Baguio 2012

This last week, me and my office mates decided to go to Baguio for the long weekend. Here are the highlights of the trip:

Day 1

SM City Baguio

The ambiance of this mall is very different from the other SM malls. The place is very open, very cool without any air conditioning needed, and has a very nice view of the area outside.

Mr. Kimbob

For lunch that day, we ate at the food court. I had a Bibimbap from Mr. Kimbob. A very heavy, satisfying, and healthy meal packed with vegetables at only P99. Sulit.

Session Road

We walked up and down this road lots of times and there are a lot of stuff to see, shops to visit, and places to eat at.

Oh My Gulay

We paid a visit here after climbing a long staircase and it was worth it. The ambiance is very amazing. It has a very cultural, indigenous feel to it. Definitely a place worth coming back to.

Burnham Park

A trip to Baguio wouldn't be complete without visiting this place. We took a walk around the park, took a lot of pictures, did some skating, and rode the bump cars.

Good Taste

We went here for dinner and just by looking at the line outside, you'd know that the food is worth the wait.

The place is perfect for having dinner as a group: big servings, delicious, an affordable.







Day 2
After a cool morning walk along U.P. Baguio and SM City Baguio, we took a cab to Camp John Hay.

Little John's

They give you placemats and crayons while waiting for your food. If they like your drawing, they frame it on their wall! We all got the restaurant's bestseller, the Baby Back Ribs.

Tree Top Adventure Baguio

While the guys went on this adventure, the girls went on to visit Mine's View Park. So I didn't get to see the view there, but hey, I did enjoy the experience here. First up: The Tree Drop. This is just a split-second free fall but the whole experience is exhilarating.

Next would be a long walk to the zipline. I've experienced better ones, but the zipline here was a good one for P350. They strap you in, pull you back up the other side, then you zip your way back.

Mines View Park

Like I said, I didn't get to see the view itself. By the time we caught up with the girls, we only had time to buy pasalubong at Good Shepherd. But I did manage to have a picture taken with the St. Bernard! :)

50's Diner

This place is amazing. Neon lights, old-fashioned music, movie posters from the 50's, a jukebox (if only it was restored), and the crew in an old-fashioned, American diner uniform.

The burger is ok. Tastes like any other regular burger in my opinion. But the huge serving size and the affordable price makes it very notable. And eating them in this ambiance? It's amazing.





That's basically it. We had to prepare early the next day for the long bus ride back to Manila. Thanks for reading! Eto pasalubong! :)

Pugad Baboy 24

Huli na pala ako sa balita. Hehe.

Move over Dobermaxx, Babman, Bardagul Kapote, Bounty Hunter, at Bodyguard.
May bagong bida na naman ang Pugad! Si....

Obesa Vanidosa!

(ala Hermione Granger: "It's Oh-be-suh VaniDOW-suh!")

Bagong story arc! Yehey! :)
Hindi pa natin nakitang bumida si Tiny. Matagal na rin yung last adventure ni Pao.
Buti naisipan ni PMJR na gawan sila ng kwento. Maganda naman kinalabasan.

77 pages lang. Maigsi kumpara sa 23. Pero sulit. :)
P190 bili ko sa National Bookstore sa SM Valenzuela.

F.B.I. (Fat B*tch Ingenue) agents in action

Andami nang Superhero-ish na characters ng Pugad Baboy.
Sana magkaroon ng gathering ala Justice League o Avengers. Asa. XD

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chbosky

It's been three days short of a year since I last blogged. Feels good doing this again. ^^

So here's how I came across of one of the best books I've ever read. I saw the Season 4 promo of Glee, I fell in love with the song "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons, and then I saw the movie trailer.

It's the guy who played Percy Jackson, the girl who played Hermione Granger,

and "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons (1:16). How could I not be interested?

Synopsis

It's about Charlie's first year of high school; about finding his new friends: Patrick and Sam; and all the fun, weird, exciting, despairing, heartbreaking, and exhilarating adventures and experiences they had together in that school year. Being an introvert, Charlie was challenged by his English teacher, Bill, to "participate" more. Charlie tries to in his own way. He is, as described by Patrick, a wallflower.

"He's a wallflower. You see things, You keep quiet about them. And you understand."

Review

It's just another coming of age story to be honest, but I found it to be a really, really good story. It was told in the form of letters that Charlie sends to an anonymous person. It's like he wants the reader to read his diary and learn his story. It is implied early on that Charlie is special. For the most part of the story, it's for the reader to figure out if there is something off about him or if he's really just that way.

There is a whole lot of books, movies, television shows, and songs featured in the book. Some of it are "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, M*A*S*H, and "Asleep" by The Smiths.

The book tackles a lot of issues that could happen in a high school. From heartbreak, sexuality, and drugs to child abuse, abortion, and suicide. Feels like a lot doesn't it? But the thing is, at least for my part, I have never encountered many of these issues and I would never want to ever. But many people do encounter these and in Charlie's case, he's only sixteen. That's what makes me want to read it more. It makes me curious.

But underneath all those things is a really good story. Like quoted earlier, he sees things, he keeps quiet about them, and he understands. It's a surprisingly fun read despite all the issues tackled, not dark at all.

When I finished the book, I closed it with a smile in my face, goosebumps on the back of my neck, "It's Time" playing in my head, and I did feel infinite.