional.
At the offertory, parishioners gave of the fruits of their labors, bananas, melons, flowers, and even a pot of local rice wine.
 |
| "Fruit of the vine and work of human hands" |
 |
| With boots, daddy's christmas gift |
 |
| Waiting for daddy to come home |
A place worth visiting is Ben Cab's museum. Because he has bought up the surrounding areas, he has been able to preserve them.
In this museum, I happened to see a painting of the Trinidad Valley with its houses all the way to the tops of the mountain. It looked really pretty in the painting, but reality....not so.
Ben Cab's does not only have paintings but sculpture, photographs and other works of art. He also has a "naughty" room featuring "erotica". I took a picture of one Ifugao bench:
The rest of the time, we spent at home. My mom, aunt and cousin playing mahjong, the rest of us either napping or reading, basically vegging out. Drinking in front of the fireplace and pitying people sweltering in the heat of Manila.
And what does dusk look like from my aunt's back yard?
